Woohoo! They made it! (Never say never!)

[chanda]

Me, over the past 7 or 8 years: "I'd never have a pet spider. Spiders are creepy! Well, ok - but just one. Who on earth would need more than one tarantula? Another one? Sure, but no arboreals! They're too fast. Oh, but that A. versicolor sling is so cute. I can handle one arboreal - but certainly no OW species! Well... maybe one Pokie. It's just a baby - nothing to be scared of. But I'd never get a Goliath birdeater! Those things are scary! But oh, that huge gal at the expo is absolutely gorgeous. I just have to bring her home! Wait - how did I end up with 20+ tarantulas? Well, that's fine - but I'll stick with NW (except for the aforementioned Pokie). I certainly won't get anything with the word "baboon" in its name!"

I suppose it was inevitable. Despite my previous resolve to stick with NW tarantulas, I found myself intrigued by OW species - particularly the communal nature of M. balfouri. The more I looked at them and read about them, the more I wanted one... Oh, who am I kidding? I wanted several. No point in having just one of a communal species! So last week, I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a set of five balfouri slings. (Thanks, @Kodi!)

And then came the shipping delays. I don't know what happened. My new slings were supposed to arrive on Tuesday but Tuesday came and went with no spiders, as did Wednesday. The weather forecast called for lows into the 20s (Farenheit) all along their most likely route and the tracking information had not been updated since they left Pittsburgh around 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. With the holiday on Thursday, I was expecting to open a box of dead spiders by the time they (hopefully) arrived on Friday.

But they made it! As soon as I opened the box, one little guy skittered right to the top to say "hello!" Three more were huddled together in a roll of tissue, and the last was burrowed underneath the paper. All were alive and well! Of course, they promptly vanished into their new home, so who knows when I'll see them again!

 

[cold blood]

Wow, you're lucky. They should not have been packed like that, they should have been individually packed....that's crazy.

Glad they arrived well and safe, you will really enjoy them...if you can find them under all the webbing that is


Edit: for "clarification"

 

[chanda]

Wow, you're lucky. They should not have been packed like that, they should have been individually packed....that's crazy.

Glad they arrived well and safe, you will really enjoy them...if you can find them under all the webbing that is

Granted, I have never shipped spiders or other bugs and this is my first order of mail-order slings that I've received so I really have no idea how they should be packed, but they seemed to be packaged pretty well. They were in layers of ever-so-slightly-damp tissue inside a small, securely taped styrofoam box, which was, in turn, inside a layer of crumpled newspapers, inside another layer of styrofoam, inside a sturdy box. Yes, they were all together - which made the unboxing just a bit more nerve-wracking for me because I was afraid one might escape while I was getting the others out - but they were being transferred from one communal setup to another. Nobody got munched (yet!) and it was slightly reassuring for me (since this is my first attempt at keeping tarantulas communally) to see several of them preferentially huddling together in the box.

 

[14pokies]

Wow, you're lucky. They should not have been packed like that, they should have been individually packed....that's crazy.

Glad they arrived well and safe, you will really enjoy them...if you can find them under all the webbing that is


Edit: for "clarification"

Yea, I would be pissed if somone sent me more than one spider per container.. Sorry but thats just bad packing.. It's a major pain funneling slings into straws or vials but hell man it has to be done..

The time spent for individually packing 5 slings is nothing compared to possibly having 5 mangled Tarantulas a pissed off customer and the refund the seller would have to fork up..

I would be mad as Hell!

Sorry Kodi not trying to bash you at all we all make mistakes man. This is just my opinion on the subject..

Chanda welcome to club balfouri! Lol.. This is a species that I over looked because I felt they were way over hyped but man I'm telling you I fell in love with my balfouri the second day I got it!

It webs and eats like a beast and mine is often visible at dusk almost every night and will be out of its burrow all night sometimes! While calm for a "Baboon" they are fast and agile if spooked..

 

[Trenor]

Nice, I've had a lot of fun with my M.balfouri communal enclosures.

Good luck!

 

[Estein]

Ooh, what beautiful Ts! Congrats on your new little ones. I'm currently in the "I won't get any OW camp" but if I had to choose one...

 

[Moonohol]

Ooh, what beautiful Ts! Congrats on your new little ones. I'm currently in the "I won't get any OW camp" but if I had to choose one...

I remember when I thought I'd never own an OW tarantula. Once you realize how stupidly easy baboons are to care for and how much fun they are to observe, you'll come around!

 

[Estein]

I remember when I thought I'd never own an OW tarantula. Once you realize how stupidly easy baboons are to care for and how much fun they are to observe, you'll come around!

Don't tell me that yet! I'm still trying to control the addiction

 

[Najakeeper]

Balfouri are amazing animals. Good luck with them.

 

[viper69]

Me, over the past 7 or 8 years: "I'd never have a pet spider. Spiders are creepy! Well, ok - but just one. Who on earth would need more than one tarantula? Another one? Sure, but no arboreals! They're too fast. Oh, but that A. versicolor sling is so cute. I can handle one arboreal - but certainly no OW species! Well... maybe one Pokie. It's just a baby - nothing to be scared of. But I'd never get a Goliath birdeater! Those things are scary! But oh, that huge gal at the expo is absolutely gorgeous. I just have to bring her home! Wait - how did I end up with 20+ tarantulas? Well, that's fine - but I'll stick with NW (except for the aforementioned Pokie). I certainly won't get anything with the word "baboon" in its name!"

I suppose it was inevitable. Despite my previous resolve to stick with NW tarantulas, I found myself intrigued by OW species - particularly the communal nature of M. balfouri. The more I looked at them and read about them, the more I wanted one... Oh, who am I kidding? I wanted several. No point in having just one of a communal species! So last week, I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a set of five balfouri slings. (Thanks, @Kodi!)

And then came the shipping delays. I don't know what happened. My new slings were supposed to arrive on Tuesday but Tuesday came and went with no spiders, as did Wednesday. The weather forecast called for lows into the 20s (Farenheit) all along their most likely route and the tracking information had not been updated since they left Pittsburgh around 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. With the holiday on Thursday, I was expecting to open a box of dead spiders by the time they (hopefully) arrived on Friday.

But they made it! As soon as I opened the box, one little guy skittered right to the top to say "hello!" Three more were huddled together in a roll of tissue, and the last was burrowed underneath the paper. All were alive and well! Of course, they promptly vanished into their new home, so who knows when I'll see them again!

View attachment 225558 View attachment 225559 View attachment 225560 View attachment 225561

Note to self, never order Ts from Kodi. That's a lazy and poor method of shipment. WOW!

 

[Kodi]

Haha you people. They aren’t fine china. What could have gone so terribly wrong with them packed together? xD

 

[Jayk]

Haha you people. They aren’t fine china. What could have gone so terribly wrong with them packed together? xD

cannibalism?