M. balfouri

lalberts9310

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Oct 9, 2014
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So I might be purchasing some new additions in a month or twos time, I was thinking C. Hatihati and M. Balfouri, now I searched the forum and didn't get any threads with specific care requirements, regarding M. balfouri, how should spiderlings and adults be kept? How should the ventilation be, how often should they be fed, how big do they grow, etc? I know they are terrestrial and web a lot. Also, anyone who owns these species, do you have a particular setup which gives great results regarding their webbing (such as such as sloping substrate etc)I try to refrain from care-sheets on other sites as I don't know which are good care-sheets and which are not, I try to stick to advice given here on the boards. Also are C. HatiHati set-ups and care the same as C. Schioedtei?

Any help would be appreciated, as I want to get the set-ups right first time

Thanks in advance.

---------- Post added 03-21-2015 at 11:31 AM ----------

I don't know why I posted this thread in tarantula chat and I have no idea how to move it :|
 

RagingBambi

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Oct 26, 2014
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5
I've been keeping mine as followed and they both seem to be doing pretty well. They're in a small glad container, vent hole around top sides & lid, enough sub for it to burrow, fake plant, and i dampen the sub some on 1 side of the enclosure. Not 100%
sure if its the correct way to keep them but so far seem to be doing fine.
 

-=}GA']['OR{=-

Arachnoknight
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Mar 1, 2004
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172
Keep balfouri dry. I use dry substrate and keep a small water dish in with them most of the time. The juveniles/slings are typical burrowers, and they construct a few tunnels in jars. My adult female seems to prefer to just web up the enclosure in lieu of constructing a burrow. She is a weird spider though.

I would imagine the Hati-Hati should be kept like all cyriopagopus. I always offer both deepish substrate and height to accommodate both their burrowing & arboreal tendencies.
 

lalberts9310

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-=}GA']['OR{=-;2366214 said:
Keep balfouri dry. I use dry substrate and keep a small water dish in with them most of the time. The juveniles/slings are typical burrowers, and they construct a few tunnels in jars. My adult female seems to prefer to just web up the enclosure in lieu of constructing a burrow. She is a weird spider though.

I would imagine the Hati-Hati should be kept like all cyriopagopus. I always offer both deepish substrate and height to accommodate both their burrowing & arboreal tendencies.
Yes I heard hati-hati had burrowing tendencies, think I'll have fun constructing enclosures for those when they get bigger.. balfouri slings should they also be kept dry? Or should the sub be moistened every once in a while? Also, how should the ventilation for balfouri be?
 

-=}GA']['OR{=-

Arachnoknight
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Mar 1, 2004
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172
Yes I heard hati-hati had burrowing tendencies, think I'll have fun constructing enclosures for those when they get bigger.. balfouri slings should they also be kept dry? Or should the sub be moistened every once in a while? Also, how should the ventilation for balfouri be?
I always have kept all my slings {regardless of what species they are} with half and half substrate. Half moist/ half dry. I never have kept avicularia to any large degree, so the dry sub does not apply here.

I also keep everything well ventilated with air holes on the sides and tops of enclosures, to create airflow.

I just pay attention to the sub in my moisture dependant species and wet it down when needed. I found that if your ambient humidity is acceptable, the enclosures will have higher humidity with just a water dish in them. IMO people place too much emphasis on humidity, if your spider is well hydrated, and the ambient humidity is fine you will not have molting issues. The spider will have enough moisture in it's system to complete the molting. Honestly the only time I have to wet down the substrate is in the winter, {and I rarely do this} the furnace dries out the air. I live in Illinois, so our summers are humid. I would imagine SA would have low ambient humidity, unless you are coastal. I would get a 'good' hygrometer, establish baseline readings and adjust the moisture levels as needed. Most spiders are fine with the ambient humidity in the enclosures.

I use clear plastic jars, as most of my collection now is arboreal or burrowing african/asian spiders. I like the jars for security reasons, and they are crystal clear so I keep tabs on everyone.

Hope this helps.
 

lalberts9310

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-=}GA']['OR{=-;2366218 said:
I always have kept all my slings {regardless of what species they are} with half and half substrate. Half moist/ half dry. I never have kept avicularia to any large degree, so the dry sub does not apply here.

I also keep everything well ventilated with air holes on the sides and tops of enclosures, to create airflow.

