Hi Tom, friendly neighborhood spider scientist here! Thanks for sharing this awesome video; I missed it when it went up but got clued in via the podcast! Its wonderful seeing these spiders interact so gently. I wanted to clarify a bit about the terminology--you talked a lot about this as evidence of a dominant/submissive hierarchy in the communal. While I think that that's very possible, these videos aren't enough to confirm that just by themselves. Dominant/submissive and hierarchy means that the 'winning' or 'dominant' individual keeps on winning. But since we don't know whether the same female is the one that wins the food fights, we don't know if there is actually a hierarchy. It could be, like in some animals, that the winner of each contest is based on something besides a social status (like, who is hungriest, or who happens to have a more stubborn personality, or just random). It would be SO cool to adapt some of the experiments that have been done in other social animals to track interactions between individuals to work with these spiders, but there are a lot of challenges. Trying to paint an unique ID on each spider is doable enough, but you'd have to keep very close track on miles and reapply the markings. And you'd probably miss a lot of the interactions that take place deep in the web tunnels. But these are probably surmountable problems; there are a /few/ scientists working with social mygalomorphs so hopefully they pick this up. I know this is super long, but I think it's really important to be accurate about how we talk about these behaviors, because they are so fascinating. Ive dreamt about getting a balfouri communal for a while now, and honestly ya made me finally cave and get some. Its just 3 individuals, since I couldn't afford more ($45 bucks each at Arachnoiden btw), but Im very excited! I will definitely keep an eye on them during feeding time.
Idk how anyone can watch this amazing footage and not be convinced that they can thrive communally. Ignorance is bliss I suppose lol. Amazing video Tom, thank you!
Hi, Abe! Sadly, there are some folks out there so against communal setups of any kind that they won't bother to check out any of the footage we have that proves they can thrive like this. Amen, buddy! Thanks so much!
My spider guy, he has an adult female that he calls his kindergarten teacher. He puts all the smaller balfouri slings ( apparently doesn’t matter if they aren’t hers) with her till they get a bit bigger- he says. But my Japanese is rusty and somethings might have gotten lost in translation. I love going to the spider shop to just look at the tarantulas in person, it’s always so different seeing them in person as opposed to on a screen. I love how he’s marked that one spider as priceless. 😅 I absolutely love your videos and have been obsessively watching all of them. I’m getting more and more interested in getting more tarantulas, but I don’t think I’ll be ready to get any old worlds, not until I have a place of my own. But these balfouri look so adorable, I might get them as my first old world one day! Thank you for your hard work!
NOTE: At 1:51: There is a typo. It should be "I acquired..." Sorry! At 12:41: To clarify, experts believe that the spiders that develop communal tendencies are usually ones that naturally stick with the mother longer. This does NOT mean that all spiders that spend extra time with their mothers are going to be social. Finally, the males were all mature and died of old age.
Absolutely excellent video. I just picked up five slings and am bouncing off the walls I'm so excited. The food squabbles are even better than I could have dreamed. I already love watching my 50 other T's daily behavior but the balfouris are going to be something truly special, I just know it
Your videos are priceless, I just rescued 25 very tiny slings from someone on craigslist that weren't being cared for properly. I went straight to your sling video after I rehoused them because of mold and soil gnats and dead rotten mealworms and crickets for a refresher course. Thank you so much for your videos!!
That is fascinating. I've always been a bit skeptical of communals and it's always felt forced. This is unbelievable and I may need to reconsider my stance on it.
Hi, Jason. I DO feel that with other species, they are a bit forced. I started feeling that way with my P. metallica communal. In the case of the M. balfouri, though, there seems to be more there. They actually interact in a way that shows social behavior, and many thrive in the setup. Thanks for being open minded!
I’ve had a group of five babies for nearly two years and when rehousing them into a larger enclosure a couple months back, I was able to account for all of them. They seem to be doing really well. I don’t see them out much either but when I do it sure is a treat! 🥰
Thank you, Paul! I was SO glad to finally have something to share. Honestly, I caught the food fight part AFTER I was editing the other footage I caught. I still can't believe that I caught that. haha
I'm running a m.balfouri communal for almost a year now. I started with 5 bigger slings from one eggsac and didn't see them for several months after setup. After I saw that still all were alive and well, I added 3 almost adult specimen I got by occasion. During summer, I've seen them quite often and can confirm there are at least 4 of the original slings and 2 of the juveniles in the enclosure since that is the most I've seen outside at a time, but I guess it's all still alive. I've encountered no food fights yet, but I could more than once see one of the slings tapping another's back until the latter dropped his food item. You're having your communal up far longer so all I can tell might be outdated by some time, but I did not see hierachical beviour yet. Tapping game seems to be random / by occasion rather, since it's not always the same ones on either end of the ladder.
Hey, bud! So sorry for the late reply. I'm back at school and hard at work planning for new classes I was handed last minute. And that is fantastic information! It amazes me that they will mix with older specimens from other sacs.
I'm happy they are ok, I've already quit the hobby for 2 times already since 2015 but I am still here, checking updates for this communal :) Nice work Tom!
Tom these ladies are glorious. I think you should keep a 24 hour camera on theses beauties so maybe we can see a gift like this a little more often. They really look big too. Just thought I’d throw that in for free.
YES!! I love your videos but I always look forward to the Balfouri updates the most! I am SO glad you managed to get this footage too showing the proof of hierarchy and displays of dominance! I have always believed this was the case having witnessed similar things myself but I have never been able to catch it on camera. As a result I have come up against a lot of opposition when suggesting this theory in groups. I absolutely support your theories and thoughts on the species because you always back them up with clear evidence and I couldn't agree more that people should look past the "never seen it in the wild" line and look at the abundance of solid evidence that has been displayed in a captivite environment. Thank you for the amazing content and the incredibly positive role you play in this hobby.
Hey, bud! Man, thank you so much. I can't even tell you how close I came to completely missing this interaction. This has been one of the most rewarding things I've done in the hobby. It drives me nuts that people can see interactions like this and still say that they are not social. BS. Hopefully, someone gets evidence of them living communally in the wild soon so that we can finally put this all to bed. Thanks again!
Some fascinating footage Tom. I have too witnessed some of the very same behaviour in one of my balfouri communals. One was trying to take food from another and the one woth the food gave a little kick away to say 'Back Off'
This was AWESOME. What incredible footage! I can’t wait to do a communal someday and observe all of them. I’d love to see their cleanup video! I’d be very interested to see how one would go about that …. 🤔 😅🤣
Welp... this made me decide to do it, Tom. Getting 3 sibling slings and honestly, the excitement is far outdoing the trepidation and nagging fear that I'll wake up one morning and in the words of a famous spokesman: "have one fat spider"... and for my first old world, might as well make it a family of them, right ??
I love watching my commune of Balfs interacting with each other. Fascinating to see how larger members of the group happily tolerate slings climbing all over them.
Amazing :) And I love the tarantula on the right of the screen, behind you moving around making sure he/she gets youtube attention ;) Interesting that it hasn't been seen in the wild - do you think there are balfouri communities in the wild and they are just so secretive that we haven't been able to find them yet?
