Toms M. balfouri update

[Venom1080]

Check this one out, has some really cool behaviour I never even heard of. a actual food fight. Wow. Great footage, Tom.

@viper69 looks like it intentionally went for the cricket, not the other spider at all. Almost punched it out of the way. Makes you wonder at just how communal they actually are in the wild..

 

[BC1579]

If they weren't so expensive I'd love a colony. I feel like that's something you have to come up with all at once as opposed to adding them here and there. That's nearly a grand in Ts I imagine.

 

[Venom1080]

If they weren't so expensive I'd love a colony. I feel like that's something you have to come up with all at once as opposed to adding them here and there. That's nearly a grand in Ts I imagine.

Agreed. I'd like a trio, but still, that's 150 bucks.

 

[BC1579]

And a lot of places are asking 150+ per.

 

[Venom1080]

And a lot of places are asking 150+ per.

Haha that's extortionate.

 

[BC1579]

Free market, I suppose. That’s what Best In Show at BTS will get you.

 

[Trenor]

Huh, that's something I've not seen before. He says he drops in 15-20 crickets per feeding. I wonder how often he is feeding them.

I feed dubias (rather large ones for their size) to my communal setups. I usually leave one per tarantula and by the time they finish the one they have the others have eaten if they want to. I've never had a tarantula grab more than one dubia though that is likely due to the size prey I feed in relation to the tarantula.

Interesting video.

 

[BC1579]

What other communals are popular?

I kept two A. avics communally, but I was couldn't be sure they were both eating. I'm sure they were fine, but I separated them anyway and I think they're happier for it.

 

[miss moxie]

If they weren't so expensive I'd love a colony. I feel like that's something you have to come up with all at once as opposed to adding them here and there. That's nearly a grand in Ts I imagine.

Not totally true. You'd just want to keep them separate and then when you have the number you want, introduce them all to a large enclosure.

 

[Trenor]

And a lot of places are asking 150+ per.

I wouldn't be buying at "A lot of those places". You can get them way cheaper than that. I bought 5 slings for 30 dollars each. You just need to shop around.

 

[BC1579]

Not totally true. You'd just want to keep them separate and then when you have the number you want, introduce them all to a large enclosure.

I didn't know that. I figured they'd have to be sac mates.

 

[BC1579]

I wouldn't be buying at "A lot of those places". You can get them way cheaper than that. I bought 5 slings for 30 dollars each. You just need to shop around.

To be fair, I think these were a little older. But yeah, there's always a better deal out there if you do a little digging.

 

[Trenor]

Not totally true. You'd just want to keep them separate and then when you have the number you want, introduce them all to a large enclosure.

I'm planning on merging my two communal setups into one next rehouse. The oldest has two left after selling off some MMs. The other one has 4 in it and I have one (that was too tiny to put in the communal based on air holes) that is currently solo.

 

[miss moxie]

I didn't know that. I figured they'd have to be sac mates.

Nah, not with M. balfouri. Tom Moran's (he thinks, and he told me) came from different sacs even though they were the same size. He's not 100% though, and I can't really speak for him so I'll just tag him and see if he shows up @Tomoran to explain.

He was also telling me about where someone kept a mature female with some spiderlings/juveniles that weren't hers and they didn't fight.

 

[Venom1080]

What other communals are popular?

I kept two A. avics communally, but I was couldn't be sure they were both eating. I'm sure they were fine, but I separated them anyway and I think they're happier for it.

Pokie, Neoholothele, Hysterocrates, Heterothele.
Some you can raise with mom, pokies you have to just force in a smaller enclosure.


@miss moxie so that's his username! I was trying to find that. Very clever Tom..

 

[BC1579]

That's so cool.

I think it's neat that hobbyists are actually driving a lot of the information-gathering on things like this.

 

[BC1579]

pokies you have to just force in a smaller enclosure.

Same species though, right?

 

[Venom1080]

Same species though, right?

Yes. Different ones are better than others. ornata start killing each other at 2i I hear.

regalis, rufilata, and a few others are pretty good I hear.
Maybe @Poec54 could clarify.

 

[miss moxie]

That's so cool.

I think it's neat that hobbyists are actually driving a lot of the information-gathering on things like this.

Who else would? Spiders are incredibly misunderstood and disliked. There just isn't a lot of research done on them even though they've already found out ways to use spider silk and venom in the medical field.

 

[Poec54]

Balfouri group cages don't always have a happy ending. I've heard from people that have had issues, like most of the young ones gradually disappearing.

I've never heard of Avics going long-term without winding up with only one in the cage.

I've kept various Poec slings in 32 oz deli cups (3-5 per cup, from the same sac) from sling to juvenile and there are dynamics that most are unaware of:

-There's always been food hogs and more passive ones. I've had some quickly grow to 3 to 4", and others in the cup weren't much over an inch. No matter how many crickets I put, the smaller ones were intimidated often didn't eat, while their larger siblings would hog large amounts of crickets (more than they would on their own).

- They molt at different times which makes things more complicated: there will occasionally be times when some are post molt and starving, others premolt and refusing food. Do you feed the hungry ones, and risk the prey injuring the pre-molt and molting siblings? Or do you hold off and risk a large hungry one eating a helpless sibling?

- Given any thought to maintenance? Poecs do better together in tight cages, where individuals can't section off their own territories. What if one gets spooked, the rest panic, and they all run out of the cage, in different directions? How do you catch them all? On a regular basis you've got to retrieve fouled water bowls and refill them, clean boluses, etc. Nudge one accidently, and you could have a jack in the box. This can easily get out of control, and really is nothing for a beginner to attempt.

There was a member here from South Africa that had a number Poec group cages. After several calm years, those adults unexplainably started fighting and killing each. He had to separate the survivors. Kelly Swift, the first person in the US to breed P metallica, had some of those 2nd instar metallica heavily cannibalizing, and lost a large number of them. Ornata is also known to cannibalize at that age.

Group cages aren't the panacea they're sometimes portrayed as.