# New spider - Blue Baboon.



## Bumblingbear (May 5, 2011)

Sooo....

I just picked up a monocentropus balfouri.  I also got a P. Ornata and another Avicularia for the collection.

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone know how aggressive they are.  I've heard they're chill for their genus, but while I was rehousing my sling today in the tub, he/she was throwing up threat signs like a gang banger on the wrong side of town.

Any input in welcome.


----------



## Najakeeper (May 5, 2011)

I let mine walk on my arm sometimes without any issues. Not even close to their OBT cousins .

But still to be respected as they are old worlds.


----------



## BigJ999 (May 5, 2011)

Given its a baboon im shocked by hearing threat poses  the whole genus has a attitude lol


----------



## axelroach (May 5, 2011)

Very nice T's non the less ^^


----------



## xhexdx (May 5, 2011)

They're not aggressive.  If anything, they're defensive.

I've never heard it called a blue baboon before...let's stick with binomial nomenclature.


----------



## RoseT (May 6, 2011)

I actually like that name, the blue baboon. When I was at pauls place he showed me his mini comunal set  up he had with like 3 females and two males I think it was...anyway, they  didn't seem very defensive, or aggressive, more eager to hide if anything.  Gorgeous sp, ill be making one my own very soon. Great buy!


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 6, 2011)

Thanks for all the input.

I named him/her "Mokey", and I was very happy that Mokey was able to keep her home when I transferred her.

She had made a little home under a piece of cork inside the enclosure at the pet store.  When I transferred her to a better enclosure, I used the same substrate that the store did, and I was able to transfer her burrow under the cork - webbing, room and all.

The result was that after moving her, she immediately had a home and was able to feel safe.  She got fed at the pet store while I watched before buying her, so I know she's full.

All in all, it was a very painless transfer - other than the threat signs and trying to run faster than Jesse Owens in the tub.

Right now I am not sure which T is faster - the A. Diversipes or the M. Balfouri.


----------



## Najakeeper (May 6, 2011)

Pet shops sell M.balfouris these days? There is supposed to be a significant price difference between males and females so hope the gender they mentioned is true. If I can produce from my trio, I am going to start a communal setup with one sac and
the mother for sure. In my opinion this species is the most beautiful, too bad we hardly get to see them out and about...


----------



## xhexdx (May 6, 2011)

In case anyone is concerned with proper capitalization...species isn't capitalized, only genus.


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 6, 2011)

Najakeeper said:


> Pet shops sell M.balfouris these days? There is supposed to be a significant price difference between males and females so hope the gender they mentioned is true. If I can produce from my trio, I am going to start a communal setup with one sac and
> the mother for sure. In my opinion this species is the most beautiful, too bad we hardly get to see them out and about...


My specimen was unsexed.  I just say "she" hopefully now.

Still, whether Mokey is a he or a she, I plan on maybe loaning her out to a breeder in the future.

As for the pet store, I got her from the best brick and mortar store for Ts I have ever seen.

I've been all over the country, and I've never seen a store this good.

I got my A. Diversipes there as well.  

The store has sold P. Metallica slings and an adult too.

They even have a few specimens that are the first captive bred examples of their kind. 

The manager is extremely knowledgeable and has done research on native species.




xhexdx said:


> In case anyone is concerned with proper capitalization...species isn't capitalized, only genus.


I did not know that.  Thanks for the clarification.


----------



## xhexdx (May 6, 2011)

My pleasure.

When you have a chance, read through the stickies at the top of each subforum.  Specifically, the stickies in Tarantula Questions & Discussions.  Lots of great info there that will save you a ton of time.


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 6, 2011)

This is my M. balfouri's enclosure.

[

Apologies for the bad pic, but I just snapped it with my phone.

Most of my other spiders are arboreals, so it's kind of nice having another terrestrial besides my B. albopilosum.


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 14, 2011)

*Update*

Soooo...

My M. balfouri is a little piggy.  She keeps coming out like she's hungry, but I'm not going to feed her anymore because her abdomen is fairly large.

She also likes to eyeball the opening of the enclosure when I pull out any cricket parts.  I'm super, super careful with this spider.  I know how fast she can move.

I always have to stay on my toes, but I have to admit I really like this T.  She comes out at least 5 times a day, and is getting less and less shy around me.  I have all my Ts on a stand next to my computer so I get to observe them a lot.

Unfortunately I did not get to see my P. ornata molt, but I'm crossing my fingers about the M. balfouri.


----------



## Spidershane1 (May 14, 2011)

Najakeeper said:


> Pet shops sell M.balfouris these days?


My local shop does ;P

The sling they have is $100 which aint half bad. I went in there to buy it, but ended up getting the $90 sub-adult P. miranda instead, hehe.

My LPS is so awesome, they got regalis, ornatas, goliaths, versis, irminias, boehmi, cobalts, aphonopemlmas, B smithis, king baboons, C bertaes, pulchras, h macs, cobalts, earth tigers, coloratovillosus', 6-7 sp of avics, over a dozen sp of 'pedes, 15 or so sp of scorps, giant gigas milipedes, and soooo much more. Probably near 100 T's at times, for prices better than online. 

