2i Emperor Scorpions... LOTS of Q's

[pixall]

Hello there.

My boyfriend bought an Emperor Scorpion from Petco last year(I know, I know. I wasn't there when he did it) and she recently gave birth to a mini swarm of babies. They have darkened and started climbing off her back and he told me he didn't want to deal with raising them and was going to freeze them. I asked if I could have them and give raising them a go. Me(an arachnophobic) with a mini swarm of scorpions. It is the stuff great sitcoms are made of, right?

So as of right now they are still in with the mom and I have no idea how to take care of them but they are my responsibility. Is it safe to take them away from the mom? They still hang out right near her. I have eco-earth bedding soaking now, going to set up either a ten gallon or a 20gal long for them using the moisture trap method with gravel under other bedding. I have a small reptitherm UTH I will side mount, and I'm planning on blacking out three sides of the tank glass like we did for the mom. Going to mostly close off the screen lid to hold humidity.

We hand feed Shocky(momma) 1 adult male dubia roach once or twice a week, will I have to hand feed each of the babies or can I put a dish of small mealworms and baby dubia in the enclosure and just let them figure it out?

I may be absolutely TERRIFIED of them, but I want to make sure their setup is perfect. Once they are older I can decide if I want to keep or rehome them, but for now I just want to know how to keep them healthy and happy.

 

[Ludedor24]

Once they come off the mothers back it is fine to seperate them

Everything sounds great. Looks like you did your research. Also yes you can just put a few prey items inside and they will be fine. Best of luck

 

[Grin]

I'm currently staying in Northern Virginia, i wouldn't mind taking some of those babies off your hands for you

 

[TomM]

I'm currently staying in Northern Virginia, i wouldn't mind taking some of those babies off your hands for you

I'm in Delaware and my job takes me to Eastern Maryland all the time. I, too, wouldn't mind helping you out and taking care of some scorplings.:biggrin:

 

[ShredderEmp]

Because Pandinus imperators are so popular in the pet trade, the pressure on wild populations is great. So instead of freezing (which is horrible) sell them to people here, or sell them back to the pet store and either way, you might be able to make a profit from them. I along with others would hate for them to be killed for no reason.

 

[pixall]

You guys are too funny. @ShredderEmp I am well aware of this fact. One of the reasons I didn't let him cull them. I keep a number of exotics(admittedly only a few inverts, tho) and do follow these things.

While I am terrified of them, they have grown on me quite a bit, and anyone who has the knowledge to care for them I would be more than happy to give/sell babies to. Still haven't gotten an official count on them, tho.

Beginning to think I will keep 1 or 2 and get over my fear. Shocky is very docile and if the babies grow up to be like her I think that I could handle them etc.

(I have only held Shocky once. I was VERY ...inebriated and it was only for about a minute before I made my b/f grab her off me lol)

 

[Grin]

Very smart for saving them, those babies never asked to be born and at least deserve a chance at a life.
If you do decided to re home some of them inbox me, i get back in town on the 17th and get my paycheck.

I have an adult female my buddy gave me for free. She's super defensive and always in her burrow.
So it would be nice to possibly add some new ones to my collection.

 

[ShredderEmp]

Sorry, I was just making sure you didn't have that in mind.

Keeping a few would be a great idea, especially if find out you want to breed them.

As for handling, I'm guessing you know not to do it too much, but most are not too feisty and should'nt be too much trouble but it differs for every specimen, for example, yours is very calm and mine is very anxious.

 

[pixall]

LOLOLOL Hahahahah THAT gave me a laugh. Handling them too much.

Shocky seems very tame to me anyway. When she comes out(once a month or less often sometimes) her stinger is down and she is content to just sit on my B/F's hand for a while. I really enjoy watching her from a distance, which I am gauging by your responses is how you are supposed to interact with this species anyway so that works.

@Grin I will do that.

@ShredderEmp Breeding sibling to sibling is OK with inverts?

 

[ShredderEmp]

LOLOLOL Hahahahah THAT gave me a laugh. Handling them too much.

Not sure if mocking me or actually laughing?

I dont have breeding experience so I would ask someone who has.

 

[pixall]

Not sure either. Just saying I am TERRIFIED of them so me overhandling is NOT going to be a problem. I don't plan on handling directly till they are at least 2 or 3x the size they are now.

EDIT: reread and understand better now. Not mocking you. LOL I have had a couple drinks and PROBABLY shouldn't be still posting without reading things a few times first. Sorry, my BFF just got married and we are celebrating.

 

[ShredderEmp]

Oh well in that case, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

 

[yames]

brother and sister emps can breed there is no danger in it. It happens all the time. You have to figure any Captive bread emps came from siblings.

 

[snippy]

Shocky seems very tame to me anyway.

May seem that way to you, but scorpions can not be tame in any way. You are talking about an invertebrate, not your cat!

You have to figure any Captive bread emps came from siblings.

How is that? The argument makes more sense for species that have been imported once in a very small batch and kept in the hobby from there on. But especially P. imperator is imported in huge numbers. Why would there be significant siblinghood between them?

Regards
Finn

 

[darkness975]

First of all kudos to you for not letting them be killed. It speaks wonders for your character as I feel every innocent life deserves to live. My P. Imperator is a lot like your adult female ~ I rarely see him. Let me know if you're ever farther north and willing to part with some as I'd love to have a couple of those scorplings when they get older.

 

[2nscorpx]

... I feel every innocent life deserves to live.

What defines 'innocent'?
OP, thanks for not killing the babies! That would have been terribly foolish. I'm glad our parents don't or didn't have the reasoning of your boyfriend.

 

[darkness975]

What defines 'innocent'?
OP, thanks for not killing the babies! That would have been terribly foolish. I'm glad our parents don't or didn't have the reasoning of your boyfriend.

Innocent as in they didn't do anything to anyone and they're beautiful in their own way

 

[dairy]

@ShredderEmp Breeding sibling to sibling is OK with inverts?

They can handle it. It's probably better to mix genetic stock for the sake of keeping the offspring strong (and if you're going to start a breeding project it's probably worth the effort to find some new "donors" but a couple of generations of inbreeding will not faze them.

 

[pixall]

OP, thanks for not killing the babies! That would have been terribly foolish. I'm glad our parents don't or didn't have the reasoning of your boyfriend.

LOL my parents have nothing to do with any of this. I'm not even really on speaking terms with them. They kinda robbed me of six grand. >.<

I counted about 13 of the little things. Should I feed them more or less often than their mother?

 

[ShredderEmp]

You should feed them more often so they molt properly and don't cannabalize.