Wow thats crazy! Awesome pics Scarab and yes... M.Balfouri are still on my to get list Soon enough though!

All my fears were unfounded. The five original slings are all there, I was absolutely dumbstruck when I saw them. They are at least 8cm leg span on average and magnificently beautiful. They share the same nest, but the nest has several entrances. I know that the nest has increased in size, but I thought it was the one spider (which I saw regularly) doing all the webbing.

Now I know there is at least one female in the group as the exuvium I pulled was female. I'll be damned if I know which one the female is, but I don't care. There are sixteen M balfouri in the enclosure, and that is all that matters...

That's great news :woohoo:

Whoop whoop do I hear a Hooraa for scarab? :woohoo:

Hooraa. Hooraa.

Well done Scarab.
Quick question or two:
1. How long do you plan to run this project?
2. How many T's can be in your enclosure before it gets cramped?

Christa, I will probably run this "project" until I quit keeping Tarantulas. The aim is to have the young spiders distribute throughout the enclosure, setting up their own nests. The ones that mature into males will be recognized once they start wondering in search of a female. The males will gradually be removed and the cycle should repeat itself.

It is a rather large environment. If males are removed as they mature and mate, the females will stay behind until their offspring in turn become juveniles. I have no idea how many there will be after the first breeding cycle because one female may produce between 30 and 80 babies. I can't see this going beyond the third generation, provided I introduce males from other colonies. I would guess that the enclosure could probably manage six to eight adult females. Breaking up this community to remove "access" spiders will be a massive and difficult operation, but that is a problem for some other year...