Sorry I'm getting way off topic here, I just wanted to rant for a sec about how much I love my LPS, lol.


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 14, 2011)

Ugh.  I was an idiot and put too much water in the enclosure, so I just had to change out the substrate.  I saw a little bit of mold.

So now my spider is all freaked out.  I did put a new piece of cork in there and she just stayed in the corner, but then I thought better of it and put her old piece of cork in there with all of her old web on it.  That did the trick.  She is hiding now.

::hits self:: stupid stupid stupid.  Oh well, lesson learned and at least Mokey is alive.



Spidershane1 said:


> My local shop does ;P
> 
> The sling they have is $100 which aint half bad. I went in there to buy it, but ended up getting the $90 sub-adult P. miranda instead, hehe.


Wow those are fantastic prices.  My M. balfouri cost 300 bucks for a 1 inch sling.


----------



## KoriTamashii (May 14, 2011)

Bumblingbear said:


> Wow those are fantastic prices.  My M. balfouri cost 300 bucks for a 1 inch sling.


Whoah. You got gipped.


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 14, 2011)

KoriTamashii said:


> Whoah. You got gipped.


That seems to be about what they go for.  150-300 per sling.

It was worth it to me to buy it in a store because then I did not have to pay shipping, and I got to make sure my sling was eating well, in good health, and spunky.


----------



## KoriTamashii (May 14, 2011)

I've NEVER seen a sling go for $300. Highest I've ever seen was close to $200, and it was a BIG sling.

I repeat, you got gipped.


----------



## bravesvikings20 (May 14, 2011)

KoriTamashii said:


> I've NEVER seen a sling go for $300. Highest I've ever seen was close to $200, and it was a BIG sling.
> 
> I repeat, you got gipped.


I agree, I just got mine in about 2 days ago for a total of 125 shipped. You did get ripped off.


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 14, 2011)

I will live.

It's worth 100 bucks to me to know exactly what I am getting.

And like I've said in another thread, compared to having close to a grand of livestock die on me in a day when I had reef tanks, Ts are a very cheap and easy hobby.


----------



## baboonfan (May 14, 2011)

Bumblingbear said:


> I will live.
> 
> It's worth 100 bucks to me to know exactly what I am getting.
> 
> And like I've said in another thread, compared to having close to a grand of livestock die on me in a day when I had reef tanks, Ts are a very cheap and easy hobby.


Reef tanks are a nightmare, I had a 55 gallon that costed me more than I made. Never again will I get into that.


----------



## malhomme (May 15, 2011)

KoriTamashii said:


> Whoah. You got gipped.


Yeah, I saw one at the LPS for $300.  Couldn't believe it.  It's like the joke about the guy selling pencils for $100/ea.  He only has to sell one.


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 15, 2011)

malhomme said:


> Yeah, I saw one at the LPS for $300.  Couldn't believe it.  It's like the joke about the guy selling pencils for $100/ea.  He only has to sell one.


If you saw it at Zoo Keeper, I got the other one. 

I bought 5 spiders at once though so I got a good deal.


----------



## malhomme (May 15, 2011)

Bumblingbear said:


> If you saw it at Zoo Keeper, I got the other one.
> 
> I bought 5 spiders at once though so I got a good deal.


Dave is a great guy and his markups are usually VERY reasonable.  However, a markup of 240% is, well, extreme.  It  made me wonder how much he was into the Mb's if his retail position is that high on them.  It's uncharacteristic for him to be so far off.

At the herp show this weekend in RR, you could have picked-up a 1.25" Mb for $150.  They were healthy too.

Love Dave, just think something else was going on for the price delta to be so large.

Are you in Austin, then?


----------



## teamster6 (May 16, 2011)

I bought two 1 inch slings for 100 bucks a piece. 

t6


----------



## Armstrong5 (May 16, 2011)

Yea I've been wanting an M. balfouri or Socotra Island Blue Baboon for a while now. Blue Baboons are awesome.


----------



## synyster (May 16, 2011)

Being in the states, i'd say 300 was way off the normal price too! 

But I know that here in canada, 250$ for a 1" Mb sling is a normal price. No wonder I don't have one in my collection so far.....


----------



## Bumblingbear (May 16, 2011)

malhomme said:


> Dave is a great guy and his markups are usually VERY reasonable.  However, a markup of 240% is, well, extreme.  It  made me wonder how much he was into the Mb's if his retail position is that high on them.  It's uncharacteristic for him to be so far off.
> 
> At the herp show this weekend in RR, you could have picked-up a 1.25" Mb for $150.  They were healthy too.
> 
> ...


Yup.

And like I said, I am sure he knows what they go for because I got a good deal on mine with all the other spiders I got.

He said that when he mated a P. metallica though, he sold all the slings for 200 a piece. So... ::shrug::.

I guess there are a lot of people like me who are willing to pay more for an animal in person.  I really don't like buying things online.

I just got a neat P. lugardi from Dave too.

Between my spiders and the gf's ferret, I've spent a fortune at Zoo Keeper... lol.

And like I said - it's all STILL far less than I'd be paying for a reef tank if I were into that hobby again.

I don't make enough money to do saltwater anymore.  But I don't want to sell my equipment because I'd get almost nothing for it on craigslist.


----------

