M. balfouri Communal Review and FAQ 

Ugh I get so happy when I see a new video from you

The most knowledgeable and intelligent channel out there. Keep it up Tom, you deserve more.

Man, I went to school for Invertebrate Zoology but didn't finish because of lack of funds. If I had finished and become a researcher, I would seriously want to go on expeditions looking for communal balfouris in the wild. Their social behavior is very developed for a species and genus that supposedly never lives together. The way they figure out a hierarchy through food fights is amazing. They are extremely careful not to hurt each other, yet will very forcefully try and steal the prey. Even their interconnected web tunnels makes me think they have done this before. Their communities are absolutely fascinating and I really feel there must be some kind of evidence of such in nature somewhere on that island. I would love to make that research happen. Maybe not, but the more I see them interact, the more I feel that way...

2 years and counting I've been following this project!! Finally bit the bullet and picked up half a dozen slings this weekend. They're doing great so far! Thanks for the inspiration Tom

These T are really remarkable, I am amazed at how well they interact with each other.

These T videos have really helped me out. Last summer when doing the garden if i saw a spider i would scream and run, but this year im like "i wonder if the little guy needs a drink?" So thank you.

Didn’t realize it’s already been 2 years. I’ve purchased 2 5 packs of slings and a few females over the passed 2 years. I never ended up doing a communal because I couldn’t afford to lose any. Great vid tom thank you for all the research and observation you did the passed 2 years!

Hi Tom, I watch ask your videos and I have beautiful 16 T's because of you and the education you put out there about them. I'm almost 50 and have been scared to death of T's and finally just got my first one about five months ago and I'm very happy, I did. I'm addicted though lol as long as I have them I will continue to watch everyone of your videos. All my respect Tom and wish you the best.

Thanks for chronicling that for us. Your earliest videos were what prompted me to take the leap with the M. balfouri. I bought six that I've been keeping communally but I've only seen 5 after this last winter. After watching your video I have hope that it's still in there but I do have to do a rehouse very soon. I guess I'll find out for sure then. Awesome video as always.

Best communal you can have in my opinion you can't go wrong and yes it's amazing watching them interact especially the males great video as always Tom 🙂👍

Amazing work as always, Tom. Your communal was the one that made me have to get mine.

You show things that are too general on google and said by other people I like that you are so detailed and try things for your self.

Unreal... 2 years already!? Good stuff bud. P. metallica communal go go go!

i didnt even realize i spent 46min listening to this information lol. very enjoyable to watch and listen to. and this answered many of my questions.

I finally pulled the trigger and got a trio. They are all around 1". This video was amazing and SUPER informative. I'm looking forward to capturing my experience with them!

Looking great, my P Regalis are 8 month old and they have grown so fast being together, they have webbed up together and stay right close to each other, its amazing how fast they have came on living together

Opens up a new dimension to the hobby

You should feel very proud of yourself Tom. What a beautiful and very informative video. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching every second of it. Thank you so much.

This has got to be the most amazing and informative video on an M. balfouri communal. I had no idea how intricate and beautiful it could be. I said only one more T...but maybe it will be multiple Ts in one enclosure. This video has been a great tool to learn with...thank you

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Balfouri clan. This was the best video on them. Thanks Tom.

I just want to say thank you for all your excellent knowledge I recently bought a Brazillian Blue that was a baby. Is now 4 inches at 2 yrs old

I love watching your videos!! You are very informative, I love watching these guys! Not in the hobby.. 5 cats and one dog is enough for me... this was awesome!!

Great video Tom. It is amazing to see this in one video. I have shared it with our arachnid group. I was really great to see. Excellent footage.😀😀😀😀👍

WoW, it's been 2 years already. I still haven't been able to get my communal setup going. I have seen a communal of T's outside in the wild, but I think it was another type of baboon tarantula. It has been a great pleasure to follow along with your communal. Loved every minute of it. Hope to see more of it ion the future as they mature further. Hope all is well with you and yours. Be good and if ya can't be good, be safe :) Cheers!

