H. villosella communal

I just recently set up a communal with 3 H. villosella slings. They have all webbed up together and everything is going great. My question is this: if I wanted to add a couple more slings to the enclosure (right now they are all not even a half inch) would this be a good idea or do they all need to be introduced to the enclosure at the same time?

LadyofSpiders said:

I just recently set up a communal with 3 H. villosella slings. They have all webbed up together and everything is going great. My question is this: if I wanted to add a couple more slings to the enclosure (right now they are all not even a half inch) would this be a good idea or do they all need to be introduced to the enclosure at the same time?

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As far as I know, you have to do them all at the same time. I'd only say add more if it was the same day or the next morning but that's as far as I would do it.

I have a couple large colonies of H villosella. The first one was established from maybe half a dozen spiders that were raised separately until they were adults and were then dumped into a single large cage. They got along fine and have maintained a colony for several years now. The second colony was established from babies that "overflowed" from the first. I've now got several adults that have been raised separately and I will soon be putting them together in a single cage, and I do not anticipate any problems. (These new adults are all raised from babies that escaped from the other two cages and were found wandering in the house.)

Bill S said:

I have a couple large colonies of H villosella. The first one was established from maybe half a dozen spiders that were raised separately until they were adults and were then dumped into a single large cage. They got along fine and have maintained a colony for several years now. The second colony was established from babies that "overflowed" from the first. I've now got several adults that have been raised separately and I will soon be putting them together in a single cage, and I do not anticipate any problems. (These new adults are all raised from babies that escaped from the other two cages and were found wandering in the house.)

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wow thats great info! always kinda wandered what would happen if you just threw say 5 fems in a new large enclosure... figured itd work out with same sizes and is a new tank so 4 new T's arnt trying to take over 1's territory.. but everyone makes it sound like if you do it with any sp you end up with one really fat T XD wasnt gona risk it myself so kinda glad i know now XD

Thank you!! Finding info is difficult and when I searched I mostly got more people saying not to do a communal. My little ones are doing great at the moment and have been webbing up the enclosure. I find it interesting that they all have a little area to themselves but have no issues with "visiting" their siblings. Almost like they divided up the cage amongst themselves and have a spider agreement. I had them all seperate but the only vials I had were too stuffy and I lost a couple due to air flow issues.... So I went ahead and created the communal and the remaining slings have been fine ever since.

I enjoyed reading this about everyone's experiences. I think this is the direction I may end up going next since I'm not interested in breeding. Gathering as much info as I can.

Medusa said:

I enjoyed reading this about everyone's experiences. I think this is the direction I may end up going next since I'm not interested in breeding. Gathering as much info as I can.

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you do realize even if you don't want to breed if you end up with different genders they'll mate and breed anyway in a communal

Jones0911 said:

you do realize even if you don't want to breed if you end up with different genders they'll mate and breed anyway in a communal

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thats true. but how do we know that shes not taking bills information on being able to drop MF's into the same enclosure with success to use for herself. i mean iv personally kinda wondered if it was possible with obt's and Heterothele because any poec person will typically call you names and question your intellect if you ask if you can put adults in the same enclosure who have not seen another T... but i dont think most people would just willingly try it with most sp. so this was something i personally took note of as i found it interesting .and something to possibly try if i got the nerv to

Jones0911 said:

you do realize even if you don't want to breed if you end up with different genders they'll mate and breed anyway in a communal

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Yes. I know how it works, lol. I think of "breeding" as having a MM and MF of a species at the right place, time, age, and mood. And then pulling egg sacs and incubating, then having a zillion slings that have to be divided into little plastic deli cups or vials, and sent off to someone with our lousy shipping system. (FedEx, UPS, USPS: they all suck where I live.) It all seems a bit much...

With a communal I may have a gross misconception that everything will happen "naturally."

There are many different levels of sociality in spiders, from clutches being able to tolerate each other through a molt or two on up to multiple generations sharing food and webs. It varies from one species to another, and even within a species depending on resource availability and other factors. In nature the highest probability of communal success goes with larger territory and richer food source. (This is completely contrary to the periodically posted idea that crowding specimens in a small cage to prevent individuals from establishing territories will produce good results.) There are some well documented cases in which multiple species shared gigantic webs in situations where there were very high concentrations of food, such as mosquito "blooms" following floods. If you want to have the best chance of success for communal tarantulas you need to have species that have at least a basic level of sociality, plenty of room/hiding spaces/surfaces/etc., and plenty of food. But even then, the species you are working with might have built-in limits or requirements that need to be addressed or accepted.

Bill S said:

This is completely contrary to the periodically posted idea that crowding specimens in a small cage to prevent individuals from establishing territories will produce good results... plenty of room.

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An exception to this being Poecilotheria, which are known to do better in relatively smaller group cages, where individuals share the same retreat and stay in contact with each other. When they spread out in larger cages and have their own retreats, they have a tendency to become territorial and hostile to each other.

Poec54 said:

An exception to this being Poecilotheria, which are known to do better in relatively smaller group cages.....

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My hesitation on this is that they seem to do best in nature, where they have all the room they want and no cages whatsoever. If the only way to get them to be "social" is to put them in small cages, then perhaps they are not social spiders. Forcing unnatural behaviors on them might not be the best way to keep them.

Bill S said:

I have a couple large colonies of H villosella. The first one was established from maybe half a dozen spiders that were raised separately until they were adults and were then dumped into a single large cage. They got along fine and have maintained a colony for several years now. The second colony was established from babies that "overflowed" from the first. I've now got several adults that have been raised separately and I will soon be putting them together in a single cage, and I do not anticipate any problems. (These new adults are all raised from babies that escaped from the other two cages and were found wandering in the house.)

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Do you have any pictures of your colonies you are willing to share?
Thanks!

I've been seeing all kinds of responses about communals, specially from keepers who are against them.

Personally, I don't like this word "communal", I believe tarantulas can tolerate each other wether ans wether this happens in situ or not, some species were registered in pet trade being very tolerant towards each other.

Now, if you ask me what I think about "communal", I'll always say dont do it. Even with the most tolerant species, there is and will always be a chance of canibalism, imo, taking that risk is play god.