Thanks, Scarab... very nice indeed :woohoo:

Great Job Scarab. Looks awesome.

Keep the posts flowing.

The communal enclosure has dried out sufficiently to start introducing spiders.

The five slings that have been living with their mother since they hatched were removed and compared to slings from the same batch that have been in tubs since third instar.

This is the difference (the spider on the right lived with the female, the one on the left in a tub):



These are the five that will go into the communal in two days or so. I have placed the adult female inside the communal enclosure. I want her to select a nesting spot and start constructing a new burrow. Once this is done and she has settled, I will put these back with her, obviously into the females new burrow/nest. I am convinced she will accept them back as she has done before.



I can't wait for the next batch to be added and see if the adult female will accept babies from another mother. :huh:

I love it man - truly inspiring - Any one who puts maximum effort into building a micro habitat will see the due results.

As is pretty obvious by now, I am bored shitless, have nothing to do all day but play with my spiders. Forgive the constant updates, but it serves as a record, hopefully not only for myself...

These spiders have a surprise each day.

On Tuesday morning (30/08/2011), I placed the five slings back in with the female. They went into her very basic hiding place without hesitation. I have not seen them since. On Tuesday evening, I also placed an adult male inside the communal seeing that he is young and produced a sperm web over the weekend. He wondered around a bit, then found a rock and made himself comfortable. This I might add is about 1 meter away from where the female has settled. I left them for the night.

Status quo on Wednesday.

When I went to see whats happening this morning at about 04H30, the female was nowhere to be found. Her "temporary" spot empty. I did not see any slings, nor a trace of the female. I knew she was in there, but could not see her. During the morning, I found her... nestled next to the male, 1 meter away from her own nest. She must have walked out during the night and in the passionate encounters, ended up in the males hide. There was not a trace of aggression, they just sat there.

This afternoon I went to see if the two are still nestled together. To my utter amazement, the female walked back to her original nest during the afternoon and is back with her offspring. In a matter of 48 hours, she memorized the position of her young (nest) and apparently had no trouble finding her way back.

In her new hiding place, back with the young.



Why did SHE move to the male and not visa versa? No idea.
Did they mate? Probably. (M balfouri females are sluts).
Are the young still in her nest? Probably.
Will the male mate with her again? Probably.
Will the male eat the young? Most definitely not.

So many questions, we keep trying to find answers.

(M balfouri females are sluts).

lol! :laugh:

This is exciting. congratulations!