how to know if female is ready to breed

[batang_mcdo]

How do you know if a female is ready to breed?
I have a 15 inch female BD, she has bite marks on her anal fin and also back of the disc.
recently my male's Clasper became rolled. I'm suspecting he is trying to breed with her?

any suggestions? so far bite marks are minor, but i dont want her to be stressed too much.

what should i be looking out for? i have another 3 smaller rays in with them in the tank.
Also will a male only go after a female when she is ready?

 

[viper0397]

Unlike male rays, there is really no true way of telling. The only thing I go by is age. Males mature faster than females. Males usually mature by age 1 year, while females generally mature around 18 months of age. This is just a general rule of thumb. Some species will mature earlier and some will mature later.

As far as the male going after the female, depending on his personality he might nip at her just for fun. In fact I actually have females that will completely tear up any ray I put in the tank that she decides she does not like. Normally if the male is truly trying to mate and get her pregnant, she is going to get pretty tore up almost to the point you might have to separate them.

Just my opinion.

 

[batang_mcdo]

Unlike male rays, there is really no true way of telling. The only thing I go by is age. Males mature faster than females. Males usually mature by age 1 year, while females generally mature around 18 months of age. This is just a general rule of thumb. Some species will mature earlier and some will mature later.

As far as the male going after the female, depending on his personality he might nip at her just for fun. In fact I actually have females that will completely tear up any ray I put in the tank that she decides she does not like. Normally if the male is truly trying to mate and get her pregnant, she is going to get pretty tore up almost to the point you might have to separate them.

Just my opinion.
thanks, so far these 2 biggest ones are about 3 years old.
damage to the biggest female is not that bad as of now. also the other smaller ones have no bite marks at all.

 

[Galantspeedz]

Unlike male rays, there is really no true way of telling. The only thing I go by is age. Males mature faster than females. Males usually mature by age 1 year, while females generally mature around 18 months of age. This is just a general rule of thumb. Some species will mature earlier and some will mature later.

As far as the male going after the female, depending on his personality he might nip at her just for fun. In fact I actually have females that will completely tear up any ray I put in the tank that she decides she does not like. Normally if the male is truly trying to mate and get her pregnant, she is going to get pretty tore up almost to the point you might have to separate them.

Just my opinion.

i ma quite sure the above is applicable to humans too

 

[batang_mcdo]

thanks keeping a close eye on them.

 

[Lepisosteus]

I find if you feed pellets, time it takes to mature is much longer. If you want rays to grow fast and mature young, feed worms. I’ve seen this first hand years back.

 

[batang_mcdo]

I find if you feed pellets, time it takes to mature is much longer. If you want rays to grow fast and mature young, feed worms. I’ve seen this first hand years back.

thanks I find it hard to raise nightcrawlers , i always end up losing the night crawlers
I've been feeding them freshwater sardine as main diet .

 

[batang_mcdo]

up up. My male doesn't seem to know how to mate
he just chews on my female ray's disc .

 

[Tobiassorensen]

up up. My male doesn't seem to know how to mate
he just chews on my female ray's disc .

How big is the male contra female? Are his claspers fully rolled? Is he just chewing or is he trying to flip or lift her? I got a male that just chews on the disc.

 

[ShadowStryder]

Not all species mature at the same rate. Henlei females are reported to take longer to mature. As long as 4-6 years. Gestation is typically longer also. P13 females 2.5 - 3 years. Flowers are reportedly to take longer to mature.