L333 trapping, how long?

[Andrew]

We have a young group of L333 Porto do Moz who are apparently coming into breeding age. We started seeing some scratches on the flanks of a couple males who had picked out caves for themselves. Shortly after we found a female trapped by one of the males. It didn't last very long and did not result in a spawn but we were pretty happy that they seem to be getting started.

The second time we noticed that a female has been trapped was three days ago. She's still in there. How long do they usually trap females? Should we intervene if it goes too much longer without a successful spawn?

Thanks!

[Andrew]

Anyone? He still has her trapped in the cave...

[CharlieM9]

Andrew,

When mine were first attempting to spawn, the female would be trapped for 7-9 days. Granted we cannot see them at night so they may be releasing to feed and coming back.... I have shined a light to make sure there is breathing/movement after every few days though...

[Andrew]

Thank you! Very useful info. They're both out of the cave now with no eggs, but we're happy that they are getting started.

[CharlieM9]

It can take several "dry" attempts, so do not get discouraged. It will happen eventually!

[smitty]

Hopefully it will produce a spawn.

[pleconut]

Hi I've found with my group of L397s that as some are just crossing the theshold into maturity i think the males are more ahead, ive seen, cave sharing and other prespawning behaviours, but i think in general this is something that occurs around this time of development.