So I've only owned one Asian forest scorpion, and wanted something more like the imperator.. so I got a female and male dictator scorpion tried putting them in together in a container few inches smaller then a 10 gallon but they fought using their stingers so I separated them. Just want to know if I use a 10 gallon would that be fine ? I'm a little new to the scorpions specially pairing them.
Pairing pandinus dictator
- Thread starter Varanus88
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Males and females do that when there isn't a problem but you can tell the difference after viewing several mating attempts. When it's going bad there is a lot more aggression seen. Are you sure you have dictator, many stores are selling imperators labeled as dictators.
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Well I'm only positive it's not a imperator because of the pricing.. I bought each one for 35 and imperators here are super rare to find and if I do find them it's U.S. captive bred and prices are between 80 to 100+ for each. I wish it was emperors but the aggression is also showing differently :/
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P. dictators and imperators both go for $75-$110 around here. You can't tell by pricing, stores and individuals often don't know what they have, they just believe what they were told they were and they are are very often wrong when it comes to a correct ID. If you want to know what you have, or at least what it is not, you can post pics of it here. If you have dictator or imperator, you got a good deal. I think dictator is even harder to get than imperator. You may even have a Heterometrus species. What is common in stores right now is Heterometrus petersii. Are you able to post pics?
I have a heterometrus species a female Asian forest these guys look like either pandinus imperator or pandinus dictator but I'm thinking it's dictator I'll send a pic of the male which is what I currently have on my phone and I think he just molted cuz looks like his body is darkening up
So here's more pics the darker one is the female and the other one is the male.. the male is a lot more aggressive then the female but I'm thinking it went through a molt which is why it's more on the alert then the other one
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Those are imperators. I kind of agree with somebody's theory I heard, people are selling imperators as dictators because it just sounds more "sellable". I know what you have at least isn't dictator, I've seen so many of them and been breeding both sps., you start being able to tell with a glance most of the time. You got a really good deal and it sounds like you wanted imperators anyway.
These are really imperators?? Jesus I thought they were more docile by nature..??? The male is a complete dick! And yea imperators have been my favorite scorpion but ever since they got banned a couple years ago I couldn't find them anymore and if I did they were going for 80 bucks from breeders so underground reptiles came up with these dictators and told me that imperators are only captive bred if I found any and that dictators look like emps but are more feisty... are you positive these are emps??
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Yeah, I don't have doubts about it but if you want have more confidence in it, go here and compare to what you have. http://arachnoboards.com/threads/pandinus-dictator-details.300362/#post-2706244 P. dictator has the same export/import status as imperator and should be even harder to find regardless of the CITES status, seems to me anyway.
Oh ok awesome thank you! I hope it's emperors just sucks the temperaments are not what I expected from imperators :/
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If a female is gravid then she will chase away the male with aggression. Don't depend on the seller's claim on which is male and female, you can't depend on that especially if you're not familiar with people making the claim. You were told they were dictators but they aren't, you don't know the sex for the same reason. You need to sex them out.
Oh ok I guess you right, how do I correctly sex them though?.. how can you tell the difference between female and male?
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@Varanus88 You need to make some serious changes to your Enclosure ASAP. Your Scorpions will die (no joke) in your current set up. They need several inches of moist coco fiber or other appropriate substrate to burrow in and to retain humidity for them as well.
The water dish needs to be buried to substrate level so they can actually get to it and drink without attempting to climb up a smooth surface water dish and falling on their back sides.
Before even thinking about breeding, you need to make those adjustments, lest you end up with two dead and desiccated humid species of Scorpion on your hands.
Wood chips are not an appropriate Substrate for Scorpions or Tarantulas or any invertebrates, really, whether they be arid species or humid species.
The water dish needs to be buried to substrate level so they can actually get to it and drink without attempting to climb up a smooth surface water dish and falling on their back sides.
Before even thinking about breeding, you need to make those adjustments, lest you end up with two dead and desiccated humid species of Scorpion on your hands.
Wood chips are not an appropriate Substrate for Scorpions or Tarantulas or any invertebrates, really, whether they be arid species or humid species.
I changed the water dish to a more shallow one yesterday and buried it in the substrate.. as far as substrate maybe your right but my Asian forest that I had for over a year was in this time of substrate and did fine but either way I was already going to change the substrate to either the coco fiber that your talking about or some other type of soil. I'm more into monitor lizards then anything im new to proper care for arachnids I was told to you this substrate when I got my Asian forest last year and she did fine but I would agree with you that moist coco fiber would be better. This substrate came with the two scorpions I didn't buy it I'm getting coco fiber tomorrow thanks
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Just because an animal survives doesn't mean it thrives.
Your Heterometrus spp. is likely suffering. They're resilient but not invulnerable, and if you are trying to breed your Pandinus spp. then they'll be even more vulnerable to stresses.
Ok so then a ten gallon tank with s heat pad under and moist coco fiber three hiding spots and a shallow plastic dish for water should be fine to keep both of them in? And will that avoid them from trying to kill each other? I'm still trying to find out how to sec them since they were sold to me as the darker one being female and the more reddish one being male ... I could fix the issues your talking about but still need to know how to set them up together so they don't kill each other and to sex them
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Place the heat pad on the side, not the bottom.
While cannibalism can never be 100% eliminated as a factor, the chances of it are significantly reduced with enough hides, space, and food for each of the specimens. Multiple hides are important, even though you will often find them all under the same one.
Oh ok got you and would you know how to sex them? The other person that had the convo with me was able to determine that it's not a dictator like they said it was but in fact it's a imperator.. but they are also the same people that told me that one is female and one is male but I would like to be able to determine that myself to make sure that I'm not putting two males together , if you know how to determine that..
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Post clear images in good lighting of the under sides of the Scorpions and the good folks here can help with their best guesses at ventral sexing your specimens, as well as on the species if you post images of the top sides.