That's my L. itabunae. She always has to involve herself in my videos. Hahaha I just think that no one has spent the time looking for or studying them. I would think that there must be some out there. It would just be nice to have confirmation one way or the other. Thank you!
I have 4 in my communal. I see all 4 at least once a month. In fact, I saw all 4 out last night. Then again, I work nights, so when I do feedings and such on the weekends, it’s always around 3am, so I have a better chance to see all mine than most keepers do.
Brilliant video Tom, super footage of the spiders 🕷 trying to wrestle food away from another. I have to agree, that's a huge success having kept them together for five years, and their àll thriving, well done to you Tom.
Wow that was amazing. I've never seen, or even knew they would exhibit that behavior. Great video. Thanks for showing us. Facts are facts and obviously you have been successful 😊🕷❤️
Love the videos you have of the balfouris!!! So glad they are doing so well and they are gorgeous. Definitely one of my favorite species and thank you for all the great content you make and helpful info.🙏🏻
Someday, an alien ship will land. A bunch of advanced sentient giant spiders will exit. Their first words will be heard through advanced translators that translate various leg thumping and fang clacking into an appropriate human language that says, "Greetings four-limbs. We are the Balfour. We come in peace. Our mission is to discover and study our evolutionary origins. Our research has brought us across the galaxy to this earth."
That was amazing!!! To see them tussle over crickets just thrilled me! Balfori are truly beautiful tarantulas... their color is stunning. A all around fantastic T!!!!😍
Hi Tom Really cool documentations. What I find equally fascinating, is that other spiders can sense that a spider is eating from such a distance. Cuz to our eyes they are only moving their fangs. But you would think that they have to give off some other kind of signals that they are eating that opponents can pick up upon. Really cool. Cheers
Hey, bud...great to hear from you! Great point. There has to be something they are using to detect the prey. I see the same thing with spiders that come out of their burrows and immediately locate prekilled food. There is so much that we just don't know or understand about them. Thanks!
Excellent video as always Tom! I’m very excited to be starting a communal of my own! I have 2 that I keep solitary and I’m starting a communal of 10 later this week. I worked out a deal with Kelly Fornez for about the same price as fear not is offering them which could be expensive for some but it’s the best price I’ve seen around. I’m really looking forward to documenting the differences between how they’re kept and how they act. I’m so glad that you were able to get this type of footage and show these interactions because if I hadn’t seen it on your channel and it happened in my communal, I probably would’ve freaked the heck out.
That's awesome...and what a great deal. I may start another someday, as this was just so rewarding to watch. Maybe I'll even keep a couple more separately to compare behaviors and growth rates (the ones I kept alone grew much more slowly). Good luck!
Man, I remember watching the original video as if it were yesterday. Crazy it’s been 5 years. Great video man thanks for that one. That was some astonishing footage of the food fight. Crazy.
Wowow that footage off meal steal was unreal, yes agree dominance not agresive, that prove my point this spp is more comunicative between communal members, what makes them be so different.
I can't even begin to tell you how lucky I was to catch that. If I hadn't seen them bolt out of the corner of my eye... And I agree...they have truly developed social skills, including dominance. I don't think that it can be denied. They actually communicate with each other. I only hope that someone studies them in the wild some day so that it will finally put the debate to rest. Thanks!
@@TomsBigSpiders 👏👏👏 Yes a Study in wild with this spp, ahould provide more clues on how different they are and come clues on the "why?" They develop this amazing comunication skills, living communal is a good sight a community evolution in mumbers and the hyerarqui observed here sure shows that evolution on this spp.
Fascinating arent they I will have a commune one day. I cant get more at the moment as someone has complained to housing about me having spiders 😔. Watching your videos to cheer me up x
I cant get my head round it either. My spiders are in enclosures bothering no one . Housing officer was meant to come round last week. But my Mum died so couldnt face getting in trouble from housing. I was my Mum's carer so feeling lost. So there is no way I'm rehoming even 1 of my spiders. I love everyone. Will let you know what housing say next month. .cant believe someone actually called to report me, I just keep myself to myself xx
@@lauraclegg794 I am so sorry you’re having to deal with this on top of the loss of your mother. Grief is so hard, and I hope you have some sort of support. Tarantulas are literally the cleanest pet you can keep so I hope housing is going to come in and say, “THIS is what they were complaining about?! You’re good!” Keep your head up and know that whatever you’re feeling, it’s valid. Feel the feelings, but keep your head above the water. Sending you ALL of the healing light ✨
So awesome.I have a communal of six that I’ve had for about nine months that are doing real well and growing fast. I can see them from the side of enclosure burrowed under,like a ant farm,and I can usually see at least five of the six. I recently purchased four more that are much smaller. Not sure if I’m going to put them together or not. I am told as long as I start the whole enclosure over again I can do that even if they’re smaller. It’s probably fine but I’m not going to take a chance. Thanks for sharing this video,it’s pretty awesome!
Hi, Mona! Thank you for chiming in with you experiences! Yeah, a lot of folks have started them with specimens of different sizes (and have had success with them), but I personally wouldn't chance it. Thank you!
This is awesome! When I get finished with my latest T. albo's eggsac (the work.....!!) I plan to start a communal of this species. Thank you for the awesome and informative video!
Wow, what an awesome video. My wife will only let me get one more tarantula, I'm going to see if she wouldn't mind my last one being a communal lol. Trying to find some loopholes here to get more than 8 T's lol. Thanks for the vid Tom! Great as always.
I think there's an argument for keeping these communally that's being overlooked. In most cases, spiders will eat their eggsacks if disturbed too much, yet balfouri seem absolutely content to reproduce in communals. One of the first, if not the first, breedings of them here in DK happened randomly in a communal and IIRC it was originally set up with slings from different lineages and added at various ages. I don't think the guy who had that communal ever had any signs of cannibalism.
I think that the problem is that many folks have reported that the females won't lay sacs with males around. Mine were kept with males for years and I didn't get a single sac. Maybe the fact that the guy added to the original communal had something to do with it? Very interesting!
@@TomsBigSpiders I think that might hold some credibility. If you look at social spiders, which are often incredibly inbred, the spiders tend to die extremely quickly outside the nests, which is speculated to be due to weak immune systems as an effect from the extreme inbreeding. So it might be a way for balfouri's to avoid this? It's all speculative though.
Great capture Tom! I have not had the pleasure of seeing this myself but I have witnessed little squabbles over food. I find it comical when you have one that follows another while the one with the food will kick its leg at it to push it away. Mine have been very reclusive lately so no balfouri updates from me anytime soon. Great video as always Tom. :)
Alex! So sorry for the late reply, bud. I started school again, and it's been super busy! Thank you SO much for watching. I love watching the bratty behavior. Mine had been VERY reclusive until recently. I've had nothing to show off in the past year. Hopefully, yours come out soon and give you some footage! Thanks bud!
