# It's a Red Claw Scorpion



## Brendan (Dec 26, 2007)

Yeah, I just realized my scorpion was a Red Claw Scorpion (Pandinus Cavimanus). I've been thinking it was an Emperor Scorpion because the seller told me it was one. But I guess he lied.

Actually to be honest the claws did rather look a bit reddish, but that was the only thing that made it look different from a real Emperor Scorpion.

It also was VERY aggressive last night. I just touched the claws and wow it was attacking and stinging my tongs aggressively. When I gently touched the side of him, he always uses his stinger. When I touch the back of his tail, he quickly immidiately turns around and openly holds up his claws at me. It is a male scorpion, so it obviously couldn't be a gravid female. 

My Red Claw looks exactly like the one in this pic:







So yeah, just thought I'd share. I'll now remember that a Red Claw Scorpion was my first scorp ever...


----------



## Aztek (Dec 26, 2007)

Some pandinus imperators have a reddish tint too. 
But I guess you do have a cavimanus since it's aggressive.


----------



## Ted (Dec 26, 2007)

Brendan said:


> Yeah, I just realized my scorpion was a Red Claw Scorpion (Pandinus Cavimanus). I've been thinking it was an Emperor Scorpion because the seller told me it was one. But I guess he lied.


if in fact you even have a rd claw, he probably made a mistake..its easy to do with Pandinus.sp



Aztek said:


> Some pandinus imperators have a reddish tint too.
> But I guess you do have a cavimanus since it's aggressive.


all my emps are aggressive and have reddish tints to their claws..does that mean they are all red claws too?


----------



## Brendan (Dec 26, 2007)

Hmm...the cricket I put in last night is resting on top of my scorp's head! Awkward...


----------



## K3jser (Dec 26, 2007)

Brendan do you scorp allso have that inward claw? because my cavimanus got them.. and i have pretty good souces telling me that mine is a cavimanus, so if yours got the same like on the picture well then its a cavimanus..


----------



## GartenSpinnen (Dec 26, 2007)

IME i have seen some P. imp that had a very reddish tint to there claws and i have seen some P. cavimanus that had very dark claws. Also, you cant really base what it is on defensive behavior because i have seen docile and defensive in both species. The best way to find out would be find someone who knows key marks of identification between the two, then you will know for sure. But claw color and defensiveness are not good to go by.
-Nate

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Andrew273 (Dec 26, 2007)

Emps and red claws are very hard to differentiate. The only reason I call mine a red claw is because the store sells both, and even with that I wouldn't put money on it. One thing I've noticed is that no matter the light, my red claw never has a blue tint like I've noticed on most emps.


----------



## K3jser (Dec 26, 2007)

Brendan look at the picture you have posted, then look at mine, does your scorpion have the same inward going claw? 





This is pictures of one of my scorps, and i have a really good source telling me this is a P.cavimanus, So Brendan if yours got the same, and not a half heart shaped claw, then yeah its a cavimanus, but please post some pictures, clear ones.. P.imperator and P.cavimanus doesnt have the same needs in mositure, P.cavimanus needs to go abit dryer then the imperator..


----------



## Brendan (Dec 27, 2007)

Alright, here are some pictures of my scorp. There are LOTS of pictures, so take your time to examine them. XD


----------



## Thaedion (Dec 27, 2007)

K3jser said:


> Brendan look at the picture you have posted, then look at mine, does your scorpion have the same inward going claw?...


@Brendan- I defiantly can see the red hue to your scorp... wait... it's just the red light on it. can you post some pics not under the red light?

@K3jser- That is a male P cavimanus, the males have the 'dent' in the claws, females do not.

Excerpt from VenomList SOTM:*VenomList Link to SOTM* by 'Jeroenkooijman'

"Sexing
Sexing these scorpions is not really difficult. You can sex them the way P. Imperator is sexed, take a good look at the pectines. Small and relative wide pectines are female. Elongated and slender are males. 
The genital operculum in males is oval shaped, while females have a more "heart"-shaped genital operculum (this difference in genital operculum is present in all Scorpionidae). 

