And this is why one needs to be careful when housing Pandinus imperator together...

[wodesorel]

They were siblings that had been together for two and a half years. I kept them together originally since I thought they were both small boys and had room for another tank, but one turned out to be a subadult female and molted into a monster a few months later. But they had been okay together during andafter that, and while the thought crossed my mind occationally that she could turn homicidal - she was always crazy aggressive with me, but never with her sibling - I really didn't expect to find her eating him tonight. I had just changed the sub in the cage as part of the roach cleanup of that room, and I guess it was enough for her to get territorial. (I had been feeding dubia but my allergies to them got extreme.) I always knew she was a little off somehow, she's chocolate instead of black like the rest of her siblings, and like twice the size of all of her sisters and probably three times her brother's mass. I was intrigued by her because she was so different, but I guess I should have been cautious of her instead. I'm kicking myself right now. He was calm and out a lot, and I always liked him the best.

Had to for posterity, because I hope to never see it again. Let it serve as a warning to never get to comfortable with communal species, because you might end up with a crazy individual. I should have been more cautious about putting them in the tank together, although my gut says no matter how I would have done it this would have been the outcome.

 

[G. Carnell]

owch!

She is indeed a monster!

On the bright side i suppose you can buy in some fresh blood to mate her?

 

[wodesorel]

With any luck she's already carrying his babies, and the reason she did this is because she's preggos. Her sisters are all showing, but she's a about six months behind. I figure I'll know by spring if she is, too. I'm really not sure if I want to take the chance on putting her with another male if she isn't. If she did this (while just fed) to a scorpion she was familiar with, I would hate to think what she would do to a newbie!

 

[Scorpling]

I once added a new P. Cavimanus to an enclosure with another. Here were plenty of hides and food, but the newbie ate my other cavimanus anyway. It defies reason. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Scorpionluva]

That sucks I've had this happen with a couple other "communal" species and it's a hard lesson to learn (especially since emps are so hard to find now )

I would still try to pair your female with another male but only for a mating session and remove him
I wouldn't trust her staying with another communally
Hope she's gravid

 

[Newports]

Yeah it happens and all too commonly.

When it happened to me it was also the much smaller one that got eaten. I believe they were h. Spinifer or longimanus.

Usually if they're very aggressive with each other but are the same size most of the time it'll only be a quick duel then back on their way again.

 

[Jebbles]

I had one female, bought a male. She tried to kill him so I separated them. Bought two more females. A little aggressive because he was being pushy, woke up at 3am to a lot og chattering and stuff around the tank, separated the female. She's alone now, and she's WILD. Eats pinky rats too. I love her.
Other two are together, constantly share a hide sometimes too. Seem to get along well, I check up on them to make sure they are still friends.
See, even on WikiHows Emperor Scorpion how to care for guide, it said that emperor scorpions love to be housed together along with a lot of other wrong information I fixed. Just like every other animal, they prefer their space. Sometimes others intrude and well, arachnids have the balls to eat one another.

 

[wodesorel]

They normally are communal! My Castra and Pollux have been together 4 years now and she's gravid with her third brood and due in a month or so. They do great together and both take turns feeding and looking after the little ones. I have never separated them and I have no worries.

I also had a tank of two females and a male and another tank of three females and a male that had been together for over two years. I only separated them out a couple weeks ago so I wouldn't have to chase babies when the females give birth in another month or so. I want to be able to identify which batch is from which female to help with my breeding program going forward. Again, no worries with them either. A male-female pairing is still being housed together as she's not showing signs of being gravid yet. Once the babies are old enough to not need mom they'll be going back in together.

Abaddon (the one pictured above) is just a freak of nature. She's nearly double the mass of her sisters and will run to the glass to try and attack me in the evenings after lights out. She took a whole 6 months longer to mature, and she's always been a chocolate color. I really wonder if she doesn't have something wrong with her genetically. She is very very different from her 6 sisters and the other 4 emps I have. I really should have listened to my gut when I got the funny feeling she wasn't right.

 

[Michiel]

When you changed the substrate, all pheromones from substrate creating "scent paths" were erased. This may have caused her to perceive her brother like threat, instead of the sibling she was housed with all the time....

 

[wodesorel]

Does two weeks sound right for fully digesting a meal of that size?? She got skinny again insanely quick.

 

[wodesorel]

Her sister did the same thing with her mate last week. oh: She barely made a dent in eating him and was the size of a house for trying. They'd been together the same amount of time. New plan is to house only for mating. Was able to get one of my boys back from a friend though, so still okay for breeding. (I hope.) I may scrap this line altogether and stick with my other pairs' offspring instead. They've been together 4 years and this is her third pregnancy and the two of them are inseparable. I know not many people breed arachnids for temperament, but this group is such a heartbreaking pain in the rear! Will try one more year before giving up. I've had these kids too long to do otherwise.

 

[Galapoheros]

I haven't had this problem yet but I smashed a newly molted one while putting a hide back, not the first time that has happened, slow learner sometimes or maybe just lazy at times. I can't see your cage but I was thinking you might try extra hides in there, maybe around 3 or 4 places to go. I don't hold back much on food either. Imo there is too much worry about "over feeding".

 

[wodesorel]

I already moved tanks around so I don't have a picture - they were in a 20 gallon long with 4 hides, a big water dish that could have doubled as a hide underneath, and 8 inches of substrate. And they had been together non-stop for nearly 4 years. These particular gals are just monsters when preggo!

I also tend to be generous with meals, especially once they hit maturity. Within reason - a fat scorp is not a healthy scorp, and babies shouldn't grow too quickly.

 

[Hisserdude]

Well at least you will be having tons of new scorpions when your little monsters give birth!

 

[wodesorel]

I hope so! At this rate the rest of the moms are going to be turning four years old before they have their own! Crazy long reproduction times.