Is there an advantage to housing them like this? I'd think that since they're fairly reclusive, it would be difficult to make sure they all get food, resulting in some cannibalism.
This is one of the few species of tarantulas that is considered to be truly communal. As opposed to other species that will tolerate spiders of the same species if kept in close proximity, the M. balfouri have been observed to thrive when kept together. If put into a large enclosure (like I did with these guys a year ago when they were slings), they naturally gravitate toward each other and work together to construct the burrow by digging and webbing. Instead of constructing separate dens, they make one large one, which they share. As for cannibalism, it is very rare with the balfouri. I started with 9 slings, and now I have 9 young adults. They feed together peacefully and never show any aggression toward each other. When I feed, I drop in a few extra prey items to ensure everyone gets at least one. Before I created this communal setup, I raised three slings/juveniles separately. They were MUCH more skittish and reclusive, and it took them two years to reach 3" starting at 1.25" or so. The ones in this communal started off at .75" and reached 3" in less than a year. They were much more brazen with hunting and being out than the ones I raised by themselves. In the wild, the spiderlings stay with the mother long after they hatch, and she kills prey and feeds them. This is one of the species when bred in captivity, it's best to leave them with Mom for a while. In my experience, they don't just tolerate others of their species...they thrive with them around. If you want to learn more, here is a link to one of my write-ups about the communal (it leads to more). tomsbigspiders.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/communal-project-part-1-fear-not-tarantulas/ And here are the video detailing this entire project from the starting point until now: ru-vid.com/group/PLpNbT4ORuIHUGO7c2rXPdFdPN1qjt_72k Hope that helps! T
Such a wonderful rehousing. I am so happy it went smooth. You both did a great job getting them into there new home. Loved seeing them exploring there home. Such a beautiful enclosure.
Woohoo! I was on the edge of my seat watching. They are so gorgeous. Having a balfouri is my dream tarantula when I get further in the hobby. And that enclosure is so stunning! Awesome job Tom!
Three cheers to Billy who did three jobs. You did that transfer as if you had done it 10 times. Very good. They are adorable and pretty. I love how you set up the new enclosure. It is so fun to just watch them. They are a miracle of nature. Even most human families do not get along this well.
The new enclosure looks awesome, i didn't want this video to end, watching them start webbing was fascinating, would love to see more as it develops and they adapt their new home.
Well that went a lot smoother than I expected, but then again you're a professional ;) Something like this is one of my absolute dreams setups. And yours already looks great. Hopefully I'll have slings soon so I can do a communal setup too.
Absolutely incredible Ts! You're an inspiration as somebody who's very new in the hobby. I've learned an incredible amount from watching your rehousing videos. These ones are really fascinating with the way they live communally and the fact that they're just so beautiful is just a bonus. Beautiful enclosure design by the way. It's almost sad that we won't be able to see your design in a short amount of time.
Thanks so much, Matt! Sorry for the late reply...I completely missed your comment! Yeah, the "social" interactions between them still blow my mind. You just don't expect to see this from sub-adult spiders. So cool. Yup, in no time, that whole design will be completely blanketed in webbing. hahaha. Oh well! Thanks again. :)
Just rehoused my 5 M balfouri communal with great success! They are amazing and I just wanted to thank you on an M balfouri rehouse. Your rehouses have taught me a ton
absolutely fantastic! great job on the rehouse a 20 minute video that i had no problem watching all the way thru lol but now my need for a balfouri communal is even more of a struggle hahaha
Hey, Brad...I survived! And I didn't swear! hahaha. Thanks so much, bud! I was hoping that there would be some suspense to keep people entertained. lol You'll have that communal soon enough (then I'll get to watch YOU sweat while rehousing them. hahaha).
lol i loved your response as to why you did not do it live lol and i cant say i would blame you that needed all of your focus lol....i love the enclosure as well it looks great....i know some people who breed m.balfouri and have some currently almost ready for sale and another that is expecting a sack so hopefully ill be able to get a steal on about 10 of them and hopefully have the money to get them when they are available lol...ya know its funny my m.balfouri never gas burrowed at all most it does is find its hide and web the hell out of it...ive offered deep substrate and it has never utilized it at all and now that it is not a tiny sling i catch it out all the time
Smooth as always. They aren't afraid,but they can run ;) You mentioned you try to feed each one. In our group we just toss in 10 crickets and wait.( we still have 6) what we have noticed is that our group has two hunters that kill everything,the others pick up the dead food.
