But how? Explain like I am five.

[KingSlevin]

My scorpion, Giant Forest Scorpion, No idea the latin name, Is housed alone, & has never been housed with another. She was originally sexed as a male. Praetor being a female doesn't bother me, but how did she give birth?

 

[Pyrelitha]

Well I wouldn't know for sure... But how long have you had her? Maybe she was housed with a male before you purchased her?

 

[NYAN]

She gave birth because she was a female and was gravid. Probably wild caught and mated in the wild.

 

[KingSlevin]

Well I wouldn't know for sure... But how long have you had her? Maybe she was housed with a male before you purchased her?

Housed alone at the pet store, I mean she could have been at some point? I have had her for just shy of a year

 

[KingSlevin]

She gave birth because she was a female and was gravid. Probably wild caught and mated in the wild.

Pardon my ignorance, gravid?

 

[AnimalNewbie]

Pardon my ignorance, gravid?

Pregnant

 

[Brian S]

Guarantee it was a wild caught female that had mated in the wild . Depending on temps it can take a long time to give birth. I just pulled up an ancient thread here that will tell you exactly how to care for your new crew

 

[Brian S]

Read my thread Raising Pandinus and Heterometrus babies

 

[InvertAddiction]

Congrats on the babies. Easy to care for. Btw DON'T feed or disturb the mother while the babies are on her back. It causes stress and she can end up eating her babies. Once they are off her back house them separately (they don't do well communally), keep substrate damp (NOT A POOL), room temp is alright, you can add leaf litter and some sphagnum moss to help keep moisture. Feed once to twice a week. You can give live food or pre-killed (they will scavenge if need be) just remove uneaten prey (food) after 24 hours and try to feed again in a few days. Or, if you don't want to/can't find homes for the babies, you can stick them all together and let them eat each other until you have a couple left...frowned upon but people have been known to do it.


Now then, to answer your question.... I think it's quite obvious at this point, the person who sexed that scorpion was dead wrong and you shouldn't take their advice on sexing others in the future. You said you got this from a pet store. Pet stores need to get their animals from somewhere, right? Most of them have a company/breeder/importer who sells them merchandise. She was obviously paired at some point in her life, hence the babies. If she was a wild caught (WC) specimen then she probably mated with a male prior to being caught. She could have been bred by a breeder (if that's where the pet store gets their shipments from) who sold her (possibly by mistake?)

At least you only have 1 brood I bought 3 Heterometerous petersii scorpions from my pet store (they only sell females) and all 3 were gravid (pregnant) and I didn't know it. Each one had 1 brood (babies) within a week of each other. Oh that was so much fun housing all 40+ scorplings (baby scorpions).

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

It's 99% certain that the female had been in contact with a male at some point. HOWEVER, if you notice three wise scorpions bearing gold, frankincense and myrrh crossing the substrate...you may have the basis for a religion.

 

[darkness975]

My scorpion, Giant Forest Scorpion, No idea the latin name, Is housed alone, & has never been housed with another. She was originally sexed as a male. Praetor being a female doesn't bother me, but how did she give birth?

She mated prior to being collected.