M. balfouri: What should i do?

[TarantulaVito]

Hey guys, in march i bought 2 Balfouris. As i put them in their enclosure, they both went under a corkbark. Since then i never saw them out ( i know they are the definition of pet holes)and they closed every possible entrance. About 2 weeks ago one of them molted but the other one didnt. The molted one is still in his hide without coming out to eat or do something else. So my question is, will she come out when she is hungry or will she first eat her "sister"? If yes, should i open the hide and put some food for her in it?

 

[Chris LXXIX]

In all honesty I really dislike the so called 'communal' set up/s: too risky, and IMO for... nothing. The old rule of "one enclosure, one invert" never harmed no one, so far, and this is a fact.

Anyway, space is essential when someone decide to try this kind of 'experiments'.

It's normal that the one that molted recently still is hiding, he/she's still weak, molting is a natural but quite 'hard' process. I think that you shouldn't 'open' that hide and throw food: they will trash that web once they are ready for eat.

Keep the other bugger well feed, and keep an eye about the other... but, overall, I continue to disagree with communal set ups.

 

[Sarkhan42]

I’ve had a communal setup of 5 for about 6 months now, and IME the hungry will open up an entrance and won’t bother their siblings. All of mine have molted I believe twice now and are doing very well, I frequently see them out together at night, with no aggression or aversion to speak of. In fact when rehousing I decided to place them all in one large enclosure while setting up the new one, and they cluster together.

 

[Andrea82]

, and they cluster together.

Can you pleeeeease take a picture if that happens again next rehousing? A cluster of M.balfouri sounds very squeee to me for some reason

 

[chanda]

I've had a communal group of five for about a year and a half now, and have had no issues with aggression or cannibalism. They tend to hang out together, frequently piling on top of one another in the entrance to their burrows. I'll be honest - I never know if/when they're molting or premolt because it's so rare to see all five out and about at the same time - so I just toss in a bunch of crickets every week or so and assume somebody will eat them. (I also toss in dog food and veggies for the crickets to eat, just in case they don't get eaten right away.) It seems to be working so far. While I don't know how many times the balfouri have molted (the darn things are hoarders, keeping the molts in their burrows) they've grown substantially, from tiny slings to around a 2.5 - 3 inch legspan - so I'd say they're doing well.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Can you pleeeeease take a picture if that happens again next rehousing? A cluster of M.balfouri sounds very squeee to me for some reason

Dug through my photos and found one of 3, but unfortunately not of all 5. Have a bonus photo of getting them out last time

 

[Andrea82]

View attachment 275027 View attachment 275028

Dug through my photos and found one of 3, but unfortunately not of all 5. Have a bonus photo of getting them out last time

Oh my gosh. I don't go squee fast but this is too much

Thank you