Hahahahaha! Thanks, Jane! Did I say that? If I did, I totally misspoke! I usually drop in a dozen or so crickets at a time. I'd go nuts if I tried to feed each one. hahaha YES! I had one kill two crickets, and then DROP the second one. Another came over and started eating it. I wasn't sure if it was an accident, but if you've seen the same thing. Man, that's cool behavior. THANKS!!!!
Wow - well done buddy, went extremely well, as I thought it would, you know what you're doing so I had no doubts about the outcome, but for it go so well and so quickly was a true masterclass of re-housing, brilliant Tom, bet you're over the moon.
Thanks, Michael! I'm so relieved that it went so well. I've had good luck with rehousings, but I was stressing a bit over this one. They were perfect! :) Thanks again!
This is so awesome. Probably my favorite thing on the internet right now. Oh how I wish you had a live feed where people could log on any time day or night just to watch these beautiful creatures make their new home. I love communals so much even though yours is the only one I know of. Keep up the good work and show these often. Thank you
Thanks so much! It really has been the most rewarding thing I've done in the hobby. And I actually considered that a while back, but I never got around to it. :( Thank you!
So many positive comments and rightly so. All your videos are informative and engaging. You're among my favorite uploaders of tarantula videos. I hope my first comment didn't offend you in anyway as I noticed you replied to just about all the others save mine.
Man, I'm so sorry! It was a complete accident that I missed your comment; thank you so much for saying something! Nope, you didn't offend at all. :) Thanks so much for the very kind words; I totally appreciate it!!!
WOW! Well done, I knew it would go smoothly I had a lot of faith in this and I gotta say that was graceful. *PHEW* it got crazy there for a minute my heart was thumping. Awesome video man thanks a lot for sharing I never knew I would be into tarantulas until I got invested in this colony and stumbled upon your channel. Now if only I could convince my girlfriend to let me keep one Lol
Yeah, that one little guy made a break for it and scared the heck out of Billie. haha It went smoother than I could have hoped for. Keep working on her, bud! Hopefully, she gives in! If you need me to answer any questions for her, say the word. :)
Colton James Ditch the girlfriend if she won't allow you to keep them, obviously try to compromise first. No one is worth utterly denying yourself something you've been interested in for many years. And remind her that compromise is part of a relationship, maybe tarantulas in exchange for something she wants.
That was awesome, Tom!! Your wife did such a job as spotter and camera operator. They were really well behaved and as you mentioned sure settled down quick. They'll have that bad boy webbed up in no time. I'm guessing you don't know the male to female ratio of this group yet?
Thanks, Jeff! She really did...that couldn't have been easy. They've been webbing up and burrowing for the past couple days, so they're already hard at work. Unfortunately, I have no guesses to how many of each sex I have. I'm thinking that within the next couple molts, the males will mature and I'll know then. Thanks!!!
I rehoused my 5 a couple weeks ago. I hadn’t seen all 5 at all since I put them in and wasn’t sure how many were still in there. All 5 were there and doing great. I cupped each one separately then rehoused each one, went really smoothly. Mine are either broken or lazy though. They still won’t kill prey. I had placed several small red runners in so maybe they would hunt them, when I rehoused them I found all of them still alive and bigger. 4 of them are about 2”-2 1/2” at this point.
Hello! That's awesome! I'm so glad that they were all there and that the rehousing went well! They seem to grow much more quickly when kept in a communal setup. :)
Very nicely done! Great job guys! Really want to do this type of setups done but just can't seem to find them at a reasonable price up here or even find them at all when I am doing large buys. Right now they are $75 each up here. Way too much to pay for the bunch that I want. Can't wait to see some of the videos to come on these guys. Love the way you set this up. such a beautiful display! Cheers, Rob
Hey, Rob! Thanks so much, bud. I wish that these guys were cheaper, as it really does make it cost-prohibitive to set up a communal. I lucked out in that the person I bought them from really hooked me up. I wish people would sell them in discounted communal groups. Thanks again! Tom
Blow method...FTW! :-D I love it when a plan comes together. I can't even imagine the shenanigans with my N. incei's, but looking at sizes on a couple that have poked noses out, I'm not sure I'm going to have to do this. :) Congrats Tom!
Hahahaha. Works every time! lol Yeah, that went much smoother than I was expecting. My inceis were crazy little buggers...one of the only Ts I've had bolt. Hopefully, you won't have to rehouse. hahaha. Thanks, Casey!
