Quick Bull Question

I have a giant female bull, wild caught from Texas. I have wanted to mate her but have not found a male bug enough. She is right at six feet, and very thick. Do I need a bigger male for her? I ask because my five-foot male has not even tried to mate with her.

Thoughts please!!!

THANKS!!!
---Brian

A five foot male is definitely big enough to breed with her...unless she doesn't want it to happen, lol. If the female is resistant to courtship or copulation, the size of the male can come into play because he will need to try to limit her escape options (try to pin her or hold her still) while still maintaining a position that allows copulation. This can be sometimes be difficult for a smaller male.

In your case, though, it sounds as though either they are waiting til you aren't watching (for the record, this is not uncommon) or the male isn't interested. This could be due to cycling, current temps, or just missing the right time. Also, food supply to the female in early spring is important to trigger ovulation, where an overfed male is often a less active breeder.

HHMore,
Thanks for your reply. The female consumes about 6 adult mice every five days without fail and the male has not eaten in weeks. He does not seem interested in food but is VERY interested in the lady. I keep them seperate but allow them to have "play time" for a few hours each week or so.

Should I put them together for a while and leave them be???

Thanks again,
-----Brian

put him in for a several days at a time, take him out for a couple, then back in. you can work it around her feedings, so she can eat & have a day or two of peace.

I guess I misunderstood when you said he hadn't even tried to mate with her - I took that as displaying no interest

Cool, thanks Harald! I just plopped him in there with her. They are sharing a 125-gallon tank. You think that's big enough for them to do their business in???

I have another female coming to me tomorrow, along with a big great basin gopher female, as well. Maybe I should put all three bulls in there, no?

I wouldn't, based on my experience - I tried that last year, only one female got bred. This year I rotated the males between 2-3 females each. Only one clutch out so far, but all females were bred

and yes, a 125 is big enough

Cool, thanks for your time, Harald. I will keep the new female seperate until I take the male away from the other female. I'll keep you posted....thanks again!!!

You could also try switching...put the female into the males enclosure one time and then switch it ....male into the females enclosure.
I usually only put my females into the male enclosure.

And I suggest you quarantine those newest additions before trying to breed them.

Ok, thanks Jim. I really appreciate the great advice. The new female is someone else's breeder, and she is CB so I am not too worried about disease transmission....BUT....quarantine is always best!!!

Thanks again, Jim!

---Brian