Absolutely love your Tarantula Town! That was so interesting! ❤

great footage of the balfouri!!!! communal blows my mind

What a terrific video showing their progress. I loved to see them growing and changing but most of all how social they are. Thank you for the video!

absolutly amazing! thanks so much for taking the time to share with us all! this is definitely on my list of must haves now. thanks again for sharing.

hello tom moran,I'm starting my balfouri communal now 5pcs because of you HAHA i always watch this balfouri video of yours because its the best.haha i already watch this video 4 times already and i cannot get bored❤️❤️

I never regret watching your videos. This is a must see video for those people who are wanting to know how to keep a balfouri communal set up.

That was so cool. They are so much different than other trantulas. Every time I see a video about them, my eyes are glued to the screen. Thanks so much.

Absolutely fantastic video Mate! I love those Balfouris 🕷

Great video. AWESOME info and footage. I can't wait to get a arm full of these guys and girls. Keep up the awesome work. And I can't wait for the next one.

Awesome. I just bought a balfouri pair. Male n female. Great video again.

My favorite video you have done. Totally want to do a communal now.👏👍

Just watched this again and it is amazing - I love the tone and quality of your voice when you are explaining details. You mentioned communals in the wild, I have searched and searched for videos about that but have failed to find anything.

Loved watching this. Well done. Totally fascinating 😍

i now have a h.pulchripes and 8 balfouris :) its awesome! :) and thx so much for your help with advices :) will send you photos next week :)

I really like your video's but this one is just amazing, i'm sitting here watching in awe

Communal Tarantulas are so cool I cant wait to set one up..

Oh my gosh. That was very informative and kept my attention thee entire time. I would love to set my own communal with this species soon. Thank you.

Wonderful compilation.

What a great video!! You had my attention the whole time. Would love love love to have a communal...my dream. Guess I have to live vicariously through yours for now. Babies?? That would be great. Thanks again Tom.

They look amazing.

incredibly interesting footage!

Great video Tom,really interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great video Tom! Really helps having all the info in one place - like your sling guides. Mine are on the way! Cant wait to see if mine progress like yours have.

Another awesome video! 👍😊

Wow. What a cool video. Now i know that i will start my own balfouri communal. Big thanks for the info.

Brilliant video as always Tom, the amount of information you provide has been a huge help so a big thank you from the UK.

that was the coolest thing I have ever seen and I have been watching spider videos on RU-vid for a very long time now and have been absolutely drooling over getting one I haven't yet but I hope to in the future this was absolutely the coolest video!!! Thank you so much for sharing your videoI hope that you continue to post videos like this one it was definitely not too long and I was hoping for more or shall I say you left us wanting more I sure do appreciate how much time and effort you have put into raising your spider communal

Your balfouri vids sre the reason I got my first balfouri communal about 3 days ago! I got five 1.5in slings! I'm so excited!

Great video. Much info as always. Keep up the good job.

Thanks Tom!,, this is the best video ive ever seen, loved it, and decided i will now get these too. Cant rate this high enough! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for the tip in regards to the size of the enclosure. My breeder buddies all suggested a small enclosure but after encountering this video I have decided to choose an 8x8x8 exo terra. I’m getting 9 slingies from the same batch in a few days. It makes sense to give them some space due to the fast growth. Thank you again!

Wow you did a fantastic job raising these, really enjoyed this one! Very informative commentary and you covered everything really well as usual :)

It's so sweet how they eat off the same prey item together!

Such a great video! Thank you for what you do!👍🏼

Awesome video. the most in depth filming of there behaviour i have seen so far. i wanted a communal setup already, but evan more so now.

Hi. I'm kind of a shy keeper. I don't leave a lot of comments on other sites, but I was most hopeful watching what you had to say about the poecilotheria. Also a favorite of mine, I have a Salem ornamental. She's a juvy. I will try and post a picture with my comments of her setup. She just molted 5 days ago and so she is super bright and what a beauty. Just before she molted I made the mistake and put a cricket into her enclosure. Of course, she did nothing but hide from it. She even webbed around him to keep him out. A few tries later and I was successful and able to remove it. However, she did not know that and she abandoned her nest on the bottom of the tree and climbed high up into the leaves,and built a small cocoon and molted there. How very smart she is. I was very impressed. I was also extremely thankful I was able to retrieve the cricket. My name is Sandra and I currently have 5 different T's. All of which I throughly enjoy. I've been collecting for about 4 yrs. Thank you again

I just LOVED this! This is Golden! Thank you, Tom.

