H. arizonensis collecting problem

[Kazz]

I've found a nice Hadrurus arizonensis living near me under a large rock (several hundred pounds at least), and since he seems to like it under there I can't seem to catch him.

There's no way I can realistically move the rock, so does anyone have advice on getting him to come out?

A little detail about the scorpion and his rock:

• He is a large adult.
• There are 2 holes I've seen him come up to, and I think these are the only ones that aren't blocked off right now..
• There are more (filled in) holes around the rock, some of which may be near where he likes to hang out, but since they're blocked up I can't see for sure.
• I believe the tunnel under the rock is approximately 2-3 feet long with a fairly small middle section he can hide in that I can't see from either hole.

So far there are two ideas I'm considering, but I don't love either of them:

1. Try to flood the hole if that would get him to come out (I'm not sure what they do when it rains, but it's been rainy here lately). I don't want to hurt him though, and it might be hard to get enough water over to the rock to thoroughly flood it.
2. Dig him out with a small shovel...although I could fill it back in after, it seems potentially more destructive than I'd like, and I'm not sure how to dig a foot or two under a large rock without hurting him or myself.

If more information would help, tell me what you need to know. I'd appreciate any suggestions you guys have.

Also, since this is my first post I should probably say that I'm in Phoenix and that I recently started keeping scorpions because we've been finding a lot of C. exilicauda in our apartment for the last 2 years (and releasing them outside), and when we found one a couple of weeks ago (after not seeing any for quite a while), my girlfriend decided she wanted to keep it.

Since then we've collected quite a few from inside and outside of our apartment (over 30 of various sizes, even a mother with a few babies still on her back), and we've been reading a lot of posts on this forum and trying to learn how to take care of them (and other species) properly.

I also found 2 H. arizonensiseses...es...and we caught the second one we found, but that first one is still sitting under his huge rock and taunting me...maybe he knows the sand in his future home isn't dry yet, and he'll come out when it is, but somehow I don't think it's going to be that easy...

 

[OneSickPuppy]

Sounds like hes made for the wild. Any way to leave him and just catch another?

 

[azatrox]

Well...

My advice is to let him be....I wouldn't go digging him up or anything of the sort....H. arizonensis is way too common here in the Phoenix area to be destroying potential habitat for other creatures simply to collect a single specimen.

I too live in the Phoenix area and can tell you that you really shouldn't have any issues collecting H. arizonensis....In the right habitats, they are quite common....

Leave the bugger be....just my .02

-AzAtrox

 

[Deolok]

heh well if i were there i'd help ya out...But I'd deffinently just leave`m alone...Or you could set up a G-Trap...

 

[JSN]

give the water trick a go, it has worked for me before...or...wait patiently at nightfall for him to leave his burrow...perhaps sit on the rock and wait for him to get a good distance from it, then once you see him out, block the whole, and you'll be able to catch him becuase they are really not that fast...this is coming from an arizona native who has plenty of experience in catching scorps out in the wild...if all else fails...find other targets, haha...

 

[twirl and kill]

if i lived right next door to you i would help you out with my tractor but you live a little too far....:}

 

[Deolok]

Deffinently try setting a trap over his burrow using a glass jar! Now I'll let your mind wonder

 

[Arachno Kid]

Well what I would do is dig a small trench around the hole like 2-3 feet and line it with plastic so it cant crawl out plus you could catch some buggies every week if you leave the trench with plastic just make sure he cant climb it dont use saran wrap its sticky use stuff like tarps of plastic

 

[Kazz]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

Can you tell me what a "G-Trap" is, Deolok? It sounds like something for catching rappers, but I can't seem to find other mentions of it...

I'm afraid a trap may not work though, since this is very near a residential area, and just a couple of feet away from the street. If someone saw him sitting out there in a trap, I don't think he'd be alive when I came back to get him.

It might work if it were something that I could just set up while I was there and remove if I left, but I should just be able to grab him in a container if I can get him to come out anyway.

I may try putting some water down there (I can't imagine it hurting any more than the rain storms we're having right now), but if I can't get him to come out safely then I guess I'll just have to find another place to look for some.

I'm still open to other suggestions though, either on catching this one or finding others, so if you have any ideas then please let me know.

 

[Kazz]

My advice is to let him be....I wouldn't go digging him up or anything of the sort....H. arizonensis is way too common here in the Phoenix area to be destroying potential habitat for other creatures simply to collect a single specimen.

Don't worry, I don't want to destroy anything, which is a big part of the reason I came to ask you guys.

Digging never seemed like a great idea to me, but I couldn't think of many other ways to do it, and I wanted to see if you guys thought that there was a way to do it that wouldn't be too destructive or if we should avoid digging completely.

I too live in the Phoenix area and can tell you that you really shouldn't have any issues collecting H. arizonensis....In the right habitats, they are quite common....

Any suggestions on what areas I should look in and specific types of things to look for within those areas? So far the 2 that I've found have both been under large rocks, but unless there's a lot of space under the rocks it's not easy to get them to come out.

I have one so far, and I'd like to put 3 into the 20 gallon long tank (with deep sand and a "false bottom") that is currently drying next to me, but if you don't want to give ideas to people who might decimate the populations for paper weights and other junk (although I assume they already know where to look) then please send me a private message.

 

[azatrox]

Yup...

Any suggestions on what areas I should look in and specific types of things to look for within those areas? So far the 2 that I've found have both been under large rocks, but unless there's a lot of space under the rocks it's not easy to get them to come out.


Try road cruising at night on desert roads....Believe it or not, they will scurry across the roads at night.....I've caught quite a few this way...the habitat is low lying creosote scrubland west of Phoenix....Just bring a few jars and a blacklight...You might also try walking around in this habitat at night...They are quite common...When they're moving across the road, they look alot like a Coleonyx (western banded gecko)....

Good luck

-AzAtrox