communual p ornata

[MizM]

These are old world fossorial species I'm talking about, they would never tolerate each other in captivity, yet they can in the wild. Why?? We don't know why. Even if I knew why it happened, the chances of me ever achieving a similar setup in captivity as to what I've seen in the wild are impossible.
Steve

Hmmm, there could be any number of reasons. Perhaps they don't have enough acreage to escape an attack in a small enclosure as they would in the wild. Very interesting, sure wish I had the time to sit and watch their behavior 24/7/365.

I have 20-30 P. murinus RCF in a communal tank. They all came from the same sac, they are about 1 year old, and are of vastly different sizes now! Obviously someone is not getting as many crix as someone else! However, I have NEVER witnessed cannibalism, which doesn't mean it doesn't happen! Some have burrowed, some have made hides in the plants. So far, they keep well away from each other and I watch them for hours on end waiting for a confrontation. (They are next to the computer.)

As far as the Ts benefitting in any way from my little experiment, I can't say one way or another, but I'm sure there isn't undue suffering! They have a lush home, unlimited food, and constant fresh water. If one happens to eat another, it's a quick, "humane" death. I CAN say that I enjoy watching them IMMENSELY, they are an attractive species and more so in greater numbers!

 

[neilkane]

community

your community of t.s sound excellant i hope my little test work as well as yours. mine generaly stay in their {own area} but 2 of em do spend time at close quarters.

 

[Nate]

I have 20-30 P. murinus RCF in a communal tank.

WoW!
That’s a species that never came to my mind when thinking of communal living. If must be full of awesome webbing. :worship:

You gotta share a pic of this setup.

 

[neilkane]

3rd week today

on 3rd week today and not one problem yet.their proper greedy though.

 

[neilkane]

month

well on first month today and everything still ok. they alll keeping their distance from each other presently.

 

[Ronj]

Very interesting debate. Tarantulas are reclusive by nature and forcing them into a communal tank is asking for trouble. There has been LIMITED success, and I respect those that attempt to do so. I agree with Steve in that we simply cannot replicate nature. We do our best and our tarantulas adapt to the conditions that we provide. Understanding the temperature and humidity requirements is only a small part of a much larger picture. Nature is an ever changing condition with many variables.

I would love to see pictures of MizM's setup, and it would be nice to have that display to observe. There must always be something going on in that tank!

This may be silly, but as humans we can live in close proximity to each other like in a large apartment community. We have our space and can come and go as we please. But put us all in a very large house together and someone is going to die!

 

[MizM]

At the moment, there is not much to see. It's just 1" of substrate with lots of little fake plants and hidey holes and such. The only thing visible are a LOT of little tube webs. Two or three have burrowed near the bottom corners of the Kritter Keeper and you can see them. As they near 2", I'm going to have to re-house them. I should take photos as they re-establish their new little territories.

 

[neilkane]

update

just general update on community. has been 6 weeks today

well all 3 still alive and they are well aware of each others presence. all have encountered each other in their own spaces and nothing has happened. i have noticed that when they r close and they notice each other one of them usually taps the tree with its feet as if to say hello. anyone know of this behaviour is it communication between them. their all greedy little things should be good to see how they are when their a little larger.

 

[Nate]

I should take photos as they re-establish their new little territories.

Look forward to the pic of the new home. Sounds like new desktop wallpaper.

 

[neilkane]

pics

id like to see your pics as well dont c too many community photos.





sum of my pics http://www.camberwellcarrot.net/T-Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=28

 

[Cooper]

I have a communal regalis setup with three adult females, it has been successful so far(almost a year).

 

[neilkane]

ace

how many did you have to start with. i only have 3 in one tank

 

[Bearskin10]

just general update on community. has been 6 weeks today

well all 3 still alive and they are well aware of each others presence. all have encountered each other in their own spaces and nothing has happened. i have noticed that when they r close and they notice each other one of them usually taps the tree with its feet as if to say hello. anyone know of this behaviour is it communication between them. their all greedy little things should be good to see how they are when their a little larger.

Well I am going to say it, I am all for trying the communal thing as I posted earlier in this thread but I think there are 3 bad signs going on with yours, 1: You say they all have there own space and that just does not sound good to me, all of mine are laying on top of each other about 95% of the time. 2: Kind of goes along side of number one but that tap sounds more like a territorial thing as to say get out of my space. 3: The greedy part? I am assuming you are talking about eating and I think a healthy community will share there food at least while they are still young. Just a little something to think about... Greg

 

[pokiecollector]

Awesome ! Didn't know they we're communal, I thought regalis was the only communal pokie, guess you just gotta take a chance.

 

[neilkane]

ornata

yes i using 3 ornata. what i am trying is. i kept reading that people were putting many ie 10-30 pokie together in a tank and it failing miserable with just one big fat one left at the end. im trying just 3 in a large realistic enviroment just to see how it fairs compared to millions all huddled together. mine do spend time tog. but always go back to their own space. if this fails will try regalis instead of ornata as know that they work well together. has been 6 weeks so not too bad for ornata

 

[neilkane]

bairskin reply

i think if they were saying leave my territory surely one of them would leave. not stay their like they do. i really dont know ?

 

[neilkane]

4th

when i got my ornatas i got 4 but only put 3 in a community. i think now i want to add this 4th ornata to the community. i dont think it will upset the balance but possible could. what do u people think about this would it be silly too. ?

 

[CodeJACK]

I think that might be a bad idea.

First thing its gonna want to do is check out its new home. If it were to stumble into one of the others space, could be trouble.

On the other hand you say this setup is an experiment so it would be great to prove how flexible they can be as a group.

Best of luck with the experiment and post some pix if u get the chance. Sounds like a cool setup.

Rob.

 

[neilkane]

decisons decisions

is a hard one for me to decide. i think i should leave it as well but would like to see how they react to a stranger. in the wild im sure they often encounter other t.s and even other spiders. my tank has room all 3 seem to have made their homes at the front which leaves the larger area at the back of the tank unused think this would be a great spot to put him into. the other 3 wonder around abit but rarely see them venture towards the rear of the tank. they dont live with each other but i do find them sat side by side but always returning to their own bit as i like to call it. cheers for the comments will keep reading. i recently cleaned out the tank which was quite a funny affair one of the ornata really really didnt like me being their it reared up proper quick showing me its bright yellow and orange underside of its legs and was trying real bad to be hard bless it........... would a community spider protect only itself or its {friends and family too} i do have sum pics but i took them the first couple of days after getting the spiders will take some more as soon as.

 

[syndicate]

(this is also where some research could be done, hatch an eggsac of regalis keep 50% individually and feed them the same and keep the other 50% in groups and feed them the same......i would be really interested in teh outcome of these experiments).

When Pokes are kept together they grow at different rates (another experiment for someone), are they doing this because they want to ensure there will always be a male and emale ready to reproduce the genes of the "family/colony"???


Ray

this would be a very interesting experiment to try.how would u keep track of or keep data on each of the individual spiders tho?you'd have to mark each of them with a different color paint or something.