Is it worth $20?

[Finntroll86]

I was offered a mature adult guaranteed female Emperor scorpion for 20$ is that worth it? I mean I can buy 2-3 maybe 4 for around 20$ or more but they would be juvenile and not guaranteed female.

Its from an employee at a LPS (her own collection not from the store). She said it was around 6".

What are some of your thoughts?

 

[skinheaddave]

Unlike Tarantulas which have drastically different life-spans, male and female scorpions have similar life spans. Also, it is relatively easy to sex scorpions from a very young age. Lastly, this is a very easy species to raise so the only real concequence of getting juveniles would be that on average they will live longer. So I see no reason for the premium.

Cheers,
Dave

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Selket]

well where I am, at my LPS I bought my emp for $20, and now they upped the price to $25. So in my opinion for a guaranteed female that you can pickup when you want it (don't have to wait for shipping, or even pay shipping). Also you are dealing with a mature scorp so you don't really know how much longer it has. But like I said $20 for an emp isn't that bad (in my location).

My LPS is also selling all sizes of emps for $25, last time I was in there was a juvie in the communal sale tank that was still $25.

But it is up to you, if you want to try breeding than do it.

Other people may tell you otherwise, but this is just my opinion from my location.

EDIT: I also see that skinheaddave posted while I was typing mine, and he did mention otherwise, but also bringing up the lifespan issue, and he is correct that sexing emps at a young age is pretty easy.

 

[Finntroll86]

Yea that was my biggest concern, the lifespan, I wouldn't want to buy one not knowing how much longer it has then have it die less than a year later. I would like to have a mature female to try breeding but alas I don't even have a mature male lol

Thanks for the advice, should have had that conversation in my head.

 

[sinflspeed]

MAn, that is steep even for a guaranteed female. They had a ton of large females at the show over the weekend for 5.00 each. I went through 20+ to find one male. I would be skeptical but it is really up to you and what you want to do. If it satisfies your desire to have her added to your collection then do it. I don't think anyone could or would be able to add anything negative if you did buy her.

 

[Finntroll86]

MAn, that is steep even for a guaranteed female. They had a ton of large females at the show over the weekend for 5.00 each. I went through 20+ to find one male. I would be skeptical but it is really up to you and what you want to do. If it satisfies your desire to have her added to your collection then do it. I don't think anyone could or would be able to add anything negative if you did buy her.

those are my thoughts exactly, I thought it may be nice to try for some breeding before her time(Haven't even sexed my four yet), but i hate how all LPS mark their emps for 18.99 or more, I think Ill just stick with 5-8$ juvies and watch them grow up.

 

[Michiel]

i would go for the immatures and raise them......if you have 3-4 specimens chances are more then average that you have both sexes. Also the age of the immatures is easier estimated. You never know for sure how old a mature specimen is.

 

[ThomasH]

I would be quite dubious of her '6" imperator' actually being the size at which she claims, it is definitely possible but unlikely. I'm under the assumption that she doesn't really know what she is doing, based on her place of employment and the unreasonable price tag. In my experience, the higher a person asks for the animal [I'm talking about more than $5+ depending on median retail value.], the less likely they are to really know what they are doing. So if you couldn't inspect the specimen before purchase, I'd say it's likely to be unhealthy.

As a previous poster commented, at reptile shows you will often find large bins full of this species [wc obviously], usually with a $5-10 price tag. As an added bonus, you can specifically choose the largest, a certain gender, or even a likely gravid animal.

TBH

 

[Galapoheros]

I definitely would go with 3 or 4 juvs. Like was said, they last longer. You're likely to get a pair with that many and you can watch them molt and grow. It's funny how people will read something like, "This tarantula, etc, can live 20 years.." Then they will buy an adult and think it will live 20 years instead of keeping in mind it may be 20 years old already.

 

[Animalia]

I would be quite dubious of her '6" imperator' actually being the size at which she claims, it is definitely possible but unlikely. I'm under the assumption that she doesn't really know what she is doing, based on her place of employment and the unreasonable price tag. In my experience, the higher a person asks for the animal [I'm talking about more than $5+ depending on median retail value.], the less likely they are to really know what they are doing. So if you couldn't inspect the specimen before purchase, I'd say it's likely to be unhealthy.

As a previous poster commented, at reptile shows you will often find large bins full of this species [wc obviously], usually with a $5-10 price tag. As an added bonus, you can specifically choose the largest, a certain gender, or even a likely gravid animal.

TBH

agreed with this 100%

also 6" also seems a little stretched between my my 4 friends (we always take care of each others inverts and deal trade breed) we have around 37 emps. Most adults only a couple have made it to 6" most hit around 5.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

I definitely would go with 3 or 4 juvs. Like was said, they last longer. You're likely to get a pair with that many and you can watch them molt and grow. It's funny how people will read something like, "This tarantula, etc, can live 20 years.." Then they will buy an adult and think it will live 20 years instead of keeping in mind it may be 20 years old already.

Too true . I have heard many a people tell me that there seemingly healthy new pet just up and died for no reason . Then I hear it is a wild caught adult .Too bad arachnids don't get grey hair with age .

 

[Galapoheros]

Ha, yeah, hard to tell. I've been working on 6 inch emps. As most of you know, the big ones usually come from the rainforest(forest emps) and my senses tell me it's genetic and not so much because of immediate environmental conditions. Maybe they evolved to be bigger to handle bigger prey in the jungle or to protect themselves from bigger predators, who knows... Anyway, I've got about 39 juvs from two diff females that are 6 inches long(one was a little short of 6 but the other is a solid 6 inches). I bred the biggest female with a 6 inch male too so I'm hoping for more. The hard part is having so many, taking care of them all to adulthood to see the average size, to see if they are all bigger than the more common sized emps(usually from the savanna) seen in the pet stores, but I'm going to hang in there!