What a awesome setup Mr Tom I have a few questions you might have said the answers before in the video but I don't remember. 1. How big of an enclosure for about 5 to 7 slings and 2. Where did you purchase your enclosures for your communal project thanks for your time again very lovely setup and T's
Hi, Chad! For 5-7 slings, you could use something about 1-2 gallons or so. The one I used for these when they were slings was 8 x 8 x 11, and they grew out of it in a year. The second enclosure I purchased from Lorex plastics. facebook.com/reptileenclosureLOREXPLASTICS/ The people that built the first one disappeared unfortunately.
Hey, you're most welcome! Your video really helped me out. The best part is, I was talking to my wife about the rehousing a few days ago, and I said we are going to need the Benny Hill theme playing in the background when we do it. I couldn't stop laughing when it came on in your video. hahaha. Great stuff!
Had me laughing at "enjoy being grounded" but anyway that was a very successful rehouse and a great video. Also great camera work and a 2nd set of eyes. You have an MVP partner Tom. The M. Balfouris grow so fast out of the sling stage but kinda chills out for a bit in the juvenile stage. Is this my imagination or am I just wrong all together? Plus the new enclosure setup looks great. The Ts will love it im sure. Great video bro and cant wait to see more on these guys. Thanks
My kids make fun of me ruthlessly sometimes. hahaha. Thanks so much; I'll point her to the comment. She's taking it very seriously, and she's been great when timing moves and sliding over so I can add text later. My first balfouris that I raised separately spent forever as juveniles. They didn't eat particularly well, and they tended to hide all winter. The ones in my communal went from .5-.75" to 3.5" in a year, and they're currently all molting again. They've been growing like weeds! Thanks again, bud!
Thank you Tom great video!Also thank you for clearing up that old enclouser company. I believe I found that orginal video around the time they disappeared Since i emailed them and never got a answer back. Happy I didt now.
Thats why I changed my enclosure design because of the lid you have to keep open with one hand! Love the new setup and all 9 are ok and looking amazing which is brilliant! Thought I had subbed to hardcoreinfinity will go check his vid. My five seem either to be in pre-moult/just moulted or not hungry. Left three pre-killed in n will check later. (will be making my own enclosure for my Balfouris at some point). p.s you almost needed a third person to keep an eye on them n leave you and the cameralady more free. You both did a super job! Gonna try sexing some of the moults?
Thanks so much, bud! I'm just glad they settled down so quickly after the move. An hour later, and they were just chilling out like nothing had happened. I'll be very interested to hear updates on yours as they grow. It'll be great getting this information out there for others who are considering a communal. Yeah, my oldest son (22) was supposed to help as well, but he got called into work. I DID sex a couple of the molts as females, but God only knows which spider they belonged to. hahaha
Smoooooth! Nice vid, and great new set up. In your knowledge is there an increased risk of cannibalism if there colony is destructed? ie not recognizing each other due to lack of familiar webbing?
Thank you! I'm so glad that it went well. I worried about that a bit, but they seem to recognize each other just fine. I watched them on and off for a couple hours after I posted this, and when they encountered each other, it was like everything was normal. A couple even grouped up and explored together.
Great video! I'm happy for you that it went well. Can't express how much I've been waiting to see an update on these guys. It still amazes me to see spiders in such close proximity to one another without trying to be cannibalistic. Looking forward to future updates as well as videos of your other species. Have you ever thought about getting true spiders like species of Nephila or Argiope? Once again fantastic video.
Thanks so much! I honestly can't get enough of watching them interact. I'm so hardwired to see tarantulas as cannibalistic, that it just fascinates me to see them get along so well. Now that they've got the new enclosure, I'll have more cool things to film. :) I've got some video of them all out and exploring that I'll be posting soon. And it will only be a matter of time before I get into true spiders!
they were 1 inch slings picked up from Tanya at fear not she told me they might be too big and didn't know if it would work so I took the risk left them in for 2 days together but the 1 hovered by the lid while the other had webbed so I just made a judgement call both are doing fine now growing up to 2 inches thanks for making these videos very informative I go to your channel every time I need a question answered
That is fantastic information, Eli...thanks so much! I guess they just weren't feeling it. Glad to hear that they are doing so well. Thanks so much for the kind words, too!!! :)
Awesome vid. I really want to try a communal set up, but M. balfouris are still a little out of my price range. I may try a H. incei communal set up to get the feel for it.