I just pay attention to the sub in my moisture dependant species and wet it down when needed. I found that if your ambient humidity is acceptable, the enclosures will have higher humidity with just a water dish in them. IMO people place too much emphasis on humidity, if your spider is well hydrated, and the ambient humidity is fine you will not have molting issues. The spider will have enough moisture in it's system to complete the molting. Honestly the only time I have to wet down the substrate is in the winter, {and I rarely do this} the furnace dries out the air. I live in Illinois, so our summers are humid. I would imagine SA would have low ambient humidity, unless you are coastal. I would get a 'good' hygrometer, establish baseline readings and adjust the moisture levels as needed. Most spiders are fine with the ambient humidity in the enclosures.

I use clear plastic jars, as most of my collection now is arboreal or burrowing african/asian spiders. I like the jars for security reasons, and they are crystal clear so I keep tabs on everyone.

Hope this helps.
Thanks man, yes this helps a lot, thanks for your input and advice. :)
 

Angel Minkov

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Aug 3, 2014
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595
I keep my M. balfouri sling in a vial with about an inch of dry substrate, a ring of holes on the side and occassionally I mist lightly on the silk, for drinking.
 

Poec54

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Yes I heard hati-hati had burrowing tendencies, think I'll have fun constructing enclosures for those when they get bigger.
I keep my Cyriopagopus and Lampropelma slings in 32 deli cups with a ring of small holes around the upper sides, an inch of slightly moist substrate, a piece of cork with some moist long fiber sphagnum under it (for nesting and moisture), a piece of plastic plant, and a small plastic water bowl (same set up as my Poec slings). All of the Cyrios and Lampros dig a home under the cork and eventually construct an upright turret of silk and substrate (excess substrate that they've dug up from their burrow). The turrets are several inches high, and sometimes almost reaching the top of the container. They'll come out when they're hungry, especially at night.
 
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lalberts9310

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I keep my Cyriopagopus and Lampropelma slings in 32 deli cups with a ring of small holes around the top, an inch of slightly moist substrate, a piece of cork with some moist long fiber sphagnum under it (for nesting and moisture), a piece of plastic plant, and a small plastic water bowl (same set up as my Poec slings). All of the Cyrios and Lampros dig a home under the cork and eventually construct an upright turret of silk and substrate (excess substrate that they've dug up from their burrow). The turrets are several inches high, and sometimes almost reaching the top of the container. They'll come out when they're hungry, especially at night.
Dammit, they sound like such a cool genus, I'm super excited already. Thanks Rick!!
 

horanjp

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May 4, 2014
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I searched the forum and didn't get any threads with specific care requirements, regarding M. balfouri|
Must not have searched very hard....these guys are immensely popular and the threads go on for days. Keep em dry and they like to burrow. All you need to know really...if you want them to web up you could try to skimp on the substrate and give them some 'scaffolding' as a substitute. They really prefer a hole though. I kept a male like this for awhile and though he webbed up more than a GBB on crack, he always looked pretty out of sorts. Keep that in mind. I let them dig now. I hardly see them.
 

lalberts9310

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Must not have searched very hard....these guys are immensely popular and the threads go on for days. Keep em dry and they like to burrow. All you need to know really...if you want them to web up you could try to skimp on the substrate and give them some 'scaffolding' as a substitute. They really prefer a hole though. I kept a male like this for awhile and though he webbed up more than a GBB on crack, he always looked pretty out of sorts. Keep that in mind. I let them dig now. I hardly see them.
Nope I did a search, didn't get anything specific such as ventilation and such.. hati hati I didn't really get anything on, I had to PM coldblood for some advice hehe

Oh and thanks for the advice, I will give him options of both and see how it turns out, if he looks out of sorts I'll let him dig only

Luckely I don't mind secretive species, if I don't see them its fine.. I like it when a secretive T does make an appearance, gives one beautiful sight
 

Pokie Master

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Dec 14, 2014
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I would say more ventilation is better for M. Balfouri than little. Size on average is around 5 inches. Females can breed at a pretty young size. I have one currently that is only about 3 3/4 inch and was bred by a 4 1/2 inch male. She is currently sitting on her egg sac. I keep all of mine with dry substrate with a water dish. I rarely will mist to simulate a light rain. I give plenty of substrate to let them burrow. This is hands down the best communal species! I don't have enough data yet to verify but they seem to grow faster in a communal... My communal started as slings and have overtaken some juvies I have kept singly. (Again not enough data to confirm but is my experience) M. Balfouri is a very interesting species that you can't go wrong with. Good luck with whatever you choose. I hope this helps.
 

lalberts9310

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I would say more ventilation is better for M. Balfouri than little. Size on average is around 5 inches. Females can breed at a pretty young size. I have one currently that is only about 3 3/4 inch and was bred by a 4 1/2 inch male. She is currently sitting on her egg sac. I keep all of mine with dry substrate with a water dish. I rarely will mist to simulate a light rain. I give plenty of substrate to let them burrow. This is hands down the best communal species! I don't have enough data yet to verify but they seem to grow faster in a communal... My communal started as slings and have overtaken some juvies I have kept singly. (Again not enough data to confirm but is my experience) M. Balfouri is a very interesting species that you can't go wrong with. Good luck with whatever you choose. I hope this helps.
Thanks for the input!

