How many times do you pair them with no lock?

Some males are 'shy' and will lock only in the dead of night, and you'll find them separated but 'cuddling' in the morning.
If the male and female are on opposite sides of the bin, that's a sign that she isn't putting out the pheromones that interest him, yet.

Courting behaviors including following, scent marking (usually with a release of urates as well), the male crawling over the female, and laying with their tails side by side (but not locked).

They can make an absolute mess with the scent marking and urates. :P

try pairing them on a 4 day sched, it works for me sometimes:O

So this current paring I have been much luckier. I have yet to see my male Mojave away from the female that I am paring him with. I haven't physically seen a lock because her tale is always hidden but his is usually hidden with hers. So that is a huge positive for me.

But my new question is, if they aren't separated and still on top of each other do I still separate them? Today is the day that I separate my pairs.