Absolutely fantastic filming. You really have done a brilliant job with these. This is displaying superb behaviour and really should show the naysayers. They are similar to the flat earthers.
Thank you so much, Bobbi! I can't tell you how excited I was to catch that feeding interaction. I don't know how people can ignore something like this and still think that a successful one is a fluke.
I'm so damn excited for this video, my jaw actually dropped once my notification came up for this. *This is officially the cutest thing I have ever witnessed in my existence.* Also question as usual, do you have any feeder/red runners/etc recommendations for buying online? Or do you just buy all your t-food locally? So sorry if I've asked this before but I couldn't recall ever asking you.
Hey, Zulema! Awww...thanks so much. It's been along time coming. I usually buy my B. dubia roaches from Dubiaroaches.com and my red runners from Aaron Pauling roaches. My crickets I get from a local pet store I hope that helps!
@@TomsBigSpiders Your right! I see mine for many times, fighting against food.. but what Amazes me is that They never eat each other or use their fangs against each other. They kick each other that's what they do. As my observation. male go quickly they are the one who become dominant first but when the oldest female get to near maturity. Thats the end of the male.. the old female becomes the queen of the whole group. Fascinating to witness they developed this attitude for million of years. I believe that they are also communal in their natural habitat... long time ago.
Enjoyed the video Tom. Your Balfouri gals are quite beautiful and very healthy looking. Thank you for sharing the video with us. It's very interesting see the Tarantulas living together as a communal.
Hi, i have been watching your videos since a few years and they have been a great inspiration and occasionally a source of confidence when my observations mirrored yours, but i don't really like to comment on youtube, usually. Anyway thank you. I listened to your podcasts about the communal as well. Your observations are indeed incredible and to me they underline many other observations with similar animals i have made in my life. I don't want to go into depth here but one thing that bothers me is the fact they don't reproduce. To me personally it was never a question about whether they can recognise and interact with each other but to be communal they have to be able to reproduce and increase in number over time while an occasional cannibalism within or even between generations or individuals leaving the "nest" play a much smaller part. Again this does invalidate your observations in any way and maybe you have heard of succesful multigenerational communals, i have not so far. I have friends that keep M. balfouri communals that i am eagerly waiting on an eggsack for because then i could try it myself but so far no luck. I do however know of one other arachnid that can be kept and bred using a communal setup. I keep some Euphrynichus bacillifer for example, and got them from a friend that breeds them in groups of around 50 animals never having seen cannibalism, even across generations. They do also steal each others food, as i have observed at almost every feeding. Something i personally have not seen yet, but that my friend told me about was that the more dominant individuals tend to walk over the less dominant ones while those in turn press themselves against the cork-bark. I hope that i will be able to observe this myself once i put the two groups i keep in plastic boxes at the moment into their final enclosures. I hope you find this post interesting, best wishes, Daniel
Hi, Daniel! First off, so sorry for the late reply. I'm back teaching and I've been spending most of my free time putting together lessons for a new class I was teaching. As for the reproduction part, the theory is that, in the wild, the males would mature faster than the females and would wander off looking for mates while the females would stay behind and maintain the colony or "nest." They definitely were pairing in the communal, but with four males constantly present, the females wouldn't drop sacs. I have since heard from several other folks (one who gave them a HUGE area) who had only one male in the communal, and they had several sacs. I think that this is why we really need to study what happens wiht them in the wild. These types of events just show that we still have a LOT to learn about them. Thank you so much for chiming in.
@@TomsBigSpiders Thanks for the reply Tom, "As for the reproduction part, the theory is that, in the wild, the males would mature faster than the females and would wander off looking for mates while the females would stay behind and maintain the colony or "nest"."-- this was my though as well, i do hope that there is enough interest in these animals that someone will seek them out and report on their findings in the next few years. Good luck with yours and if you ever decide to give E. bacillifer a try i can highly recommend it. Much more fun to have lots of them than the singles and pairs that most Amblypygi are kept as.
@@TomsBigSpiders Small follow up, since i heard your last podcast, my friend cleaned out his communal and found all 8 spiders alive and well, 6 females, 2 males including a viable sack, the group consisted of 2 different bloodlines, 4:4. He isn't sure if there had been any sacks prior to this, he thinks there probably were but were eaten most probably. Very cool you found the spiderlings again. I could imagine that the adaptation is a byproduct of another trait that has been selected for. Like natural selection for prolonged maternal care or something like that resulting in greater inhibitors for cannibalism in general or sum such. We really do need more observations from the wild because there is always a reason. Regards, Daniel
They are, most of them are going 3". I saw your rehousing vid and it helped me a lot. Wanted to rehouse them on a similar size that yours are currently on but it may be too spacious that it may drive cannabilism. Your videos are great! Will be watching for your m. balfouri space for updates. :D
you are right , i had 10 , and as slings they actually "hunted" together . after kill the "strong" took first feed ( i used red light and watched them at night )
That was incredible! Do you have any arachnologist contacts that you could send the food-fight footage to? Maybe we'll get lucky and a grad student looking for a thesis will happen to see this video and be inspired to study the social structure of M. balfouri in a more "official" manner. (By that I simply mean a controlled study. This seems like pretty good evidence to me. 😉)
@@Violet-Lily Woo! That would be amazing! 😄 I genuinely think it would be a fantastically interesting subject to study, especially for someone who already loves Ts. Seeing this footage today really inspired my curiosity- so many questions! Please do let me know if you go for it- and best wishes if you do!! Cheers!
Hi, Dora! Yes, I do and I'm hoping to get some feedback. I secretly hope that someone chooses to study a communal for a paper so that we can have some scientific data on them. I agree completely.
@@TomsBigSpiders That would be so incredible! I actually just saw the comment you pinned, which was pretty interesting. The more eyes on this, the more knowledge, the better! Really _openly_ hoping for a study and published paper! 😉😁
Hi Tom! Wow just wow! Amazing footage and incredibly fascinating to watch! I’m glad al the girls are doing really well 😊 This really changes the way we think about tarantulas and how they socialise. Truly awesome!
Great video Tom I found that really interesting.i dont have a communal at the moment I do have a sling and a AF,i may at some point try one out.thanks for the info.
had my own mbalf. started with 7 now i only have 5. lesson: hunger will prompt them to eat a molting spider. dont let them go hungry or else they will eat a spider whos molting. i guess my experience is plain old stupidity and irresponsibility lol. was so busy with work thats why
You're most welcome! Yeah, I kept mine VERY well fed, especially early on. I didn't want to take any chances of hunger leading to cannibalism. Hopefully, yours are good now!