I had originally planned to do one with H. incei, but I got a deal on these that I could't pass up. A buddy of mine has a colony of incei now, and they are doing very well. I guess the key is to get sac mates at a young age. Thanks!
Very cool Tom. I know you mentioned on your last video where you purchased your enclosure. Can you post a link? It's a beautiful enclosure and well built.
Where did the acrylic enclosure come from? I like the rimless design. Much cleaner than a glass aquarium. Got 12 balfouri slings divided into 2 small totes, trying to plan ahead. Thanks!
I forget, are they all the same sex? I can't imagine it would be easy to know if egg sacs were laid in all those web tunnels and such. Also, over the years will their enclosure need to be cleaned out of all the molts?
I'm not sure of the sexes yet, although I'm guessing that the males will have their final molts coming in a couple sheds. I'll be able to tell then. None of them are mature, so no eggs yet! The molts will not have to be cleaned out. They will actually work them into the webbing of their den (if they don't throw them in the water dish). :)
Thanks so much! This one warped a bit, but it was nothing major. That said, I've had other ones that have warped a lot. That's one of the issues I have with the acrylic.
Hey, What sex do your Balfouri's have? Do you keep 1.0 and 0.1 together? if so, how do you prevent having babys? :D really curious... Once had 5 but had to sell them because i moved. Now i am thinking about getting some again :)
Hello! There were 8 females and one male (who has since passed). I THINK that the females were a bit too small to breed, but they very well could have been bred. Supposedly, the males and females do fine together. If you have more than one mature male, they will sometimes try to breed with each other.
I have hated spiders my whole life, I was curious about a rehousing video of yours and since then I have been watching Tarantula videos non stop. I am obsessed with them, I was to have one, my husband is apprehensive he is a true arachnophobe, I thought I was too. I want him to give it a chance, I know he will eventually but until then I guess I will research, research and more research. Any tips on getting him to give it a chance. I just want one......to start off..hehe. He is good to me and always is very supportive of my hobbies he is just very creeped out by spiders. Love to you...Love to all...Kitten
Wow, this is like the ultimate compliment! :) Thank you so much!!! Is he open to it at all? Sharing what you find while research usually helps to stimulate interest... If you do podcasts, I did one on this very subject. :) tomsbigspiders.buzzsprout.com/148967/734126-convincing-your-mate-to-let-you-get-a-tarantula
I'm a year and a half into the hobby. Modest collection: 11 old world tarantulas, 1 wolf spider I found in my bathroom. I own a couple adult Ts, but most of my collection is 3" or smaller and several have been raised from half-inch (give or take) specimens, so you can imagine I find rehousing tips of any kind super helpful. I've been lucky with my rehousings. No major issues yet. My 1" GBB once decided to bolt, but didn't get far as I had a catch cup handy. It's all about preparation. Plans are great, but you also gotta have another plan in case the first plan sucks.
Which species do you keep? With the Old Worlds, it's great to get them as slings to get used to their behaviors as they grow. I found with the rehousings, I just try to work slowly and stay calm. And, the catch cup is always your friend! haha Like you said, preparation is huge, and planning for if things go wrong is key! :)
I mentioned the GBB in my last post. Half my collection is Brachys (hamorii, vagans, boehmei, 2 albopilosums) and Aphonopelmas (chalcodes and seemanni) of various sizes. A couple big and hungry species, L. parahybana...A. geniculata, they're both still only around 2" though. My lone Grammostola is a 1" G. pulchripes (my first T was a pet shop G. porteri that didn't make it). 1 arboreal at this point, a just about fully grown Avic avic. I also mentioned my wolf spider in my last post. I don't know for sure which species it is, but those things are badass. It hits prey just as hard as any of my Ts. It's basically a pretty standard beginner list so far. I'm glad I went with a mix of slings and adults. It's been cool watching them grow. There are a few baboon species I want to own, but I'm not in a big hurry to get to old worlds. I might go with a Phormictopus sling as my next purchase. I might as well, my LP thinks it's one sometimes...feisty little bastard. I've also wanted something from the Euathlus genus for awhile too. There are way too many cool species out there, and I want to keep my collection between 10-20 specimens. Wish me luck :P
When I first started getting serious into the hobby, I turned to my wife and said, "I'm going to be honest; I can see myself having like 20-30 of these eventually." Hahahaha. 150 tarantulas later... The temptation is just so great, and there are SO many cool species out there. Personally, I have the added excuse that I need new species to talk about in my blog and on my RU-vid channel. lol That's a great collection you have going already! I steered quickly into some Old World species, but came back and developed a huge appreciation for the Brachy's, Grammys, and Aphonopelmas. You'll be amazed at how your "tastes" change the longer your in it. I used to avoid most arboreals besides Poecilotheria species, now I''ve got a bunch. haha
I like the enclosure but the setup is kinda meh, I would’ve used one of the back corners, just shift everything in the middle to the left or right... added some more cork bark smaller ones, two water dishes in the front corners...
