Breeding Communal M Balfouri

[Jerry1911]

Im planning to get a communal M Balfouri as slings(maybe 6 or 7 slings).
Im also planning on breeding them.
How can I breed communal tarantula?
I've heard that those who keep them communally tend to have hard time for them to reproduce.
Any tips or advice?

 

[moricollins]

Advice: don't keep them communally. Removes the problem of trying to breed them communally and that other problem, the one where they occasionally eat each other.

 

[Neonblizzard]

Seems to be quite a surge of people interested in M. Balfouri communes recently on the boards. I think the best advice to avoid any risks is to just not do it

 

[Frogdaddy]

Im planning to get a communal M Balfouri as slings(maybe 6 or 7 slings).
Im also planning on breeding them.
How can I breed communal tarantula?
I've heard that those who keep them communally tend to have hard time for them to reproduce.
Any tips or advice?

That's a lot to bite off and chew for a first post. Are you new to tarantulas?

 

[Liquifin]

As someone who has bred and produced M. balfouri a few times and have watched other peoples communals. I can say that it is better to keep them separate if you are planning to breed them in the future. Keeping a communal can make it harder for them to breed because there is a lot of movement and commotion within a communal. If you are getting a group then they are most likely siblings. So I don't recommend breeding them if they're siblings.

 

[viper69]

Seems to be quite a surge of people interested in M. Balfouri communes recently on the boards. I think the best advice to avoid any risks is to just not do it

Nope, it’s a constant question

 

[Irithyllian]

Im planning to get a communal M Balfouri as slings(maybe 6 or 7 slings).
Im also planning on breeding them.
How can I breed communal tarantula?
I've heard that those who keep them communally tend to have hard time for them to reproduce.
Any tips or advice?

I asked a very similar question when I made an account here, most people here greatly dislike communals, as a result information on communals here is very little and is usually met with more criticism and moral relativism l, which in a certain sense is understandable.
I have two communals one of M balfouri with 5 of them, and a gooty sapphire communal of 4.

Since you are interested in balfouri, if you do this definitely make them grow up together, T’s reproducing in communals isn’t something I hear much about even on YouTube, currently I haven’t had any deaths in any of my communals, except one and sadly it was a pokie who got stuck in his molt, he wasn’t killed by his brothers, my balfouri though.. since they live underground usually, seeing all of them out at once is nearly impossible, the most I have seen out at one time is 3. Bear in mind with this communal, I had two balfouri together from the beginning then I added a deli cup of 3 balfouri I bought from the pet store that was communal from birth and added them in there, the ones in it before did accept them into it, they were about 2 molts behind the originals as well as one being 1 molt behind his two original brothers.
I have yet to see any of my balfouri kill each other also. But again, they live underground so I won’t actually know that until they all become very large and need a rehouse.

My pokies however, in all honesty, personal opinion though and possibly a little biased, seem to enjoy each other’s company. I say this because I watch them often, and not only do they often stay near each other fairly often I can see them interact with tapping weird leg patterns on the glass to each other then they each move and start webbing an area together, back when they were in their smaller enclosure they even stayed next to each other when another would molt. Truly fascinating.

sorry for not really answering your question perfectly, but I don’t know anything about communal pairing, but if you are going to do a communal, I would do pokies so you can actually get the most out of it. rehouse them all together and in a new enclosure at once, but make sure it’s small enough you don’t want them to get too much space from each other this causes territory issues and definitely make sure they are the same size to be safe.

 

[cold blood]

As someone who has bred and produced M. balfouri a few times and have watched other peoples communals. I can say that it is better to keep them separate if you are planning to breed them in the future. Keeping a communal can make it harder for them to breed because there is a lot of movement and commotion within a communal. If you are getting a group then they are most likely siblings. So I don't recommend breeding them if they're siblings.

Good advice. You can just leave communals of siblings reproduce, but they may not mature at the same time, and if they do, they are still siblings. Nothing against balfouri communals personally, I have a small one myself and just removed a male that matured so he could breed with not related balfouri...plus, I doubt highly the biggest female is even mature anyway.

People I know that breed balfouri in communals remove males when they mature, and introduce outside MMs to the mix for breeding purposes.

 

[Crazyarachnoguy]

You don’t breed in communals, you must separate them.

 

[vurzachee]

back when they were in their smaller enclosure they even stayed next to each other when another would molt.

Communal poecilotheria have a reputation for waiting for their companions to molt before ambushing them, so one was probably just planning out a future homicide.

 

[Irithyllian]

Communal poecilotheria have a reputation for waiting for their companions to molt before ambushing them, so one was probably just planning out a future homicide.

If you say so, 4 molts for 4 T’s and there’s been no issues.

 

[vurzachee]

If you say so, 4 molts for 4 T’s and there’s been no issues.

Could give you plenty of links of failed communals at the juvie/adult stage but i know you think you know what youre doing so update us in a year.

 

[Irithyllian]

Could give you plenty of links of failed communals at the juvie/adult stage but i know you think you know what youre doing so update us in a year.

That’s the plan, 6 months so far no issues since they’ve been together, I’ll be reporting on the balfouri communal too.

 

[Charliemum]

That’s the plan, 6 months so far no issues since they’ve been together, I’ll be reporting on the balfouri communal too.

I find both of these sp fascinating so please tag me when you write the post I look forward to seeing your results

 

[vurzachee]

I find both of these sp fascinating so please tag me when you write the post I look forward to seeing your results

but... theres hundreds of results already, why do you look forward to his? potentially risking these animals lives for fun and personal enjoyment after so much data of failure and loss of specimens(that are endangered) is nothing less than idiotic.

 

[Charliemum]

but... theres hundreds of results already, why do you look forward to his? potentially risking these animals lives for fun and personal enjoyment after so much data of failure and loss of specimens(that are endangered) is nothing less than idiotic.

I have not specifically looked for it , it isn't something I researched I am aware they can live communally but like you have not heard good results, if his results are good I am interested to see what if anything in his community was different. It may help others who feel the need to go down that path in the future. All t's interest me I am new to the world of t's and learning what I can about them. It isn't good to say someone is idiotic for wanting to learn that's what most of us joined for, to learn more about these amazing creatures, nothing idiotic about that.

 

[Irithyllian]

I have not specifically looked for it , it isn't something I researched I am aware they can live communally but like you have not heard good results, if his results are good I am interested to see what if anything in his community was different. It may help others who feel the need to go down that path in the future. All t's interest me I am new to the world of t's and learning what I can about them. It isn't good to say someone is idiotic for wanting to learn that's what most of us joined for, to learn more about these amazing creatures, nothing idiotic about that.

Wahoo someone who thinks I’m not a fool

 

[ccTroi]

Wahoo someone who thinks I’m not a fool

me too uwu