Hi Tom. Thx for this update. I started my communal with 2 x 3 slings not from the same sack. 3 where one molt further. I put them together as small slings in a 30x30cm terrarium. They all went to the same spot and it develloped from there. I have seen max 5 outside at once so not sure if they are all there .... But I think they are. I had a hard time few months back and didn't feed as often as normal. Even when hungry they do not eat or fight eachother in my communal. The 5 I saw was after this periode. One PRO when not feeding every week .... you see them more often as they seem to be looking for food. Question: What is a good size for a permanent home for 5 (or 6:D)? Their webnest is getting bigger and bigger and I think I need to rehouse soon. I had some branches created so they could go up in the air as well and they did. Amazing home and not want to kill it more than once in their life. Looking forward for you 'cleanup' video as I have no idea how to do that :D
Hey, Marc! First off, so sorry for the late reply! I'm back at school and hard at work planning for a new class. That is great info! I joked in one of my videos that folks almost NEVER see all of them out at once, which creates that nagging feeling that one might have been eaten. haha As for an enclosure size. I have 5 in something that is 2 ft x 1 x 1 ft, and they do well in there. You could even go bigger if you wanted to. Hope that helps, bud !
@@TomsBigSpiders honestly I kinda regret getting the job. It's very dangerous for the amount of pay, I'm a nurse. The high number of covid cases in my country and the number of covid patients in the hospital where I work is just putting my self and my family in danger for very little pay and benefits. Just the other day we delivered 2 dead covid patients in the morge, it's just simply horror.
This is such an amazing video!! This is such a beautiful species too. I was thinking about getting this as my first old world (not anytime soon though) and was wondering if having just one would be OK? The thought of rehousing a whole community of them as they get older just terrifies me.
Hi, Kim! Thank you! Most folks report that they won't drop a sac if a male is present. Now that all of the males have passed, I hoping to see if any of these would drop a sac, but there has been nothing.
I love M. balfouri s! I assume the dead males were mature? I have my little nickname for balfouri's and it's balfurrys, LoL 😂😆 they look furry and fuzzy to me.
@@TomsBigSpiders yeah, I figured they were adult males, you take such good care of your tarantulas. They don't have long after they mature out, which is sad
Well, interestingly, the last male matured more than a year after the first did. In fact, it was closer to two years! I found that to be quite interesting.
5x sling's I lost 1x M.balfouri at the beginning but the other 4 is still doing well a year later, they have not been out much, but it's almost spring in south africa it's been a cold winter using a small heater i was able to keep the temperature at +- 68°F / 20°C.
Hello, Werner! I hope that all is well with you. I'm glad to hear that the remaining four are doing well. I've found that they all but disappear during the colder and drier winter months. Thank you so much for chiming in!
That is so freaky- you’d think the other ones in the background would take advantage and try to come into the fracas, but they all seemed curious and seemed to be watching. There’s something kind of terrifying that there’s an alpha female tarantula. If something threatening came into their environment, do you think they’d communally defend one another, like ants or wasps??
Hi, Cat! It almost appeared that they were just watching it go down. "Oh, man...Big Bertha is at it again!" haha And that's a great question. I'm honestly not sure!
Hey Tom, how is your Pokie with the bad molt/missing pedipalps doing? Did she pull through, or was the damage too severe? I sure hope she's hanging in there until she can molt again!
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Hi Tom, friendly neighborhood spider scientist here! Thanks for sharing this awesome video; I missed it when it went up but got clued in via the podcast! Its wonderful seeing these spiders interact so gently. I wanted to clarify a bit about the terminology--you talked a lot about this as evidence of a dominant/submissive hierarchy in the communal. While I think that that's very possible, these videos aren't enough to confirm that just by themselves. Dominant/submissive and hierarchy means that the 'winning' or 'dominant' individual keeps on winning. But since we don't know whether the same female is the one that wins the food fights, we don't know if there is actually a hierarchy. It could be, like in some animals, that the winner of each contest is based on something besides a social status (like, who is hungriest, or who happens to have a more stubborn personality, or just random). It would be SO cool to adapt some of the experiments that have been done in other social animals to track interactions between individuals to work with these spiders, but there are a lot of challenges. Trying to paint an unique ID on each spider is doable enough, but you'd have to keep very close track on miles and reapply the markings. And you'd probably miss a lot of the interactions that take place deep in the web tunnels. But these are probably surmountable problems; there are a /few/ scientists working with social mygalomorphs so hopefully they pick this up. I know this is super long, but I think it's really important to be accurate about how we talk about these behaviors, because they are so fascinating. Ive dreamt about getting a balfouri communal for a while now, and honestly ya made me finally cave and get some. Its just 3 individuals, since I couldn't afford more ($45 bucks each at Arachnoiden btw), but Im very excited! I will definitely keep an eye on them during feeding time.
Love it when Tom talks about nothing having the highest quality videos and yet here we have a dang arachnologist weighing in!
Idk how anyone can watch this amazing footage and not be convinced that they can thrive communally. Ignorance is bliss I suppose lol. Amazing video Tom, thank you!
Hi, Abe! Sadly, there are some folks out there so against communal setups of any kind that they won't bother to check out any of the footage we have that proves they can thrive like this. Amen, buddy! Thanks so much!
they do good together :) and Tom Prove it :)
My spider guy, he has an adult female that he calls his kindergarten teacher. He puts all the smaller balfouri slings ( apparently doesn’t matter if they aren’t hers) with her till they get a bit bigger- he says. But my Japanese is rusty and somethings might have gotten lost in translation. I love going to the spider shop to just look at the tarantulas in person, it’s always so different seeing them in person as opposed to on a screen. I love how he’s marked that one spider as priceless. 😅
I absolutely love your videos and have been obsessively watching all of them. I’m getting more and more interested in getting more tarantulas, but I don’t think I’ll be ready to get any old worlds, not until I have a place of my own. But these balfouri look so adorable, I might get them as my first old world one day! Thank you for your hard work!
NOTE:
At 1:51: There is a typo. It should be "I acquired..." Sorry!
At 12:41: To clarify, experts believe that the spiders that develop communal tendencies are usually ones that naturally stick with the mother longer. This does NOT mean that all spiders that spend extra time with their mothers are going to be social.
Finally, the males were all mature and died of old age.
Absolutely excellent video. I just picked up five slings and am bouncing off the walls I'm so excited. The food squabbles are even better than I could have dreamed. I already love watching my 50 other T's daily behavior but the balfouris are going to be something truly special, I just know it
Thank you so much, Angela! Yeah, those food squabbles were AMAZING to me, as it shows quite a bit of restraint!
Your videos are priceless, I just rescued 25 very tiny slings from someone on craigslist that weren't being cared for properly. I went straight to your sling video after I rehoused them because of mold and soil gnats and dead rotten mealworms and crickets for a refresher course. Thank you so much for your videos!!
Hello, Jen...thank you so much! I'm so glad that they were helpful. And congrats on the new slings and the save!
That is fascinating. I've always been a bit skeptical of communals and it's always felt forced. This is unbelievable and I may need to reconsider my stance on it.
Wow. a reasonable person in the comments, great! Wish there were more like you!
Hi, Jason. I DO feel that with other species, they are a bit forced. I started feeling that way with my P. metallica communal. In the case of the M. balfouri, though, there seems to be more there. They actually interact in a way that shows social behavior, and many thrive in the setup. Thanks for being open minded!