Also it's possible to sex them by looking at their chela. Males have a dent at the beginning of their movable finger (cavi=dent, manus=hand) on the chela. Males also have a pronounced tooth on the movable finger."


----------



## chaoshybrid6 (Dec 27, 2007)

I thought a good way to tell P. Imps and P. Cavimanus' apart was looking at the telson... Imps will have cream/brownish telsons while cav's will have black telsons.


----------



## Andrew273 (Dec 27, 2007)

My red claw's is more of a red color if I'm not mistaken. He's been in his burrow for mad long so I haven't seen it in a while.


----------



## Ted (Dec 27, 2007)

Brenden..
i think _any_ kind of scorp looks like a redclaw under a red light.


----------



## Brendan (Dec 28, 2007)

Ted said:


> Brenden..
> i think _any_ kind of scorp looks like a redclaw under a red light.


Please. I'm not stupid.

I just got the red light a few days ago.

I don't think my scorp is a Red Claw just because of the red light.

-.-


----------



## Xaranx (Dec 28, 2007)

Brendan said:


> Please. I'm not stupid.
> 
> I just got the red light a few days ago.
> 
> ...


Well you are kinda daft for posting ID pics that are smeared in infrared lighting then asking for an ID of a scorpion where one of the few distinguishing characteristics is a red tint.

How about you post 2 or 3 decent pics, one of the head area, one of the chela straight on from ground view, one of the pectines on the bottom then you might get a good answer.


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 28, 2007)

Thaedion said:


> @Brendan- I defiantly can see the red hue to
> Excerpt from VenomList SOTM:*VenomList Link to SOTM* by 'Jeroenkooijman'
> 
> "Sexing
> ...


 

With just one look on that picture I can clearly say it's a male P. cavimanus.

Maybe the picture below is helpful, not really sharp though:

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Brendan (Dec 28, 2007)

Okay here are some more pics of my scorpion. Now you can clearly see that it's not the red light that makes me think the claws look red.


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 28, 2007)

That is a totally different scorpion then in the first post.

Clearly an emperor 

-Edit-
Missed that the first posted pictures where from some one else, sorry.


----------



## Brendan (Dec 28, 2007)

jeroenkooijman said:


> That is a totally different scorpion then in the first post.
> 
> Clearly an emperor
> 
> ...


You think its really an emperor?

Hmmm..........lets see what other people say as well. If it is an emperor, it is madly aggressive and there's no way I can even get close to handling it when it gets so pissed off when I just touch its claws.


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 28, 2007)

I can even say I'm 100% sure it is an emp.

Not all emps are the same, you probably bought a more agressive one.
I have 50+ emps, some more agressive then the other, a few are not for handling.


----------



## Brendan (Dec 28, 2007)

jeroenkooijman said:


> I can even say I'm 100% sure it is an emp.
> 
> Not all emps are the same, you probably bought a more agressive one.
> I have 50+ emps, some more agressive then the other, a few are not for handling.


My scorp is also weird at times.

I mean, its aggressive when I get close to it, but I've seen a feeder cricket jump and rest on my scorp's head, as well as crawl right into my scorp's head without even being attacked.


----------



## K3jser (Dec 28, 2007)

Thaedion said:


> @K3jser- That is a male P cavimanus, the males have the 'dent' in the claws, females do not.



But jeroenkooijman your scorp dont have a Dent in the claw and you call it a male?? but mine does? so how are you so sure that yours in a cavimanus male?


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 28, 2007)

I know what you mean  

My advice if you really want to handle it, take it by the last tail segment before the telson and place it on your flat hand as fast as possible. They usually calm down when not cornered. Do note they might start running at first. Keep your guard and place hand to hand to let him walk.


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 28, 2007)

K3jser said:


> But jeroenkooijman your scorp dont have a Dent in the claw and you call it a male?? but mine does? so how are you so sure that yours in a cavimanus male?


