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I noticed the other day for the first time they were locked in a kissing action as if their jaws were locked together, this would have lasted for about a minute or less.

Does this happen often?

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Does if theyre not especially compatible, or if the female isnt in the mood or you have a same sex pair. Most rams dont hate each other enough to do it often. Ive seen mine do that about twice in a year. Usually an argument about livefood if they get a bit overexcited.

Well, from what I've observed, they only do that if neither one of them backs down after a dispute. Usually my pair (which are both male, or at least think they're male) display at each other, and one backs off when charged at (the larger one, ironically). But on occasion, especially when feeding their live food as LHG said, they both stand their ground, and one will charge directly into the others face resulting in a short liplock that quickly sorts everything out.

In my case, I haven't seen them do it in a long time, but they used to do it quite often when they were first introduced into my tank.

Two individuals of the same gender - fight.

Two individuals of different gender - could be a prelude to mating.

In the case of larger Cichlids the jaw locking behaviour as a courtship preamble is well documented. Convicts, Dempseys etc., all engage in it at some point. Would not surprise me to see Bolivian Rams engage likewise, unless anyone here with breeding experience can tell me that this is not an observed courtship ritual for this species.


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When I had all 5 of my bolivian rams, they often engaged in this lip locking behaviour, usually shortly before mating and laying eggs.
I found it was usually the female locking lips with the dominant male.


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