# M.Balfouri



## mikemike118 (Aug 15, 2009)

Hi everyone. Some of you have probably seen me around on here advising people to get the beastly M.balfouri, and it is also top of my wish-list, but i was wondering a few things:

1. I will soon have £240.00 in my bank and i was wondering if anyone could give me a rough guideline on how old of a female M.Balfouri i could get with the £240.00? 

2. I understand that these tarantula's are in the baboon species, so is this a feisty tarantula or pretty laid back?

3. Do they have urticating hairs?

thanks...

mike


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## Danhalen (Jun 6, 2008)

You could get an adult female for that price if you shop around, they are pretty feisty, and since they are an old world tarantula, they don't possess urticating hairs.


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## mikemike118 (Aug 15, 2009)

*any other forums?*



Danhalen said:


> You could get an adult female for that price if you shop around, they are pretty feisty, and since they are an old world tarantula, they don't possess urticating hairs.


thanks for info =]

just wondering if you know of any other forums please?

i got the tarantula store


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## george dobson (May 20, 2009)

bts, arachnofiles


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

Personally I think you're mad paying so much for one spider, but therewego... There was one on the BTS classifieds recently.

On a side note, can someone explain to me _why_ these are so damned expensive? They're not particularly attractive (mustard yellow and slate blue?), they don't grow that large at all... I just don't see much going for them to warrant such a humongous price tag.
*
FEMALE*









*
MALE*










By these, you're going to want it to be a male... and males die within about 3-4 years...
It really doesn't make sense to me... I mean, it's pretty, but... not £2-300 pretty...


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## Danhalen (Jun 6, 2008)

ph0bia said:


> Personally I think you're mad paying so much for one spider, but therewego... There was one on the BTS classifieds recently.
> 
> On a side note, can someone explain to me _why_ these are so damned expensive? They're not particularly attractive (mustard yellow and slate blue?), they don't grow that large at all... I just don't see much going for them to warrant such a humongous price tag.


I imagine it's because they are so rare. Sling yields are very low too - Sacs often number in the 20's.


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

Danhalen said:


> I imagine it's because they are so rare. Sling yields are very low too - Sacs often number in the 20's.


Ah, so it's a status thing... like Hummers, bitch to park, cost a fortune in insurance, f*ck up the planet, drink petrol like no mans business, barely fit on the road... yet cost more than a small fleet of cars put together.

Take note, it's an African species, and I -love- African species... just not this one for that much.


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## mikemike118 (Aug 15, 2009)

*lol*



ph0bia said:


> Ah, so it's a status thing... like Hummers, bitch to park, cost a fortune in insurance, f*ck up the planet, drink petrol like no mans business, barely fit on the road... yet cost more than a small fleet of cars put together.
> 
> Take note, it's an African species, and I -love- African species... just not this one for that much.


exactly as the same as the hummer senario lol...

i think they are absolutly stunning, and most of my frends from college have been saying that im mad :lol2: spending that much on a tarantula when im only 17


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## davieboi (Jul 17, 2008)

im 15 im gettin one on friday:lol2: sayin that im a 6ft 1-2 inch fifteen yearold and really stocky too so should be ok if i get bitten by anything hopefully:lol2:

imo the most striking looking spider second to none then maybe a gooty ornamental


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

I agree with the others; mediocre T's and they are over priced. I suppose it is similar to people wanting sicarius; they see it and want it because it looks new and exotic, when in fact they are nothing special if not rare.

Why not wait a few years? Just now, you are conforming to the "I have more money than experience" group of keepers. I don't mean anything negative by this, but so long as people with more money than sense buy these spiders the longer the prices will stay elevated. 

This also leads into the other issue where as soon as spiders are seen as a valuable commodity, you get an increase in people collecting WC spiders to try to cash in. It's an environmental disaster - just look at the situation with _Avicularia diversipes_. There's a population of unknown size (probably small) and yet already someone managed to smuggle some in. It's reckless to collect without knowledge of what population size these animals exist in, but money is often the driving factor to throw caution to the wind (although I digress).


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

meh male is nice, female a tad more bland. There's much more attractive out there, some for much cheaper IMO:

C.cyaneopubescens (my first T, she's great!)

A.versicolor

A.braunshaseni

Aphonopelma clarki

B.auratum

Cyriopagopus sp, not sure of species but it's a stunning blue/purple color

G. iheringi

Phormictopus cancerides

P.metallica (duh)

Xenesthis intermedia

This holothele sp..rainbow..might just be an odd photo glitch, if not..:mf_dribble:











...that's to name a few.:lol2:


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## davieboi (Jul 17, 2008)

GRB said:


> Why not wait a few years? Just now, you are conforming to the "I have more money than experience" group of keepers. I don't mean anything negative by this, but so long as people with more money than sense buy these spiders the longer the prices will stay elevated.


 dont think you were trying to be offensive but i have been keeping tarantulas since i was ten (only fifteen now)but i have kept a wide range and im not well off but i save my money and spend it on what matters to me and i think it is a tad harsh to say that because us younger keepers are young means we are less experienced:gasp:
even so this is a stunning spider and that is why i like it and iprefer this in looks to any other:Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Danhalen (Jun 6, 2008)

joeyboy said:


> P.metallica (duh)


For some strange reason, P metallica have once again become more expensive than balfouri.


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## davieboi (Jul 17, 2008)

Danhalen said:


> For some strange reason, P metallica have once again become more expensive than balfouri.


 what is the sort of price range of the 2 spiders: victory:


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

Danhalen said:


> For some strange reason, P metallica have once again become more expensive than balfouri.


NOO

Seriously do people actually breed them?:lol2:

You'd think by now we'd have quite a few sacs dropped..I say someone's hoarding! Making an army!:gasp::gasp:


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

id do a bit of research into the species first mate.


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## ph0bia (Feb 21, 2009)

They can essentially be kept as OBTs as far as I know, except with deeper substrate.


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

davieboi said:


> dont think you were trying to be offensive but i have been keeping tarantulas since i was ten (only fifteen now)but i have kept a wide range and im not well off but i save my money and spend it on what matters to me and i think it is a tad harsh to say that because us younger keepers are young means we are less experienced:gasp:
> even so this is a stunning spider and that is why i like it and iprefer this in looks to any other:Na_Na_Na_Na:


I never said anything about age....I know a fair few "old" keepers who are still prone to do idiotic things, and they can be even worse - "hey i've just got a bonus from work, lets go to Brazil and try to collect some Avics". :whistling2:


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