Tarantula colonies... (N. incei)

[babiephish]

I’m going to preface this by saying I would never even think about attempting this. This is all purely curiosity.

I saw a picture of several (around 4) juvenile N.Incei in a colony tank and I was really in awe at it and it got me wondering- has anyone here kept these tarantulas successfully in a colony? Is it something that needs to be formed when they’re younger/after being born or would they get along if you introduced them later in life? How does that all work? I think it’s cool that they don’t eat eachother and can cohabitate sometimes.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

I’m going to preface this by saying I would never even think about attempting this. This is all purely curiosity.

I saw a picture of several (around 4) juvenile N.Incei in a colony tank and I was really in awe at it and it got me wondering- has anyone here kept these tarantulas successfully in a colony? Is it something that needs to be formed when they’re younger/after being born or would they get along if you introduced them later in life? How does that all work? I think it’s cool that they don’t eat eachother and can cohabitate sometimes.

N. incei are proven to not be slightly communal by plenty of people. Some just don’t eat each other. They don’t form anything, they live, they molt, they drink, they eat, blah blah blah. They do what is hardwired into them from millions of years of evolution, they form no bonds, and either way would probably eat one another.

 

[BoyFromLA]

No tarantulas are communal, period.

 

[Smotzer]

You saw an idiot playing a game of risking lives of individuals for personal pleasure of trying to keep things communal. N. incei is not communal, nor is any. Keep them separate keep them alive. You say you thinks it’s cool they don’t eat each other, but they do lol

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I saw a picture of several (around 4) juvenile N.Incei in a colony tank and I was really in awe at it and it got me wondering- has anyone here kept these tarantulas successfully in a colony?

Nope because they're not communal, once they hit juvie sizes the cannibalism kicks in. The Dark Den tried doing multiple N. incei communals and killed the best part of 30 tarantulas in the process.

 

[8 legged]

Two years ago I tried to keep several N. inceis in one enclosure and observed the following:
I had 4 juvenile spiders in an area of 20 x 20 cm. They tolerate each other, but have as little to do with each other as possible. Each animal makes its own burrow and they seem visibly stressed when they get too close. After two weeks I stopped the project and gave each animal its terrarium. There they are much busier and spin a lot more!
I am convinced that inceis are tormented and stressed in group positions and can only advise against it. A friend tried it too, his project ended in cannibalism!

 

[Edan bandoot]

A fair bit of spiders seem to be "communal" for the first few instars and then after that it goes to <edit>

 

[8 legged]

Community also means that the beings interact, which is definitely not the case with the inceis. As written, they tolerate each other to a certain extent... I believe that only balfouris remain and even there cannibalism often occurs, whereby these animals interact with one another.

 

[Emdykay]

People often misunderstand, when certain tarantulas are reported to exhibit social behaviour or living in close proximity and high density, and consider them communal and/or social, which is most of the time wrong. Most tarantulas often deemed communal are subsocial and their sociality is limited to extend brood care, where offspring is tolerated for prolonged amount of time to the point you can find more than one generation in a females burrow (e.g. Hysterocrates sp.) or actively feed their young (e.g. Heterothele sp.). Rarely do these behaviours extend beyond spiderlings tolerating each other and being tolerated by their mother and even if they do, like spiderlings cooperatively hunting, adult specimens cohabitating for a prolonged amount of time, least of all permanently, is virtually nonexistent.

The same applies to N. incei, while they are not territorial and live in high density colonies in nature and females feed their offspring, they have not been observed to ever share a burrow, even when in close proximity to each other. If kept communal, the older they get the more likely cannibalism is to occur. Keeping them with ample space and sufficient hides you might be able to emulate a colony like they are found in the wild, but this will never eliminate the risk of cannibalism, merely reduce it.
Hence I would never recommend permanent communals for any tarantula, even very tolerant ones like P. subfusca or P. langenbucheri (of which there exists an account of two adult females sharing a burrow in nature, the only I am aware of), as even high tolerance does not equal sociality or communality. Even my M. balfouri communal went from 5 to 4, to (over night!) the fattest tarantula I have ever seen, despite the species being the poster child of communals.

 

[viper69]

has anyone here kept these tarantulas successfully in a colony?

No- haven't read a single full life cycle (sling to adult to death) of incei being kept as a group successfully.

There are observations of species living in close proximity to each other, but no observation of said species sharing the same burrow.

 

[Matt Man]

it's simple biology people. At a certain point each T wants its zone which gives it exclusionary rights to the prey in that area. They probably have it programmed into their systems and it probably kicks in as they mature. 'This is my turf, my hunting zone, my place and I will defend it'. That is how ambush feeders survive, find a clear trout stream and observe behavior, and the biggest, baddest fish will have the best lies and will move lesser fish from any position they desire. So communal living for a T never lets them establish 'their zone', there is always a competitor which will make them stressed and natural selection kicks in, feed or be food. You wanna do a communal? Make a Giant Diorama in your garage, something that looks like those crazy model train set ups. Make sure each T has its own space, so say a 10'x10' square could house, I am guessing 3-4 Adult Ts. Cramming them in a small box is trying to play God, except it is a really ignorant, stupid God who can't see quite predictable results in the making

 

[jrh3]

Was it Homoeomma chilensis that was documented in the wild with burrows mere centimeters apart? I can’t remember but I think that was the species. I wonder if their legs touched when they came out the burrows at the same time?

 

[Edan bandoot]

Was it Homoeomma chilensis that was documented in the wild with burrows mere centimeters apart? I can’t remember but I think that was the species. I wonder if their legs touched when they came out the burrows at the same time?

They were witnessed holding hands after a romantic dinner date.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

They were witnessed holding hands after a romantic dinner date.

Dang, you said it before I could