Monocentropus balfouri growth rate?

JC · Jul 16, 2009

Anyone know Monocentropus balfouri's growth rate?

Satellite Rob · Jul 16, 2009

You can push them to grow to 4" to 5" in a year.Thay grow really fast.
Which probably means thay wont have a long life.I would guess 6 to 8 years.

Sathane · Jul 16, 2009

Yup, they grow like weeds. Still not fast enough for me though. I can't wait for my little guys to get their colours.

JC · Jul 16, 2009

Sathane said:
Yup, they grow like weeds...

Great!. . .

mitchrobot · Jul 16, 2009

they grow pretty fast and mature at a small size, in a little over a year they are near breeding size

Jarconis · Jul 16, 2009

they live their life, like a candle in the wiiiind

Sathane · Jul 16, 2009

Huh? More like a pampered spider in a terrarium...

Jarconis said:
they live their life, like a candle in the wiiiind

Zoltan · Jul 17, 2009

Satellite Rob said:
Which probably means thay wont have a long life.I would guess 6 to 8 years.

Other people, who have done field study on them in the wild, estimate their lifespan to be 10-14 years.

Satellite Rob · Jul 17, 2009

Any T that grows at the speed of M.B. will not have a long life span.Now
were taking CB T's.In the wild thay don't get regular feedings and go a long
time without a meal.In the wild I can see them living longer.But not in
captivity.When people are power feeding them to grow faster pace.I'll stick
with my original prediction of 6 to 8 years in captivity.The field studies don't
apply to CB specimens.Living in the wild is not easy for a T.Between
predation,parasites,drought,monsoon rains and disease.It's not easy growing
up in the wild.But only time will tell.

Sathane · Jul 17, 2009

There was a 10+ year study on M. balfouri?

Zoltan said:
Other people, who have done field study on them in the wild, estimate their lifespan to be 10-14 years.

JC · Jul 17, 2009

Sathane said:
There was a 10+ year study on M. balfouri?

Uh-oh! Sathane is getting all factual and stuff!!!

Sathane · Jul 17, 2009

More inquizative. I'd like to know what qualifies the 'estimation' Of longevity since I've never heard of any significant long term studies on this species - and I've looked.

arachneman said:
Uh-oh! Sathane is getting all factual and stuff!!!

dukegarda · Jul 18, 2009

Sathane said:
More inquizative. I'd like to know what qualifies the 'estimation' Of longevity since I've never heard of any significant long term studies on this species - and I've looked.

Well could you not simply take a species with a verified, similar growth rate in the area and use that as a comparison, further making an educated guess? ;P

Sathane · Jul 18, 2009

Normally yes, except the Monocentropus genus spans more than 4000 kms and M. balfouri is only located natively on a Socotra Island. I'm not sure if there are any other species of tarantula located reasonably close enough to make this connection.

dukegarda said:
Well could you not simply take a species with a verified, similar growth rate in the area and use that as a comparison, further making an educated guess? ;P

Zoltan · Jul 18, 2009

Sathane said:
There was a 10+ year study on M. balfouri?

It's only an estimation. Dr. Wolfgang Wranik has been studying the fauna of Socotra since the 80's (if not earlier), and according to David Štastný's article in the BTS Journal 23(2), he's been searching for Monocentropus balfouri since 1982.

Maybe it's just me, but that I feel he's one of the most qualified people to accurately guess the lifespan of this species.

Satellite Rob · Jul 18, 2009

Hi Zoltan,
I beleave thats true in the wild.But i'm taking about captive born sling.With a
species like M.B.Everyone who owns are power feeding them and are pushing
them to grow faster.So thay can breed them to make money.Even when thay
aren't power fed.Thay grow alot faster in captivity.It will take M.B.'s at least
twice as long to reach maturity in the wild.In captivity there whole life speads
up.Thay mature faster and thay die faster.I do beleave the studies done in the
wild by Dr. Wolfgang Wranik are true.But were not talking wild specimens.Were
talking captive raised and thats a totally different thing.

Zoltan · Jul 18, 2009

Hi Rob,

I understand and believe you, since I'm sure you have more experience with this species than me, because I don't keep any, and don't plan to in the near future. I only made my first post in this thread to point out that this species can live more than 6-8 years. I don't like to make assumptions and draw conclusions on a species as a whole from captive animals. So, in a nutshell, they live about 6-8 in captivity, but they probably live a lot longer in their natural habitat.

Satellite Rob · Jul 18, 2009

Hi Zoltan,
I agree with Dr. Wolfgang Wrinik and you 100%.I always read your post and
you seem to be very knowledgeable.You are very well spoken and well read.
The 1 last thing I would like to say is,you got my respect.Zoltan it's been a
pleasure posting with you and I hope we can do it again soon.

AlainL · Jul 18, 2009

Zoltan said:
Other people, who have done field study on them in the wild, estimate their lifespan to be 10-14 years.

Agreed, I thought about 12-15 years

dianedfisher · Jul 18, 2009

Well....I only have 1 and she hasn't grown at the astonishing rates mentioned here, but I don't power feed as I think it has detrimental effects (I know, I know, let's not open a new debate on power feeding). I wouldn't even consider her growth rate equal to my faster growing arboreals. Perhaps my little girl is an exception to the rule. I picked her up as in Sept. 2008 at about 2 inches DLS and she is now 3.5 DLS and her speramthecae is still light and showing no signs of sclerotization after 3 molts. Di

Monocentropus balfouri growth rate?

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