Euphrynichus bacillifer moult

elianabio

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Oct 4, 2021
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Hello
I keep in a terrarium 30x30x45 cm three Euphrynichus bacillifer (3 cm diameter) one has moulted and the other ate it immediately:sad: .. I was wrong to keep them together, are they not social species?
thx
 

Wolfram1

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Well, i have never seen it happen, i have 10-20 in my setup (50x30x30) and i have watched them molt and harden off fine in the group... i have them in the group since 2018.

whats your groups backstory, sex and age/size?
 

elianabio

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Oct 4, 2021
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Thanks for the answer
the terrarium has two large barks inside.
Euphrynicus bacillifer have a diameter of 3/4 centimeter, the sex is indeterminate, the group it's new (1 week)
They eat eagerly often (cockroaches and mealworm)

moult
16642340950236992323849045263991.jpg

tank
IMG_20220927_005256.jpg

Euphrynicus bacillifer
IMG_20220927_005336.jpg
 
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Wolfram1

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I see, to be honest i can't think of any real reason why one of the others would have eaten the freshly molted one unless it fell and died? I have on accasion gone months without feeding them and never saw anything like you described. Did you see it beeing killed, or just eaten? They do scavenge feed.

What is your room temperature, you might not need that "heat-spot"? 26°C is perfectly fine but i have kept mine as low as 18-19°C in Winter. Not ideal but they do fine with cooler temperatures if they have to.

It may take a littel while longer for you, but after a while it starts looking like a graveyard below their prefered moulting spots when the exuviae pile up XD
 

elianabio

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unfortunately I saw him molting and escape from the attack of the other... but it ended badly :sad: :sad:
temperature is 26-27 C
humidity 80%

how many do you have in yours tank?


thx
 

that1ocelot

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Oct 21, 2021
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I couldn't say why.

I know in europe they keep e. bacilifer communally often.
It just goes to show that no amblypygi are truly "communal".

Maybe they need to be in larger groups? I don't think I would ever keep two amblypygi of any species alone unless it was temporary as a mated pair. Sorry that happened :(
 

mantisfan101

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Just because predatory inverts can be kept communally doesn’t mean they won’t eat each other
I had a pair of marginemaculatus that are supposed to be some of the more communal species, and my female ate my male
Same thing happened with a group and pairs of diadema
So honestly nothing wrong happening here, just expect cannibalism if you keep predatory inverts together
 

mantidsRcool

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May 6, 2021
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Just because predatory inverts can be kept communally doesn’t mean they won’t eat each other
I had a pair of marginemaculatus that are supposed to be some of the more communal species, and my female ate my male
Same thing happened with a group and pairs of diadema
So honestly nothing wrong happening here, just expect cannibalism if you keep predatory inverts together
was it always after a molt?
 

Wolfram1

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well many amblypygi are highly cannibalistic, and this is certainly known about Diadema species, which is why they are usually raised by themselves and then, like mantids, put together in the hope of a successful pairing, which doesn't allways happen...
it is the main reason i was not interested in getting them myself

this is just a wild theory but perhaps it is has more to do with larger groups suppressing some of the usual intraspecific agression in some of the species, perhaps 3 was too small a group....
 

mantidsRcool

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May 6, 2021
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the size of the habitat would be a worthwhile variable to explore. they might be less likely to eat each other if they have a ton of room. interestingly when my baby coronatus were still in the same enclosure they often could be found in nearly the same spot despite its rather ample size
 
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