Tom Moran no sadly, I haven’t made a video in a while... searching for better equipment and with my work schedule, is very hard to balance. I mean there’s nothing wrong with your enclosure at all by any means. But I already have a Terrarium like yours for my communal next month or December, I’ve already set it up. It’s kinda like yours just everything you have in the middle of the enclosure I shifted to the back left corner. It’s a lot less cluttered. I used excavator clay and desert yellow sand mix, and lots of cork bark. And if and when they decide to run around they have lots of room. The single Balfouri that i do have, i believe was in a communal she is already showing adult colors and she is only 2.5cm 😀 she is beautiful. My smaller 1.75cm Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens is still my favorite though 👍🏻. I only own these two at the moment. There’s 6 - 7 more species that I would like to keep though.
You can, but remember that with tarantula communals, there is always a risk involved. Most seem to do very well, however, there are folks who have experienced canibalism with theirs.
@@TomsBigSpiders I heard a saying that goes like this “if one survives one lives “ hopefully they all survive thanks for the reply love your vids btw I literally binge watch all day👍
I had the smaller one custom made, but the guy that made it cheated some people out of money and then disappeared. I'm still looking for someone who can custom make them for me now.
Hi, Mario! I'm going to cut and paste a response I just typed out for someone else! Short answer is that this is a true communal species that can live together. This is one of the few species of tarantulas that is considered to be truly communal. As opposed to other species that will tolerate spiders of the same species if kept in close proximity, the M. balfouri have been observed to thrive when kept together. If put into a large enclosure (like I did with these guys a year ago when they were slings), they naturally gravitate toward each other and work together to construct the burrow by digging and webbing. Instead of constructing separate dens, they make one large one, which they share. As for cannibalism, it is very rare with the balfouri. I started with 9 slings, and now I have 9 young adults. They feed together peacefully and never show any aggression toward each other. When I feed, I drop in a few extra prey items to ensure everyone gets at least one. Before I created this communal setup, I raised three slings/juveniles separately. They were MUCH more skittish and reclusive, and it took them two years to reach 3" starting at 1.25" or so. The ones in this communal started off at .75" and reached 3" in less than a year. They were much more brazen with hunting and being out than the ones I raised by themselves. In the wild, the spiderlings stay with the mother long after they hatch, and she kills prey and feeds them. This is one of the species when bred in captivity, it's best to leave them with Mom for a while. In my experience, they don't just tolerate others of their species...they thrive with them around. If you want to learn more, here is a link to one of my write-ups about the communal (it leads to more). tomsbigspiders.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/communal-project-part-1-fear-not-tarantulas/ And here are the video detailing this entire project from the starting point until now: ru-vid.com/group/PLpNbT4ORuIHUGO7c2rXPdFdPN1qjt_72k Hope that helps! T
Awwww....poor little guy. That's fantastic about the others! It amazes me, as the ones in my colony have done so much better than the ones I raised alone. I would love to hear updates on how yours goes!
as of now im having to chop up food for them, hard to get small food for them and im not kean on fruit flies (they escape the vents), seen 3 out yesterday think theyve deep burrowed, there lightning fast at the moment and very skittish, not seen anymore casualties yet they have all made a home together under the bark barrow i made them, think there all due molts as there not eating rn if you have an email i can be sure to send some pics and update you with them :)
Tom Moran yeah I hope so Here in my country it will range for about 1500-3000 per sling. depends on the seller. I started saving but it will take a long time. I'd love to see more videos from this guys. Keep it up man.
They're pretty expensive here as well. The blue tarantulas always seem to cost more, regardless of how common they are. I'll definitely be doing some more videos of them. Thanks!
Great question. The terms are really not very specific, and it can depend on the size of the specimen. For species that get to be about 5-6" or so, sling is usually considered to be baby until about 1.5" or so. Juvenile would be 1.5" to 3" or around there. From that point, it's a young adult. When it's breeding size, it's a full adult.
