M. balfouri, communal or individual?

[octanejunkie]

i can answer this one from experience...

The short answer is yes you can add more spiders to your communal... many ppl do this as once upon a time the cost for 1 balfouri was high so ppl couldn’t buy all they wanted at once and had to buy a couple at a time.

the key to adding new spoods is this - rehouse em all into a new container. Don’t use the home of the original 2 and add to it, start “fresh” with a completely new home for all of em, then just literally put em all in the new home.

this advice stands for anytime u add to the communal... for example - I’ve occasionally removed spoods from the communal because they were substantially smaller than the rest, I feed em up and get a molt or 2 before adding them back into the communal. When they are rdy to go back, the entire colony gets rehoused because I don’t know if spiders would “remember “ the ones I removed or not.

Same goes w adding different sacs together. Always in a new home.

i wish you all the best! Balfouri communals are absolutely amazing, educational and just, different than any other tarantula.

if u have more questions, I’d be happy to help out. I’m far from an expert but I’ve done a TON of research, have had up to 3 communals (sold 1) and spend many, probably too many, hours watching my Balfouri do their thing lol

I'm so sorry to have ignored your generous reply, I have a few more questions

Can a communal be as small as 2 individuals?

When rehousing and increasing colony size, is it okay to introduce different sized/aged individuals?

 

[Oursapoil]

I'm so sorry to have ignored your generous reply, I have a few more questions

Can a communal be as small as 2 individuals?

When rehousing and increasing colony size, is it okay to introduce different sized/aged individuals?

Definitely not as knowledgeable as Krystina but for my short experience I got 4 big juveniles from Casey (about 3 inches), that used to be together. I set them up with a 1 inch sling I already had and they’ve been striving together. The larger ones killing and leaving preys the sling munches on. Originally the sling had set shop in the opposite corner of the tank by itself when the bigger ones were working on building up the other corner. Once they were done, it moved toward them and started living with them. I guess it was easier to squat an already made house than to build one

 

[octanejunkie]

Definitely not as knowledgeable as Krystina but for my short experience I got 4 big juveniles from Casey (about 3 inches), that used to be together. I set them up with a 1 inch sling I already had and they’ve been striving together. The larger ones killing and leaving preys the sling munches on. Originally the sling had set shop in the opposite corner of the tank by itself when the bigger ones were working on building up the other corner. Once they were done, it moved toward them and started living with them. I guess it was easier to squat an already made house than to build one

Thanks man

Wondering, for a pair of 3/4"-1" balfouri slings, what's the optimal size enclosure and substrate depth? How about a half dozen slings around that size?

Looking to plan ahead here

 

[Oursapoil]

Thanks man

Wondering, for a pair of 3/4"-1" balfouri slings, what's the optimal size enclosure and substrate depth? How about a half dozen slings around that size?

Looking to plan ahead here

As Enzo and I were researching (let’s be honest, he does all the research, I seem to be useful only to rehouse old world Ts and to open my wallet) and reading about balfouri (we planned ahead as you did) we came across an interesting piece about enclosure sizes for communal setups. It was explained that a smaller size enclosure was recommended as it was observed that when in closer proximity the communal behavior seems to work better than in larger enclosures where available distance between individuals can sometimes trigger territorial behavior.

 

[octanejunkie]

As Enzo and I were researching (let’s be honest, he does all the research, I seem to be useful only to rehouse old world Ts and to open my wallet) and reading about balfouri (we planned ahead as you did) we came across an interesting piece about enclosure sizes for communal setups. It was explained that a smaller size enclosure was recommended as it was observed that when in closer proximity the communal behavior seems to work better than in larger enclosures where available distance between individuals can sometimes trigger territorial behavior.

Kudos to Enzo, the smaller enclosure seems to be the consensus amongst successful communal keepers. Kudos to you and the Mrs for raising such a capable research assistant.

Would you think two 1/2" balfouri slings could fit in a 2x2x2 cube set up for a terrestrial with a hide and water dish?

 

[Oursapoil]

Kudos to Enzo, the smaller enclosure seems to be the consensus amongst successful communal keepers. Kudos to you and the Mrs for raising such a capable research assistant.

Would you think two 1/2" balfouri slings could fit in a 2x2x2 cube set up for a terrestrial with a hide and water dish?

For 2, 1/2” slings it should be good. My sling was alone and was living the life in a 4x3x2. One corner had a little hill and it drugged a tunnel in it. It seems (at least with my communal setup) that if there isn’t enough depth for them to dig deep, they will build their web high in order to have their tunnels.

 

[octanejunkie]

I made this communal enclosure up but have not populated it yet.

This enclosure is 2.25" square by 1.5" high and a little more than half deep filled with substrate and is intended to house two 1/2-3/4" balfouri slings.

There is a hunk of cork bark hot glued to the end, flanked by moss patches, with a starter burrow made with the butt of a sharpie and a bottle cap water dish.

 

[.Dzoni.]

Hello, I have a question regarding the subject. I have had a sac 6 years ago with just a dozen of slings. What I have left now is 3 mature females kept separately and 3 males (from which one is adult). When I bred those three female they were all good to the males but when left alone 2-3 days sometimes they end up constantly chasing them so I remove them at this moment. My question is could I put those 3 males now to live together as a communal in a 40x30x25cm enclosure? They were always kept separately but next to each other in big plastic jars so I guess they could have smelled each other all the time..? Does that count? Also one more question, is there a difference when keeping them communal in terms of behavior if there is mixed genders or all females or all males?

 

[octanejunkie]

Here's a place to start

Google "Tom Moran M balfouri communal" there are many more videos and articles