may be getting back into hobby?

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
19
i have been in this hobby before a few years back and had to sell my whole collection including my reptiles due to a move:(. ive been browsing around the forum lately and have been feeling the itch lmao. i had a pretty decent sized collection before and one of the few i didnt have was the M. balfouri... ive always been interested in them living communally and only really want to get back into the hobby to have simply just that. im wondering if there is anyone currently using arachnoboards that has a M. balfouri communal setup? id like to know what size enclosure you started with, size of the Ts when you started, and any other useful information besides the fact that they have to be sac mates. i would love some info from somebody that has hands on experience with this! thanks
 

Jones0911

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
406
I currently have a new trio set up:

——tall deli cup

—— very deep substrate

—— water dish

—— When you feed them make sure the ratio of food to Ts is 5:1 so they don’t fight over food or eat each other

——— make sure you don’t have them in a huge enclosure as slings you don’t want them to make Territories


——— Feed weekly
 

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
19
what size enclosure would you recommend for maybe 10 slings of about 1-1 1/2" in size? and whats the max size enclosure i would need when they reach adulthood? i would like to have all the different size enclosures ready for when i need to rehouse them throughout their lives. ive found a 75 gallon tank on craigslist for a decent price but im not sure whether or not that would be too big or not big enough when they reach adulthood. also how did you have your enclosure set up? did you just give them deep substrate to make their burrows in, or did you also premake the burrows for them?
 

Ztesch

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
196
Check out @Tomoran's Balfouri communal on you tube.
His videos are verry informative and have some great footage.
 

Tomoran

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
239
what size enclosure would you recommend for maybe 10 slings of about 1-1 1/2" in size? and whats the max size enclosure i would need when they reach adulthood? i would like to have all the different size enclosures ready for when i need to rehouse them throughout their lives. ive found a 75 gallon tank on craigslist for a decent price but im not sure whether or not that would be too big or not big enough when they reach adulthood. also how did you have your enclosure set up? did you just give them deep substrate to make their burrows in, or did you also premake the burrows for them?
I started mine in an enclosure that was about 8 x 8 x 11" (I'll double-check the dimensions when I get home). The had plenty of substrate in which to dig, and I gave them several pieces of cork bark and starter burrows. There were nine slings from two sacs and they were about .5-.75" each. When I housed them, all of the slings eventually ended up in the same burrow. They didn't dig very deep, and most of their burrows were closer to the surface and surrounded by webbing.

I fed them twice a week, starting with pre-killed until they molted out a few times. At that point, I switched to medium red runners and crickets, and I usually put in 15 or so. I switched to feeding them once a week once they hit about 1.5"; at this point they were eating large crickets. They grew very quickly, and I needed to rehouse them after about 11 months. The new enclosure is 11 x 11 x 24". I got my first mature male 14 months after first getting them. Hope that helps!
 

Ztesch

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
196
Hey Tom I wonder if problems within the communal might arise once you have mature males and mature females coexisting together. It will be interesting to see how the males work out who gets to breed with the females or if its just a free for all.
 

Tomoran

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
239
Hey Tom I wonder if problems within the communal might arise once you have mature males and mature females coexisting together. It will be interesting to see how the males work out who gets to breed with the females or if its just a free for all.
That's one of the things I'm still very curious about. So far, there is only the one male, so there have been no issues. Although I've definitely caught some interesting behavior, he hasn't upset the communal yet. I'm not sure if things will change if I get a couple more males. I'm fully prepared to pull them out if changes the dynamic for the worse! :)
 

Ztesch

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
196
Ooops I guess I missed that! Anyways keep up the good work, love the vids!
 

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
19
I started mine in an enclosure that was about 8 x 8 x 11" (I'll double-check the dimensions when I get home). The had plenty of substrate in which to dig, and I gave them several pieces of cork bark and starter burrows. There were nine slings from two sacs and they were about .5-.75" each. When I housed them, all of the slings eventually ended up in the same burrow. They didn't dig very deep, and most of their burrows were closer to the surface and surrounded by webbing.

I fed them twice a week, starting with pre-killed until they molted out a few times. At that point, I switched to medium red runners and crickets, and I usually put in 15 or so. I switched to feeding them once a week once they hit about 1.5"; at this point they were eating large crickets. They grew very quickly, and I needed to rehouse them after about 11 months. The new enclosure is 11 x 11 x 24". I got my first mature male 14 months after first getting them. Hope that helps!
thanks for the reply that actually does help a lot. ill probably not go with the 75 gallon because that seems ALOT bigger then what your talking about. ive got a bunch of old cork bark I can use for the enclosure. I think I might make my own enclosure for them though with acrylic. I have heard they don't require a lot of humidity and like it dry, is that true?
 

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
19
That's one of the things I'm still very curious about. So far, there is only the one male, so there have been no issues. Although I've definitely caught some interesting behavior, he hasn't upset the communal yet. I'm not sure if things will change if I get a couple more males. I'm fully prepared to pull them out if changes the dynamic for the worse! :)
would a mature male and mature female from the same sac actually try to mate? shouldn't the males be maturing way before the females?
 

Tomoran

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
239
thanks for the reply that actually does help a lot. ill probably not go with the 75 gallon because that seems ALOT bigger then what your talking about. ive got a bunch of old cork bark I can use for the enclosure. I think I might make my own enclosure for them though with acrylic. I have heard they don't require a lot of humidity and like it dry, is that true?
Yup, they've been bone dry since slings (I gave them a water dish, but they pretty much ignore it).

A mature male and female from the same sac could mate. However, my ladies are still quite small, so I'm not sure if they're ready to breed yet. I just don't want the boys to end up annoying the females with their constant overtures. :)
 

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
19
Yup, they've been bone dry since slings (I gave them a water dish, but they pretty much ignore it).

A mature male and female from the same sac could mate. However, my ladies are still quite small, so I'm not sure if they're ready to breed yet. I just don't want the boys to end up annoying the females with their constant overtures. :)
it would be interesting to see a female give birth to all those babies in a communal setup. that is, if you left it with the mother. but I wonder if sac mates breeding can cause any complications or any kind of deformity. it would be cool to see how a communal setup would react to all those new slings roaming around.
 
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