I'm either getting two C. Hatihati and one M. Balfouri or just two C. Hatihati.. depends on how much I can spend and if they are still on special when I want to order hehehe
 

horanjp

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May 4, 2014
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I keep mine on slightly moist substrate.
I missed the 'sling' part apparently...*foot in mouth*

Edit- You've got me thinking, now...I'm going to try kicking it up a bit and see if I don't see my spiders more often. Thanks for the nudge
 
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awiec

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Feb 13, 2014
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I keep my M.balfouri sling in a 16 oz deli that is almost entirely full of sub with holes on the top and a row of cross ventilation on the sides. It's still a bit small so I do sprinkle water on the sub but I also have a water cap in there as well. Mine has webbed up the entire container and has several tunnels so I really don't think they need to be encouraged to web. I also see mine every night unless it's in pre-molt and is a very tenacious little thing, it has nabbed crickets from my tweezers before. When I bought it from catfish, the little bugger at barely .4 inches tried to steal my paintbrush and bit it repeatedly. It has tripled in size in the 8 months I've had it and is not shy about taking larger prey items. I wanted to get it past 1 inch quick to decrease the mortality rate so I would crush the necks of small cricket and put it by its burrow so it could scavenge at its leisure and would remove the leftovers (very rarely was there something left) the next day.
 

Durantula

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May 10, 2014
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I got 12 Balfouri slings about 6 months ago. I got a 20 gallon aquarium, put a statue of a dragon in the middle on 3 inches of substrate, and put all 12, 1 inch juvies in the tank. They had all been living together before they were mailed to me so I wanted to keep them comfortable. This is also the main reason I got them. All the spiders I have I keep separate. When I found out about these guys, I got them specifically because they were communal. I thought they were pretty spiders to so that had me. Found a great deal, and got them. Many of them are around 3 inches now and growing so fast. They attack roaches like wolves.

Once I put them into the tank, they all huddled in different spots for a a few days, but as i thought they would, they all collected near the statue I put in the middle and began to web it up. It was kind of cray for a bit because I put a lot of dubia roaches into the tank, and as they would burrow, I would put more in. Before I knew it, I had a lot of adult dubia roaches in the cage. Maybe like 25-30 plus another 30-50 smaller dubia of different sizes in there. The spiders were half the size of adult dubia. One time I saw a grown dubia running around with a balfouri ridding it like a cowboy. And the dubia shook him off and got away. A few days later I see four balfouri wrestling down an adult male dubia. They eventually ripped it apart.

They disappeared for a few weeks and then suddenly they amerged bigger than the dubia roaches. Male and female dubias were having babies and there were tons of dubias everywhere. But now the Balfouri are easily taking down full grown dubia by themselves. A couple weeks go by and the dubia population is dwindling big time, and I am going to have to put more in there for the first time in like 4 to 5 months. I see like 3 or 4 adult dubia in there now and at one time there were at least 30, and triple the amount of young roaches.

Now Im not saying what I did was the right way to go about feeding them, but I did want to make it more of its own eco system in there. I wanted to really watch interaction. There would be times where roaches and spiders were side by side at the watering hole. It was crazy like little Africa. But then after the spiders got there drink, it was only a matter of time when they ambush a lazy roach and take advantage of the water attracting everything.

All twelve are still alive and they are all growing super fast. They are by far my favorite spider I own because I am taking advantage of there communal tendencies and allowing them to live in a lithe wild africa. I have never fed them crickets but Im going to go out tomorrow and get a dozen and throw in there. They have to go out and look for roaches, it will be interesting to see what they do when they see the crickets. I know they were only fed crickets before I turned them to roaches so I know they will be fine with both. I expect them to really go after the crickets do to the crickets being so much more active.

Anyway, I would definitely try and get a community going. They do so good together. They share food and when one makes a kill, two more will stroll over to help finish the job and eat too. Sometimes 6-7 will all be attached to one roach. Again my spiders are healthy and thriving and as a community, they work together to survive by sharing meals.
 

Felidae

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Mar 29, 2015
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Now I have two slings together, but I'd like to start a new, 5-6 members group.

Anyone keep mothers with cocon/slings in the colony, or better to separate?
Have experience about the separated female reintegration into the group?
 
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