I’ve had a group of five babies for nearly two years and when rehousing them into a larger enclosure a couple months back, I was able to account for all of them. They seem to be doing really well. I don’t see them out much either but when I do it sure is a treat! 🥰
Hi, Randi...thanks so much for chiming in! I'm so glad to hear that they are all doing well!
Probably the most fascinating species behavior wise. Brilliant footage Tom.
Thanks so much, bud. I can't even tell you how excited I was to have caught this.
Great Update. Loved the food fight footage, absolutely fascinating.
Thank you, Paul! I was SO glad to finally have something to share. Honestly, I caught the food fight part AFTER I was editing the other footage I caught. I still can't believe that I caught that. haha
I'm running a m.balfouri communal for almost a year now. I started with 5 bigger slings from one eggsac and didn't see them for several months after setup. After I saw that still all were alive and well, I added 3 almost adult specimen I got by occasion. During summer, I've seen them quite often and can confirm there are at least 4 of the original slings and 2 of the juveniles in the enclosure since that is the most I've seen outside at a time, but I guess it's all still alive. I've encountered no food fights yet, but I could more than once see one of the slings tapping another's back until the latter dropped his food item. You're having your communal up far longer so all I can tell might be outdated by some time, but I did not see hierachical beviour yet. Tapping game seems to be random / by occasion rather, since it's not always the same ones on either end of the ladder.
Hey, bud! So sorry for the late reply. I'm back at school and hard at work planning for new classes I was handed last minute. And that is fantastic information! It amazes me that they will mix with older specimens from other sacs.
Legendary video for the ages.
Thank you so much!
I'm happy they are ok, I've already quit the hobby for 2 times already since 2015 but I am still here, checking updates for this communal :) Nice work Tom!
Well, welcome back...again, John! haha Thanks so much!
"Missus, can you give that cricket now pleaaaase!" WOW! Haha, great video buddy, this is pretty cool. Amazing stuff!. Absolutely brilliant!!!👍
Bahahaha Thank you so much! I'm still floored that I was able to catch somethign like this after so many years with them.
I had to like the video before watching because I saw M. balfouri 😍!
Hey, Melody! Hahaha I think that a LOT of people have been waiting for this one. I get a few people asking every week. haha
Tom these ladies are glorious. I think you should keep a 24 hour camera on theses beauties so maybe we can see a gift like this a little more often. They really look big too. Just thought I’d throw that in for free.
Thank you so much, Vickie! And that's a great idea! I'll have to try to hook something up.
This is amazing. I adore this little amazon community.
Thank you so much.
I'm glad you kept the communal together after the move. I'm so fascinated by it. Yours are so healthy and beautiful. They look like furry puppies.
They DO look like furry puppies. haha Thanks!
YES!! I love your videos but I always look forward to the Balfouri updates the most!
I am SO glad you managed to get this footage too showing the proof of hierarchy and displays of dominance! I have always believed this was the case having witnessed similar things myself but I have never been able to catch it on camera. As a result I have come up against a lot of opposition when suggesting this theory in groups. I absolutely support your theories and thoughts on the species because you always back them up with clear evidence and I couldn't agree more that people should look past the "never seen it in the wild" line and look at the abundance of solid evidence that has been displayed in a captivite environment. Thank you for the amazing content and the incredibly positive role you play in this hobby.
Hey, bud! Man, thank you so much. I can't even tell you how close I came to completely missing this interaction. This has been one of the most rewarding things I've done in the hobby. It drives me nuts that people can see interactions like this and still say that they are not social. BS. Hopefully, someone gets evidence of them living communally in the wild soon so that we can finally put this all to bed. Thanks again!
Hey Tom! Glad to see another video
Thank you, Vincent!
I actually found your channel through your Balfouri-Videos a couple of years ago. Incredible Footage, thank you for sharing!
Hey, Mike! Man, that's awesome! Thank you for sticking around. :)
Yup, that's it, I'm getting a balfouri too, when I pick up a G pulchra. Absolutely need one in the baboon family 🖤
Hahaha That's awesome, Amanda!
Some fascinating footage Tom. I have too witnessed some of the very same behaviour in one of my balfouri communals. One was trying to take food from another and the one woth the food gave a little kick away to say 'Back Off'
Hey, Ian! I'm so glad to have caught that. There is definitely social behavior here!
Beautiful footage! I really hope these complex social behaviors are studied in a more professional setting in the near future
Thank you, Lilly! I agree completely.
That good fight footage was incredible to see! Wow
I'm so glad that I was able to catch it.
This was AWESOME. What incredible footage! I can’t wait to do a communal someday and observe all of them. I’d love to see their cleanup video! I’d be very interested to see how one would go about that …. 🤔 😅🤣
Thank you, Amberly! I will likely have Billie tape the cleanup, as it might be interesting...haha
Welp... this made me decide to do it, Tom. Getting 3 sibling slings and honestly, the excitement is far outdoing the trepidation and nagging fear that I'll wake up one morning and in the words of a famous spokesman: "have one fat spider"... and for my first old world, might as well make it a family of them, right ??
Ha! That's awesome! I do hope that it works out for you as well as mine did!
I've got lots of M. balfouri babies with there momma right now. It's absolutely amazing!
I am dying to see their amazing maternal instincts in person. That's awesome!
Those girls are freaking gorgeous! Awesome footage!
Thank you so much, Tana!
I love watching my commune of Balfs interacting with each other. Fascinating to see how larger members of the group happily tolerate slings climbing all over them.
That's so awesome.
Love you, Billie and the kids too and Balfouris
Awwww...thanks, Tina! Hope all is well!
Amazing :) And I love the tarantula on the right of the screen, behind you moving around making sure he/she gets youtube attention ;) Interesting that it hasn't been seen in the wild - do you think there are balfouri communities in the wild and they are just so secretive that we haven't been able to find them yet?
That's my L. itabunae. She always has to involve herself in my videos. Hahaha I just think that no one has spent the time looking for or studying them. I would think that there must be some out there. It would just be nice to have confirmation one way or the other. Thank you!
I have 4 in my communal. I see all 4 at least once a month. In fact, I saw all 4 out last night. Then again, I work nights, so when I do feedings and such on the weekends, it’s always around 3am, so I have a better chance to see all mine than most keepers do.
That's awesome, Tracy! I'm a bit jealous. haha
Brilliant video Tom, super footage of the spiders 🕷 trying to wrestle food away from another. I have to agree, that's a huge success having kept them together for five years, and their àll thriving, well done to you Tom.
Thank you so much, George. I was so excited to have caught that interaction!
Wow that was amazing. I've never seen, or even knew they would exhibit that behavior. Great video. Thanks for showing us. Facts are facts and obviously you have been successful 😊🕷❤️
Hello, Renee! Yeah, I was VERY glad to have caught this!
Love the videos you have of the balfouris!!! So glad they are doing so well and they are gorgeous. Definitely one of my favorite species and thank you for all the great content you make and helpful info.🙏🏻
I'm so glad that I was able to catch all 5 out recently! And thank you so much!
Fascinating behaviour, to see them steal another's food without harming them just blows my mind.
