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M. balfouri communal tips

Kazegal

Active Member
Messages
59
Location
Belgium
About two years I had a M. balfouri mature on me so I sent him off to another keeper for breeding.

This was successful and he let them hatch with the mother. Due to the virus we were unable to meet up for quite some time so his communal started looking like this:
Id7ZUmQ.png


December last year we were finally able to meet up to exchange "slings". They were all already quite big, 11 in total, which I put into a communal enclosure:
jyuYhsJ.jpg


They rapidly turned the enclosures into a space of their own:
w0KtZ6P.png


The "unfortunate" news here was that of the 22 slings he had, most of them were male. I received 8 males and 3 females and he kept the same amount. The last time they appeared in the enclosure like in the picture is about one to two months ago. Since then I have seen a maximum of three out and about, which leads me to believe most of them are in premolt. One of the balfouri is now a mature male, which I have seen once last week. He has since disappeared again.

The big question for now is, what should I do to get the mature male out? Since they are sacmates, I am pretty confident the females won't be large enough to breed, so I'd like to get all mature males out and send them out to other breeders. Do I tear up the enclosures to get the male out? Do I wait until more of them come out again as to not disturb possible balfouri in premolt or molt?

Any advice would be appreciated!
 

Tarantulafeets

Well-Known Member
Messages
348
Location
Socal
For getting the male out, I wouldn't tear up the whole enclosure, as that means 11 balfouri can be running about somewhere, and that's not going to be fun. I think that I would just wait, as MM wander around searching for females, so I would try to catch him next time he is out and about.
 

octanejunkie

Well-Known Member
1,000+ Post Club
3 Year Member
Tarantula Club Member
Messages
4,163
I would get a mature female and put the male together with her and let them do their thing.

Like @Tarantulafeets said, a mature male will always be looking to fulfill his purpose, so you can use that to your advantage and let him out of the enclosure into a catch cup. It's pretty easy, actually.
 

Kazegal

Active Member
Messages
59
Location
Belgium
That is what I find strange: they roam, but I've only seen him once. Hopefully he hasn't been munched! Unfortunately there don't seem to be mature females available for sale in my area (sounds like a dating app now).
 

Kazegal

Active Member
Messages
59
Location
Belgium
Fantastic news! Even though I had my wisdom teeth removed today, I had to take my chance at removing the male since he was out and about. He didn't even try to get into one of the many holes.

Managed to catch him easily, quickly readied another tub and then when I tried getting him in, he did a runner. Easy second catch and then did manage putting him in his tub.
 
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