A. avic Cohab Experiment

[Jeff23]

I don't think it was me that said that. Mine all live together in the same burrow, always have, over 4 years now. They have room to spread out, but dont.

Are yours from the same egg sac or different sources?

 

[BobBarley]

I don't think it was me that said that. Mine all live together in the same burrow, always have, over 4 years now. They have room to spread out, but dont.

Guess it was Blue Jaye lol, my bad.

 

[mistertim]

Well that's a bit rude.

As I've mentioned before, there are several places and care sheets, as well as a couple of breeders, who believe A. avic can be cohabbed. Knowing as I do that Ts are generally antisocial, the discrepancy with this particular species was odd, and surely has to have come from somewhere. With no recent data to work with, it's impossible to say.

That said, as the great majority don't believe it can be done, I have no interest in investing myself or my spiders in a project doomed to failure, so I'll be discontinuing the experiment. If the current community does not believe it could herald any useful results then there's no point to putting them in unnecessary danger.
I thank everyone who commented and shared their advice! (Except for rude guy) I have taken it into account and will not be pursuing the experiment!

I wasn't trying to be rude, I was being honest about how I saw it. You're trying something that is known to fail for, apparently, the pure hell of it. These spiders live in isolation in the wild and trying to keep them communally pretty much always fails from everything I've read. As @viper69 noted, 4 months is NOT a success. Entire life cycle is a success. Your best interests are obviously not with the spiders you intend to keep, but with your own desire to "experiment", and in this case the experiment will almost surely end up in at least one dead tarantula which otherwise could have lived a full life if you hadn't decided to do the experiment. To me that sort of whispers "sadistic".

 

[Formerphobe]

Are yours from the same egg sac or different sources?

The 3 females are from same egg sac. They've been cohabbing with an unrelated male for over a year.

 

[Jeff23]

The 3 females are from same egg sac. They've been cohabbing with an unrelated male for over a year.

Thanks.

In some species the female will not breed with the same male again after the first attempt or success. Does the same rule apply in this case? It also seems like population control would be the biggest challenge. Is it easy to extract the egg sac or do you just let them hatch and then retrieve the slings?

EDIT* I failed to clarify. I meant the Balfouri in this question.

 

[Realevil1]

Well there are two scenarios that can and most likely would pan out.

A.) A big enclosure (not used by others that successfully keep groups together) will create boundaries, and territorial, possibly aggressive behavior. Those who have had success with small groups, have done so by keeping them in close quarters, forming the group bond and forcing tolerance on the members of that group. They have also mainly done this with sac mates. Strangers usually in most cases don`t get along regardless.

B.) You can try and keep sac mates together in a 12x18 (1-4 T`s at most) or an 18x24 (4 or more) tall enclosure.
But keep in mind, if you do not keep track and make sure every member of that groups eats well, molts well and has similar, consistent growth as the others, one or more may become meals for a bigger more dominant T.
The other thing to watch for (as mentioned earlier) is a T mistaking another for food during feeding time, only takes a fraction of a second. Just like during mating, if your not right on top of them the male can become the meal in the blink of an eye.

Neither approach is guaranteed to be successful. And personally sacrificing T`s for an unnecessary experiment at home seems pointless imo.
Just my .02

 

[BobBarley]

Thanks.

In some species the female will not breed with the same male again after the first attempt or success. Does the same rule apply in this case? It also seems like population control would be the biggest challenge. Is it easy to extract the egg sac or do you just let them hatch and then retrieve the slings?

This species (M. balfouri) does best if the female cares for the slings... If the sac is pulled, many times the slings just die (or so I've read). I've also seen pics of the mother sharing food with her 2nd instar babies. Really fascinating.

 

[Bugmom]

Thanks.

In some species the female will not breed with the same male again after the first attempt or success. Does the same rule apply in this case?

I've never heard of that (perhaps I just missed it). Do you have a link(s) or something?

It also seems like population control would be the biggest challenge. Is it easy to extract the egg sac or do you just let them hatch and then retrieve the slings?

Pulling a balfouri sac is a huge mistake. You just don't do it. They're the exception to the rule for cohabbing and pulling egg sacs.

 

[Jeff23]

I've never heard of that (perhaps I just missed it). Do you have a link(s) or something?


Pulling a balfouri sac is a huge mistake. You just don't do it. They're the exception to the rule for cohabbing and pulling egg sacs.

Unfortunately I don't at the moment. I thought I had seen it on a few threads discussing breeding. Once the mating attempt occurs for most species of T you do not put the same MM back into the same tank with the female. Thus you could not use the same male for more than one egg sac. Maybe this is the case only when the 1st attempt at mating attempt fails? I suppose we can throw my comment away if I am wrong. I am still new to this part of the hobby.

 

[Formerphobe]

Thanks.

In some species the female will not breed with the same male again after the first attempt or success. Does the same rule apply in this case? It also seems like population control would be the biggest challenge. Is it easy to extract the egg sac or do you just let them hatch and then retrieve the slings?

EDIT* I failed to clarify. I meant the Balfouri in this question.

I'd never heard that.
I've not had any egg sacs to date. I suspect the male, even when in his prime, was throwing blanks. He also paired with a friend's female who double clutched, but neither sac was viable.
Like others have already stated, balfouri sacs do best when left with the mom to raise.

 

[Bugmom]

Unfortunately I don't at the moment. I thought I had seen it on a few threads discussing breeding. Once the mating attempt occurs for most species of T you do not put the same MM back into the same tank with the female. Thus you could not use the same male for more than one egg sac. Maybe this is the case only when the 1st attempt at mating attempt fails? I suppose we can throw my comment away if I am wrong. I am still new to this part of the hobby.

It's common to pair a male and female up more than once; I don't know many breeders who don't try for multiple pairings (the only time I don't is if I know for sure that he got an insertion). All we can do is speculate on why a female isn't receptive a second time.

Of course, by the time she's ready to breed again after laying a sac, you'll be using a new MM anyway cause you'll want a fresh one with vibrant sperm, not an old decrepit one, assuming the first one was still alive at all.

 

[Jeff23]

I'd never heard that.
I've not had any egg sacs to date. I suspect the male, even when in his prime, was throwing blanks. He also paired with a friend's female who double clutched, but neither sac was viable.
Like others have already stated, balfouri sacs do best when left with the mom to raise.

My last comment was meant with regard to other T species (not the Balfouri). But once again I probably misread something or got it from a bad source.