Stay safe and thanks for sharing :)
I've watched this clip so many times, and I still can't get over it. It just makes you rethink everything we think we know about them. Thanks, bud!
Ooohhhh spooky, yesterday i was actually thinking to myself, i wonder if Tom will do a balf communal video anytime soon.
Great minds...!😂
You willed this into existence, Helen...thank you for that. haha :)
Now THAT is impressive! Good work Tom.
Thank you, Graham!
Someday, an alien ship will land. A bunch of advanced sentient giant spiders will exit. Their first words will be heard through advanced translators that translate various leg thumping and fang clacking into an appropriate human language that says, "Greetings four-limbs. We are the Balfour. We come in peace. Our mission is to discover and study our evolutionary origins. Our research has brought us across the galaxy to this earth."
Hahaha Well played, Walt!
I am both thrilled and terrified at the thought of this....
That was amazing!!! To see them tussle over crickets just thrilled me! Balfori are truly beautiful tarantulas... their color is stunning. A all around fantastic T!!!!😍
Thank you so much, Jen!
Hi Tom
Really cool documentations.
What I find equally fascinating, is that other spiders can sense that a spider is eating from such a distance.
Cuz to our eyes they are only moving their fangs.
But you would think that they have to give off some other kind of signals that they are eating that opponents can pick up upon.
Really cool.
Cheers
Hey, bud...great to hear from you! Great point. There has to be something they are using to detect the prey. I see the same thing with spiders that come out of their burrows and immediately locate prekilled food. There is so much that we just don't know or understand about them. Thanks!
Excellent video as always Tom! I’m very excited to be starting a communal of my own! I have 2 that I keep solitary and I’m starting a communal of 10 later this week. I worked out a deal with Kelly Fornez for about the same price as fear not is offering them which could be expensive for some but it’s the best price I’ve seen around. I’m really looking forward to documenting the differences between how they’re kept and how they act. I’m so glad that you were able to get this type of footage and show these interactions because if I hadn’t seen it on your channel and it happened in my communal, I probably would’ve freaked the heck out.
That's awesome...and what a great deal. I may start another someday, as this was just so rewarding to watch. Maybe I'll even keep a couple more separately to compare behaviors and growth rates (the ones I kept alone grew much more slowly). Good luck!
Man, I remember watching the original video as if it were yesterday. Crazy it’s been 5 years. Great video man thanks for that one. That was some astonishing footage of the food fight. Crazy.
Hi, Tim! I was SHOCKED when I saw how long it had been. I was thinking 3 years. Thanks for sticking around!
Wowow that footage off meal steal was unreal, yes agree dominance not agresive, that prove my point this spp is more comunicative between communal members, what makes them be so different.
I can't even begin to tell you how lucky I was to catch that. If I hadn't seen them bolt out of the corner of my eye... And I agree...they have truly developed social skills, including dominance. I don't think that it can be denied. They actually communicate with each other. I only hope that someone studies them in the wild some day so that it will finally put the debate to rest. Thanks!
@@TomsBigSpiders 👏👏👏 Yes a Study in wild with this spp, ahould provide more clues on how different they are and come clues on the "why?" They develop this amazing comunication skills, living communal is a good sight a community evolution in mumbers and the hyerarqui observed here sure shows that evolution on this spp.
@@bsniped I agree COMPLETELY. This is just too much of an amazing thing for us not to study and learn about.
My love for tarantulas as grown
Ha! That's awesome, Damien!
WOW...amazing video! I had no idea they could take food from each other like that! Maybe Ts are smarter than we think
This definitely points to the fact that we still have a lot to learn about them. :)
Fascinating arent they I will have a commune one day.
I cant get more at the moment as someone has complained to housing about me having spiders 😔. Watching your videos to cheer me up x
How does keeping spiders violate any housing terms? That blows my mind! 🤯
What? Are you kidding me, Laura? Man, that is absolutely ridiculous. I'm sorry.
I cant get my head round it either. My spiders are in enclosures bothering no one .
Housing officer was meant to come round last week.
But my Mum died so couldnt face getting in trouble from housing.
I was my Mum's carer so feeling lost. So there is no way I'm rehoming even 1 of my spiders. I love everyone.
Will let you know what housing say next month. .cant believe someone actually called to report me, I just keep myself to myself xx
@@lauraclegg794 I am so sorry you’re having to deal with this on top of the loss of your mother. Grief is so hard, and I hope you have some sort of support.
Tarantulas are literally the cleanest pet you can keep so I hope housing is going to come in and say, “THIS is what they were complaining about?! You’re good!”
Keep your head up and know that whatever you’re feeling, it’s valid. Feel the feelings, but keep your head above the water.
Sending you ALL of the healing light ✨
I sure didn't know they could be thieves!!! Great video :-)
Isn't that bonkers, Lynnette? :)
@@TomsBigSpiders yes and funny!
So awesome.I have a communal of six that I’ve had for about nine months that are doing real well and growing fast. I can see them from the side of enclosure burrowed under,like a ant farm,and I can usually see at least five of the six. I recently purchased four more that are much smaller. Not sure if I’m going to put them together or not. I am told as long as I start the whole enclosure over again I can do that even if they’re smaller. It’s probably fine but I’m not going to take a chance. Thanks for sharing this video,it’s pretty awesome!
Hi, Mona! Thank you for chiming in with you experiences! Yeah, a lot of folks have started them with specimens of different sizes (and have had success with them), but I personally wouldn't chance it. Thank you!
My 5 are doing fine together. Excellent Video Tom!!
That's great to hear...and thank you!
This is awesome! When I get finished with my latest T. albo's eggsac (the work.....!!) I plan to start a communal of this species. Thank you for the awesome and informative video!
Oh man, Sandi...I do NOT envy you. haha Thanks so much!
crazy awesome footage.. thank you. i love it.. i have one but ordering 5 on Friday to start my first communal. thank you.
Thank you so much! And congrats on yours!
Wow, what an awesome video. My wife will only let me get one more tarantula, I'm going to see if she wouldn't mind my last one being a communal lol. Trying to find some loopholes here to get more than 8 T's lol. Thanks for the vid Tom! Great as always.
Hey, Matthew! Bahahaha That's one way to get around that rule. I mean, they ARE all in ONE cage. haha Good luck...and thanks!
I think there's an argument for keeping these communally that's being overlooked.
In most cases, spiders will eat their eggsacks if disturbed too much, yet balfouri seem absolutely content to reproduce in communals. One of the first, if not the first, breedings of them here in DK happened randomly in a communal and IIRC it was originally set up with slings from different lineages and added at various ages. I don't think the guy who had that communal ever had any signs of cannibalism.
I think that the problem is that many folks have reported that the females won't lay sacs with males around. Mine were kept with males for years and I didn't get a single sac. Maybe the fact that the guy added to the original communal had something to do with it? Very interesting!
@@TomsBigSpiders I think that might hold some credibility.
If you look at social spiders, which are often incredibly inbred, the spiders tend to die extremely quickly outside the nests, which is speculated to be due to weak immune systems as an effect from the extreme inbreeding. So it might be a way for balfouri's to avoid this? It's all speculative though.
