Rays breeding for the first time, need advice

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skylineiz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 28, 2008
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Australia
G'day

Apologies for the long winded explanation, but would love some advice from people who have experienced this before. (mainly rays who are breeding for the first time)

So I have 1 female motoro that has about a 34cms disc and is about 15/16months old.

Also have a male motoro who is about 23cms in disc size, who is about 11-12 months old, he has been ignoring the female for most of the time, ever since his claspers have shot out of no where and they have rolled too.

He has just started to chew on the female motoros left "foot", while the female trys to jab him with his tail "scorpion ish sorta looking movement"

I did a search and I am under the impression that this is the male displaying breeding behavior,

Now it has gotten to the point where her "foot" is chewed down to the flesh and you can see little bits of blood there, I have put in some salt to speed up the healing process.

But obviously the male has not breed before, so his lack of experience could be doing more harm than good.

I want these guys to breed but not at the cost of the female, is it a good idea to separate the male from the female for some time?
What have you guys done? Im worried if i just leave it, that her feet are going to be very damaged and them not even having spawned.

Also there is no sign of spawning having happened, the female is definitely alot stronger and more powerful than the male so he has a bit of work to do. lol
 
If the chewing gets worse, you should separate them to let the female heal. Sounds like the male wants to bred but she doesn't.
 
spotfin;3808937; said:
If the chewing gets worse, you should separate them to let the female heal. Sounds like the male wants to bred but she doesn't.
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could be, my female almost had 1 of her "feet" chewed in half after breeding.
 
separate if it gets too rough, but you never know, the deed may have already been done.

you will know when she had pups, good luck and congrats.
 
Glad you made this thread, my marbles are doing the same thing, and i had the same questions..
 
The female still may be a little young and not ready yet so she may not let it happen so if the females eating starts to decline or she suffers to much damage then seperate them.
Also I found with first time males is that they are alot rougher on females than an experienced male is and may not breed but just hold on and bite. I had a male hold onto a female for 45 minutes before I seperated them.
Another thing with males is when they mature they're claspers grow then roll and then grow agian and this is when I find they are ready. I notice this more in my slower devloping rays more so than my motoros.
 
My male marble is doing alot of biting and holding on right now, haven't seen him try and flip her yet or flip himself over to get the deed done.. Wish he'd hurry up before he messes her up too bad.
 
i always seperate at the first sign of blood. after she heals, throw them back together.
 
I had my female marble in the same tank as a male marble and regular male motoro. Both males were mature when I purchased them. The first time my female was pregnant, I didn't know it until I saw the pup moving. There was no evidence of biting or rough play. It turned out that the regular male was the father of the pup. I sold him just before the female gave birth.

The marbles mated soon after she gave birth. The marble male was much rougher on the female than the regular male. He bit her tail and pelvic fins almost constantly until they mated, then he would leave her alone until she was nearing the end of her next pregnancy.

I think part of the breeding behavior depends on the personality of the males. Some just like it rough.
 
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