Ask a scorpion guy

[John]

well the site is growing slowly but surely, and we have many new faces, but not much activity outside of the tarantula forum. Now scorpions are my personal area of expertise as those who know me will attest, so to hopefully generate some interest in these fascinating animals i open up the floor to any and all people with questions about scorpions.any question no matter how simple or complex, anything you want to know at all. just ask away and we'll get the ball rolling!



John

[gunnardude]

Ok, I'm going to take a wild guess but I'd say that a lot of people into T's overlook scorpions because handling most scorpions is a no-no.

So to make them more visible without stressing them out, can you give me suggestions on containers (both type and size) and substrait for some of the more common scorpions?

Also, for some of the more common (or beginner) scorpions, how long can I expect a scorpion to live if properly cared for.

[John]

I'm glad you asked scott .
You are right that there are many species of scorpion out there that it is best not to hanlde, but some of the more common ones you will encounter for example emperors, flatrocks, and asian forset scorpions can be handled with as much ease as many tarantulas.

Good ways to keep scorpions visible without causing undue stress are actually very similar to the way to make a tarantula visible. its all about design. with most semi arboreal scorpions like your bark scorpions you will notice they pretty much come out in the evening to forage so you will see them a lot without any effort, and their friendly nature towards eachother makes them easy to keep several in closed quarters. i once kept over 30 in a single 10 gallon tank. when it comes to making scorpions that burrow more visible there are plenty of ways to get creative. the method i use most is actually lifted from the Tarantula Keepers Handbook. i will place a hide right against the glass, and form a pre made burrow against the glass, which often times the scorpion will use, and extend as it sees fit. scorpions like flatrock scorpions like narrow hides that can be made by stacking pieces of slate together. for temperate or tropical scorpions the best substrate you can by is Coco-fiber just like with T's, but for desert species the best mixes are usually a combination of the coco-fiber and playsand like you would find at a hardware store. Scorpions have variable lifespans with most living between 4-8 years, but some living as long as 25 years and others only 2-3 years. i have yet to see a scorpion that couldnt live happily in a 10 gallon aquarium, and most could easily live in a 2.5 gallon or 5 gallon. many people keep them very comfortably in just delicups. i really reccomend these guys if you've never tried them they are great and very interesting and even if they lack the cuddly fuzzy appearence and bright colors of Tarantulas there are so many ways they make up for it. and lets not forget that millions of years ago these were aomng the VERY FIRST animals to make their way on to land, even beating all vertebrates.






John

[stuckyteacher]

I am in the process of splitting up the mother scorp (emporer) from her little scorps. Any advice for this? Can the little ones forage on their own? Will they also burrow like her? What kind of items can I make hides out of that wont rot or grow fungus? Should I put them each in different habitats or can the little ones stay together? Would you recommend handling the little ones or the adult? They were born in April/May. Thank

[John]

well by now i would assume that the little scorpions have moulted and climbed down off the mother's back, right? they should no longer resemble little white soft things, but should have moulted at least once and taken on a darker color and resemble a fully developed scorpion. some people raise the youung with the mother, but most people play it safe and separate the young from the mother once they climb down off of mom's back. my preference would be to raise them individually to prevent any cannibalism, though with such a communal species it is usually uncommon to have cannibalism. if you want to handle a scorpion, i would use mom as she is less fragile, and also much less likely to use her sting since she has fully developed claws. for hiding spots you can use broken clay flowerpots, pieces of bark that have been put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, etc. the little ones will burrow just like mom. if you plan to keep them communaly make sure to offer lots of hiding spaces and keep them very well fed to discourage any cannibalism. keep them nice and humid, and make sure there is drinking water available, remember the key to fending off mold and fungus is to have good ventilation. good luck,



John

[vio220]

As a new person to the whole invertebrate hobby, I've never really grown on the interest of scorpions, or centipedes or millipedes. I'm not prejudiced like I was before I became interested in spiders, but for some reason, I just don't find them interesting. Have any thoughts that might make them interesting? Idk one thing I like about spiders is that they all seem so different and the temperament varies from species to species, and EVERYTHING they do is different. Plus there's a wide variety in their physical attributes. But to me (and I know this is ignorant) I just don't see the "personality" in scorpions. I still think they're cool, just not enough to keep any. Any thoughts on how to change that? Because I'm open to them, I just need a push lol

[gunnardude]

I was probably in the same boat as you for a while. I didn't care to keep scorpions until I had the opportunity to collect my own on our last field trip with John. Black-light hunting for scorps is a ton of fun and collecting a local specie made the whole trip very satisfying. I have 5 Centruroides vittatus and although they are not as large or flashy as some other scorpions, collecting them myself makes all the difference.