Great capture Tom! I have not had the pleasure of seeing this myself but I have witnessed little squabbles over food. I find it comical when you have one that follows another while the one with the food will kick its leg at it to push it away. Mine have been very reclusive lately so no balfouri updates from me anytime soon. Great video as always Tom. :)
Alex! So sorry for the late reply, bud. I started school again, and it's been super busy! Thank you SO much for watching. I love watching the bratty behavior. Mine had been VERY reclusive until recently. I've had nothing to show off in the past year. Hopefully, yours come out soon and give you some footage! Thanks bud!
Awesome video! That food fight was great.
Wasn't that insane? :)
fascinating stuff!!! Thanks so much for posting!
Thank you for watching and commenting, Dee!
Absolutely fantastic filming. You really have done a brilliant job with these. This is displaying superb behaviour and really should show the naysayers. They are similar to the flat earthers.
Thank you so much, Bobbi! I can't tell you how excited I was to catch that feeding interaction. I don't know how people can ignore something like this and still think that a successful one is a fluke.
Awesome footage ‼️👍
Thank you!
I'm so damn excited for this video, my jaw actually dropped once my notification came up for this.
*This is officially the cutest thing I have ever witnessed in my existence.*
Also question as usual, do you have any feeder/red runners/etc recommendations for buying online? Or do you just buy all your t-food locally? So sorry if I've asked this before but I couldn't recall ever asking you.
Hey, Zulema! Awww...thanks so much. It's been along time coming.
I usually buy my B. dubia roaches from Dubiaroaches.com and my red runners from Aaron Pauling roaches. My crickets I get from a local pet store I hope that helps!
That was so cool! Awesome video
Thank you, Michelle!
Nice to see yours,, I have mine and going well so far for 1 year... 8 of them.. fascinating to watch their behavior..
I'm so glad to hear that yours are doing well!
@@TomsBigSpiders Your right! I see mine for many times, fighting against food.. but what Amazes me is that They never eat each other or use their fangs against each other. They kick each other that's what they do. As my observation. male go quickly they are the one who become dominant first but when the oldest female get to near maturity. Thats the end of the male.. the old female becomes the queen of the whole group. Fascinating to witness they developed this attitude for million of years. I believe that they are also communal in their natural habitat... long time ago.
Enjoyed the video Tom. Your Balfouri gals are quite beautiful and very healthy looking. Thank you for sharing the video with us. It's very interesting see the Tarantulas living together as a communal.
Hey, Ed! Thank you very much. I will never stop being fascinated by them.
Hi, i have been watching your videos since a few years and they have been a great inspiration and occasionally a source of confidence when my observations mirrored yours, but i don't really like to comment on youtube, usually. Anyway thank you. I listened to your podcasts about the communal as well. Your observations are indeed incredible and to me they underline many other observations with similar animals i have made in my life. I don't want to go into depth here but one thing that bothers me is the fact they don't reproduce. To me personally it was never a question about whether they can recognise and interact with each other but to be communal they have to be able to reproduce and increase in number over time while an occasional cannibalism within or even between generations or individuals leaving the "nest" play a much smaller part. Again this does invalidate your observations in any way and maybe you have heard of succesful multigenerational communals, i have not so far. I have friends that keep M. balfouri communals that i am eagerly waiting on an eggsack for because then i could try it myself but so far no luck. I do however know of one other arachnid that can be kept and bred using a communal setup. I keep some Euphrynichus bacillifer for example, and got them from a friend that breeds them in groups of around 50 animals never having seen cannibalism, even across generations. They do also steal each others food, as i have observed at almost every feeding. Something i personally have not seen yet, but that my friend told me about was that the more dominant individuals tend to walk over the less dominant ones while those in turn press themselves against the cork-bark. I hope that i will be able to observe this myself once i put the two groups i keep in plastic boxes at the moment into their final enclosures.
I hope you find this post interesting,
best wishes,
Daniel
"does" ups sry, should be "doesnt"
Hi, Daniel! First off, so sorry for the late reply. I'm back teaching and I've been spending most of my free time putting together lessons for a new class I was teaching. As for the reproduction part, the theory is that, in the wild, the males would mature faster than the females and would wander off looking for mates while the females would stay behind and maintain the colony or "nest." They definitely were pairing in the communal, but with four males constantly present, the females wouldn't drop sacs. I have since heard from several other folks (one who gave them a HUGE area) who had only one male in the communal, and they had several sacs. I think that this is why we really need to study what happens wiht them in the wild. These types of events just show that we still have a LOT to learn about them. Thank you so much for chiming in.
@@TomsBigSpiders Thanks for the reply Tom,
"As for the reproduction part, the theory is that, in the wild, the males would mature faster than the females and would wander off looking for mates while the females would stay behind and maintain the colony or "nest"."-- this was my though as well, i do hope that there is enough interest in these animals that someone will seek them out and report on their findings in the next few years.
Good luck with yours and if you ever decide to give E. bacillifer a try i can highly recommend it. Much more fun to have lots of them than the singles and pairs that most Amblypygi are kept as.
@@TomsBigSpiders Small follow up, since i heard your last podcast, my friend cleaned out his communal and found all 8 spiders alive and well, 6 females, 2 males including a viable sack, the group consisted of 2 different bloodlines, 4:4. He isn't sure if there had been any sacks prior to this, he thinks there probably were but were eaten most probably.
Very cool you found the spiderlings again. I could imagine that the adaptation is a byproduct of another trait that has been selected for. Like natural selection for prolonged maternal care or something like that resulting in greater inhibitors for cannibalism in general or sum such. We really do need more observations from the wild because there is always a reason.
Regards, Daniel
I have been watching your mbalf communal updates. Inspired me to have my own. I nown have 7 juvies ♡♡♡
That's awesome, Angel! Wow! I'm so glad that they are doing well!
They are, most of them are going 3". I saw your rehousing vid and it helped me a lot. Wanted to rehouse them on a similar size that yours are currently on but it may be too spacious that it may drive cannabilism. Your videos are great! Will be watching for your m. balfouri space for updates. :D
you are right , i had 10 , and as slings they actually "hunted" together . after kill the "strong" took first feed ( i used red light and watched them at night )
That type of behavior is just so fascinating to me!
Incredible footage of the food fight! Thanks for sharing this and for all you do to inform keepers on tarantula care
Thank you so much for watching! :)
That was incredible! Do you have any arachnologist contacts that you could send the food-fight footage to? Maybe we'll get lucky and a grad student looking for a thesis will happen to see this video and be inspired to study the social structure of M. balfouri in a more "official" manner. (By that I simply mean a controlled study. This seems like pretty good evidence to me. 😉)
I've been thinking of going back to school as a 'mature student' lol. Think you just gave me an idea for a thesis if I do!
@@Violet-Lily Woo! That would be amazing! 😄 I genuinely think it would be a fantastically interesting subject to study, especially for someone who already loves Ts. Seeing this footage today really inspired my curiosity- so many questions!
