Communal tips for a runt

[Rich.Harrington]

Ok so I have 3 P.pederseni purchased at the BTS show as a communal setup. (first stall on the left of the first hall if I recall)

So far everything has been fine with them, however recently I have noticed some size changes. There is one inch, one 3/4, and one 1/2 inch spider.

I'm not worried about the middle one as it happily feeds, however being pokkies they all run and hide when I put food in, and I can only guess that the big one then gobbles most of the food items. I's still using small crix, as I don't want to leave the little one struggling with larger prey.

However I want to try and kurp the difference in sizes before the runt becomes lunch.

So far the only things I can think of are.
1.Seperate the runt during feeding times to ensure it gets a good meal.
2.Use a combination of medium and small crix in the hope the large spider will go for the mediums.
3.Go back to using maggots on wires kebab style, in the hope that a sting of them will create a dinner line scenario.

Wondering if anyone else out there can offer to help on this one before 3 becomes 2.

[Peter Lacey]

Personally I wouldn't worry to much. I have 4 pokie communities at mo and they've all displayed differences in size. I'm about to get a community of 3 pederseni going as I've heard these are good community species too.
To alleviate your fears I'd try dropping a worm nearest the smallest one, provide it a little extra food in the hope it increases its size but tbh I don't think there's much need for this. I've known people who have different aged pokies living communally without loss.

[Colin D Wilson]

De Ja Vous Rich
In my experience if there's an abundance of food you shouldn't have a problem.
I had 13 regalis in a commune ranging from 1.5 inch - 4.5 inch legspan and never lost one through cannibilism.
I used a combination of maggots, crickets and lobster roaches (varying sizes).
There was always food available in the tank, moulting never posed a problem with stray crickets as the others seemed to "guard" the moultee (other people have commented on this too).

[Phil Rea]

Just out of interest, how big was the enclosure Colin?

[Faye Sweeney]

...the others seemed to "guard" the moultee (other people have commented on this too).

That is interesting... the more I learn about Ts the more I luv 'em!

[Colin D Wilson]

Just out of interest, how big was the enclosure Colin?

It's the one on the right.......12x12x36



T'other one was the H. "sp gigas" commune

[Peter Lacey]

There was always food available in the tank, moulting never posed a problem with stray crickets as the others seemed to "guard" the moultee (other people have commented on this too).

Absolutely! It was rather strange at first. In my P. rufilata community I often saw them walk over each other and interact and I'd see all 3 quite clearly. However prior to a moult they'd all disappear, quite often in the dampest part of the enclosure (initially on or near the substrate in the sweet jar and once rehoused in the cork tubing) and it would be hard to see if there were 3 living. On a number of occassions I thought I'd lost one only to be proved wrong when a moult appeared and all 3 were back in sight. What's important to consider here is that with a community you often feed more than you would to individuals and therefore there was always the danger of losing one during a moult to a cricket. That didn't happen and hasn't happened yet in my communities, thankfully.

[Nicola Dolby]

When a poecilotheria moults in a colony, another will always stand over them during this process for protection. I have seen this with P. rufilata, P. pederseni and P. formosa. It would be interesting to see if this behaviour were to be exhibited with A. minatrix, to determine whether it were just Poecilotherias or other tarantula families which exhibited such sibling behaviour.