Absolutely incredible video! Tons of information and excellent footage!!

So amazing, that was great to watch. Thank you :) I'm looking forward to down the line when I have enough experience (and money) to do this myself. It is so amazing how communal they are, I would love to discover what in their evolution led to that. Thanks again and take care!

Great video Tom

That was an absolutely awesome video Tom.. Amazing.. Nice Job keeping over a years footage for this video.. Awesome awesome stuff.

Great video can’t believe how awesome the journey has been!

Holy smokes! That was grand to watch.

Got 5 slings coming in 2 days, can’t wait 😊

Once again Tom another quality video. I really appreciate everything you do. I also have a communal and it's ten Balfouri strong. They are slings still but as you said they seem to grow faster in a communal environment. I've had mine since August and they have molted 2-3 times already. I'm really excited about them growing into adulthood. Take care Tom. Ibnsarachnids aka Rob

Just ordered 5 balfouri slings...Really looking forward to watching these guys grow in a group...Great video...I watched the full vid...Some top info...Thanks from the UK

If I ever get an old world, I love ❤️ these. What do you think Tom? I trust you endlessly. It will be maybe next year or maybe never. Just wanted your opinion. You got me started on facing my fears and now I have tarantulas... growing and growing.

Tom your a legend!! I’ve learned so much from you, YOUR AMAZING!! Thank you 🙏😁

Wooo! Amazing Tom!

Very impressive, thanks for this video

I learned a lot from you Tom,Good information,thanks

Amazing vid. Keep up good job.

Excellent video!

Great Video as always

Brilliant video. Perfect timing as I have just bought a 5 sling communal 👍

Great video, Tom! Very cool project.

Really cool stuff. Eventually I'd like to try this myself.

Amazing stuff man. Can't wait to start mine in a year or so. Such beautiful Ts.

Really great video.

Great Video Tom. Thanks for sharing.

it's first time I've commented a video before watching it but I just noticed 46min and thought: hell yeah!!!

Amazing, i really needed to watch this for reassurance!! I cant wait to document my journey with these T's 🙂👍🏼

This was so interesting and amazing to watch, thank you so much for sharing.

I love M balfouri so much. I haven't gotten any spiders yet but I wanna have a communal someday!

I had witnessed two instances wherein an individual molts and the others are positioned near the burrow entrance as if they are guarding the molting ones. Really cool species. Also had the opportunity to witness two individuals share a live superworm together as sub adults. Really amazing how nature works. Edit: Unfortunately, one from my communal is a mature male already. I separated him already from the community enclosure.

The best thing I've seen on youtube

Fantastic!! I would love to hear how they’re doing now. I’m about to start my first communal and this video gave me more confidence. Thank you!

First, now get some mantids. :p Great video, Its only been up two minutes but I can tell, it will be glorious. Also Polistes species wasps have a very well defined social dominance structure, and coincidentally make fascinating pets in their own right, but they are some one the most attention demanding inverts you can keep.

Thank you so much for your incredibly informative content!!

I just watched a Dave's Beasties video where he rehoused 31 of these suckers without even putting on the lid! Absolute madness. I'm not an actual spider enthusiast, but that was freaking bonkers, like watching Ricky Bobby do the shake and bake lol

brilliant

Love the video! I’d love to get a communal setup :)

well bowled fella.

Amazing I’d love to do this one day thank you for all your videos they have helped me out a lot keep up the good work tom 😉

so i bought 1 balfouri for €40 and i tried to rehouse her but it turned out I accidentally bought a communal that the seller did not know about, im a beginner and this balfouri was my first old world, im planning on keeping them but now im doing some emergency research. This was very interesting, thank you mr Moran!

Incredible :)