Communist or anti-communist?

[Olan]

Ok, @Ungoliant wins the thread

 

[Blue Jaye]

None of my M.balfouri have ever popped out on me. I give them a nice sized enclosure with lots of dirt to burrow in. They tend to all run for the communal burrow and they don't come out till I have long since left. Rehousing is a little more detailed but multiple catch cups and lids help with that. Making sure you're prepared (like you would for any re house) is key.

It's only slightly more difficult to care for them in a group than a solo T is IMO. There again I'm a less hands on kinda keeper. I don't try to tong feed or coax out my T for a photo using a paint brush.

I've found if I feed them I can catch cup them super (and I do mean super) easy. Mine all come out to eat together. I caught 18 of them in less than 5 minutes doing it that way.

 

[Blue Jaye]

Hopefully it's not to late to respond to the communal topic lol. My thoughts about communal set up's while I do keep M.balfouri communal I would not do it with anything else that we have in the hobby. I haven't seen any other species act more than tolerant of one another in the communal set up's I've seen. M.balfouri seem to be a world apart in that aspect. They don't just tolerate on another. They actually constantly touch, vibrate and communicate with one another. When given the opportunity to eat their own food most of them choose to share. There are a few individuals who like to grab and run. I have been doing this for several years now with only one loss that I can count. Even saw it and it was one of the smaller individuals that just looked weak. I had even kept a male and female as a pair with very good results. Saw the strangest thing I've ever seen in tarantulas. When the male was close to passing the female stayed with him for three days petting him and carefully keeping him close. On the fourth day he passed in the morning and she ate him. I've seen a whole different world with this species unlike anything I've seen with other tarantulas. If you think about it they do come from an island. It would be understandable that they would be communal for lack of real estate. Just some experiences and thoughts.

 

[Trenor]

I've found if I feed them I can catch cup them super (and I do mean super) easy. Mine all come out to eat together. I caught 18 of them in less than 5 minutes doing it that way.

Mine all come out to eat together but I've only had to rehouse them once. I opened up the burrow by lifting off the cork. They really didn't even try to make a break. Just moved to some web that was left and I caught them.

 

[Blue Jaye]

Mine all come out to eat together but I've only had to rehouse them once. I opened up the burrow by lifting off the cork. They really didn't even try to make a break. Just moved to some web that was left and I caught them.

They seem to be a lot calmer when kept communal. The ones I keep separate are fast and flighty.

 

[Trenor]

They seem to be a lot calmer when kept communal. The ones I keep separate are fast and flighty.

The only solo one I have is still pretty tiny. It's in a 2oz condiment cup and hasn't done much since it made the burrow. Now that it's bigger, I'm thinking about merging it back into the others that came from the same communal setup as it did when I rehouse them. I didn't put it in there to start with because I worried it might be able to get out of the vent holes in the communal enclosure.

 

[Bread]

How many do you have in your setup Blue Jaye? and what size is the enclosure?

ta

 

[Trenor]

How many do you have in your setup Blue Jaye? and what size is the enclosure?

ta

It helps if you @Blue Jaye so it ends up in her notifications.

 

[Bread]

ah, thanks

 

[Blue Jaye]

How many do you have in your setup Blue Jaye? and what size is the enclosure?

ta

I had 5 adult females in a 40 gallon. That communal did very well no problems. I had paired Bling (the female all the stories are about) she was in a ten gallon when she dropped a sac. I was watching her raise up the slings looked like about 52 of them that I could count. Then she dropped another sac that I was unaware of till the little guys emerged from the burrow. First set were already second and third instar and the first instars started to mingle. 47 was the count I got on the new ones. That's 100 counting mom in the ten gallon. Way to many but at that time I couldn't remove any as Bling wouldn't let me get near them. So I fed, watered, watched and waited. It became such a fascinating project and all seemed to cohabitate very well that I didn't change it till they started running out of room. They were growing twice as fast as the sac before that I had separated from mom. As they started getting larger I pulled a goodly amount of them worring they were running out of room and would start squabbling. Which they do a bit but no one gets hurt. I have a 60 gallon that I'm moving the rest into and have sold quite a few . Right now there are 18 juvies and Bling in the ten gallon. The rest are in pairs in large deli tubs with no problems. They all have continued to get along like a very large family.