Please do let me know if you go for it- and best wishes if you do!! Cheers!
Hi, Dora! Yes, I do and I'm hoping to get some feedback. I secretly hope that someone chooses to study a communal for a paper so that we can have some scientific data on them. I agree completely.
Doooo ittttt, Violet! hahaha
@@TomsBigSpiders That would be so incredible! I actually just saw the comment you pinned, which was pretty interesting. The more eyes on this, the more knowledge, the better! Really _openly_ hoping for a study and published paper! 😉😁
Outstanding! This is absolutely amazing to see this hierarchy Behavior in tranchulas.
Thank you, John! I was so glad to have caught it!
Awesome footage 👏
Thank you, Ernesto!
Hi Tom! Wow just wow! Amazing footage and incredibly fascinating to watch! I’m glad al the girls are doing really well 😊
This really changes the way we think about tarantulas and how they socialise. Truly awesome!
Hello, Sian! I agree completely. This is just too social to be ignored. :)
awesome footage!!! 🤩
Thank you!
Great video Tom I found that really interesting.i dont have a communal at the moment I do have a sling and a AF,i may at some point try one out.thanks for the info.
Hey, James! Thank you so much for watching!
Been waiting for this. thank you
had my own mbalf. started with 7 now i only have 5. lesson: hunger will prompt them to eat a molting spider. dont let them go hungry or else they will eat a spider whos molting. i guess my experience is plain old stupidity and irresponsibility lol. was so busy with work thats why
You're most welcome! Yeah, I kept mine VERY well fed, especially early on. I didn't want to take any chances of hunger leading to cannibalism. Hopefully, yours are good now!
Great video Tom 🕷
Thank you so much, Tarantula Sister!
Your girls are absolutely gorgeous!!
Thank you so much, Linda!
Brilliant video xx
Thank you, Tarantula Sister!
Now this is a top notch video
Thank you so much. I'm so glad that I was able to catch something worth showing off.
This food fight is adorable lol
Wasn't that insane? :) Thanks, Lynn!
That’s amazing!! I’m going to show this to so many people!
Thank you so much, Bronnie!
Hi Tom. Thx for this update.
I started my communal with 2 x 3 slings not from the same sack. 3 where one molt further.
I put them together as small slings in a 30x30cm terrarium. They all went to the same spot and it develloped from there.
I have seen max 5 outside at once so not sure if they are all there .... But I think they are.
I had a hard time few months back and didn't feed as often as normal. Even when hungry they do not eat or fight eachother in my communal. The 5 I saw was after this periode.
One PRO when not feeding every week .... you see them more often as they seem to be looking for food.
Question: What is a good size for a permanent home for 5 (or 6:D)? Their webnest is getting bigger and bigger and I think I need to rehouse soon.
I had some branches created so they could go up in the air as well and they did. Amazing home and not want to kill it more than once in their life.
Looking forward for you 'cleanup' video as I have no idea how to do that :D
Hey, Marc! First off, so sorry for the late reply! I'm back at school and hard at work planning for a new class. That is great info! I joked in one of my videos that folks almost NEVER see all of them out at once, which creates that nagging feeling that one might have been eaten. haha As for an enclosure size. I have 5 in something that is 2 ft x 1 x 1 ft, and they do well in there. You could even go bigger if you wanted to. Hope that helps, bud !
Nice video man. I'm hoping to add more Ts now that I found an additional job.
Congrats on the new job, bud! That's awesome!
@@TomsBigSpiders honestly I kinda regret getting the job. It's very dangerous for the amount of pay, I'm a nurse. The high number of covid cases in my country and the number of covid patients in the hospital where I work is just putting my self and my family in danger for very little pay and benefits. Just the other day we delivered 2 dead covid patients in the morge, it's just simply horror.
That food fight is exactly the same as feeding two cats at the same time, whatever the other one eats must be better than what else is available
Hahaha Good comparison!
Nice vid👍 lol just got 5 slings two days ago, Do you keep any of the Ornithoctoninae species Tom?
Thank you so much, Roshie! Unfortunately, not at the moment.
Awesome vid again!👍
Thank you, Jeff!
This is such an amazing video!! This is such a beautiful species too. I was thinking about getting this as my first old world (not anytime soon though) and was wondering if having just one would be OK? The thought of rehousing a whole community of them as they get older just terrifies me.
Hi, Jamie! I raised three by themselves, and they did just fine. Don't feel obligated to jump into a communal. One will work!
this was fascinating! Can you introduce a strange male in there for breeding purposes?
Hi, Kim! Thank you! Most folks report that they won't drop a sac if a male is present. Now that all of the males have passed, I hoping to see if any of these would drop a sac, but there has been nothing.
Cool update. Be safe with Henri on your steps!
Hey, Daniel!!! Thanks so much, bud. Yeah, I'm not looking forward to Henri at all. Haha
You got this!
I love M. balfouri s! I assume the dead males were mature? I have my little nickname for balfouri's and it's balfurrys, LoL 😂😆 they look furry and fuzzy to me.
Hi, Melody...YES! Oh, man...I should have made that clear. I'll put it in the notes...thanks! And that's adorable!
@@TomsBigSpiders yeah, I figured they were adult males, you take such good care of your tarantulas. They don't have long after they mature out, which is sad
Well, interestingly, the last male matured more than a year after the first did. In fact, it was closer to two years! I found that to be quite interesting.
@@TomsBigSpiders wow, that's awesome he lived to be an old man, LoL 😂
Another one of my favorite species 🙌
They are amazing spiders!
5x sling's I lost 1x M.balfouri at the beginning but the other 4 is still doing well a year later, they have not been out much, but it's almost spring in south africa it's been a cold winter using a small heater i was able to keep the temperature at +- 68°F / 20°C.
Hello, Werner! I hope that all is well with you. I'm glad to hear that the remaining four are doing well. I've found that they all but disappear during the colder and drier winter months. Thank you so much for chiming in!
Wow, so beautiful.
Thank you very much!
That is so freaky- you’d think the other ones in the background would take advantage and try to come into the fracas, but they all seemed curious and seemed to be watching. There’s something kind of terrifying that there’s an alpha female tarantula. If something threatening came into their environment, do you think they’d communally defend one another, like ants or wasps??
Hi, Cat! It almost appeared that they were just watching it go down. "Oh, man...Big Bertha is at it again!" haha And that's a great question. I'm honestly not sure!
As always a great video
Thank you so much, Anthony!
Great video as always
Thank so much, Channy!
That’s so amazing!
Thank you, Meredith!
Wow what awesome spiders 🕷️🕸️🕷️
Thank you!
another great video thanks for all the information
Thanks so much!
Hey Tom, how is your Pokie with the bad molt/missing pedipalps doing? Did she pull through, or was the damage too severe? I sure hope she's hanging in there until she can molt again!
She's still eating like a machine and doing great! I'll update soon. :)
@@TomsBigSpiders That's wonderful news!!! 😄 I cannot wait for an update- I'll keep my eyes open. Thanks for replying. 😃