Sorry I missed your reply.
The male in the picture has the dent, it's not clear in the picture though.
The other way to see the difference is by the pronounced tooth.

Female:






Male:


----------



## InfestedGoat (Dec 28, 2007)

It looks like an emp to me a compared to the pictures of the P. Cav. Nice looking emp you have might i add.


----------



## Thaedion (Dec 28, 2007)

Brendan said:


> Okay here are some more pics of my scorpion. Now you can clearly see that it's not the red light that makes me think the claws look red...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It looks like a P cavi to me, the black tips to the claws, and I've never had an emp that red before


----------



## InfestedGoat (Dec 29, 2007)

I've seen a blueish emp before, some emps just have a reddish tent. But im still not sure either way.


----------



## Ted (Dec 29, 2007)

Xaranx said:


> Well you are kinda daft for posting ID pics that are smeared in infrared lighting then asking for an ID of a scorpion where one of the few distinguishing characteristics is a red tint.
> 
> How about you post 2 or 3 decent pics, one of the head area, one of the chela straight on from ground view, one of the pectines on the bottom then you might get a good answer.


you gotta admit..i made a funny post.:}


----------



## kupo969 (Dec 29, 2007)

Brendan said:


> Okay here are some more pics of my scorpion. Now you can clearly see that it's not the red light that makes me think the claws look red.


I've owned emps before and I currently own a P. cavimanus and that is DEFINATELY a P. cavimanus. Those claws are way too red for an emp.


----------



## Cyris69 (Dec 29, 2007)

Has anyone looked at the granulation of the chela? Is clearly very bumpy as emps. The cavimanus from your guys pictures are very smooth with light granulation

I know the comparison shots but maybe I'm tired and misreading, is everyone stating its a P. cavimanus?. I'd say its an emperor. Solely due to the heavy granulation. Mine had red(not as pronounced as his) tented chela and were emps. I'm not very educated on the whole body features such as the teeth and indentations etc.. but if we are to go based off granulations it's an emp. Please call me out if I am completely off and know nothing. I have to learn things and being wrong helps me learn from the answers....

Here is my female emp.
This is the small photo and then I have a blown up full rez version.
Small






Large


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 29, 2007)

Indeed because of the granulation alone you can see it's an emperor.

As you can see in the picture I posted, emps can have reddish coloration on the chela and P. cav can have all black chela. Never trust on colors.


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 29, 2007)

Here you go, another emperor with reddish chela.


----------



## Brendan (Dec 29, 2007)

So is mine an Emp or a Cavi?

I have two people telling me its an Emp while two other people telling me its a Cavi O_O


----------



## jeroenkooijman (Dec 29, 2007)

It has a lot of granulation on the chela, it's an emperor.

Here an emperor colony, see the differences in chela color:


----------



## Xaranx (Dec 29, 2007)

Jeroen is the resident emp expert so ignore the other 2, they are on drugs.

It's an emp anyway.


----------



## pandinus (Dec 30, 2007)

its an emp, cavimanus lack the heavy setae on the chela that emps do.


----------



## ~Abyss~ (Dec 31, 2007)

I go with emp too. Another thing is size. How big is it?


----------



## tkn0spdr (May 12, 2015)

Sorry to dig up such an old thread but it has a lot of good info in it.
Can someone take a look at this pic and tell me if I got an imp or a cav?

I tried to ID it myself with pics and reading other discussions, but I'm just not sure.


----------



## G. Carnell (May 13, 2015)

There are more species than P. imperator and P. cavimanus!

Despite that, I don't think that this scorpion is a P. imperator

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Formerphobe (May 13, 2015)

As discussed further back in the thread, you'd need better pics from different angles to narrow it down. I have to agree that from the one picture, it does not look like P imperator.


----------



## tkn0spdr (May 13, 2015)

It was ordered from an online seller as imperator, needless to say it's going back and I expect them to update their website so that it doesn't say they have them in stock anymore. It wasn't a mis-pick, when I contacted them they said that their entire stock was the same species, whichever it is.

I'm still desperately searching for a real emperor, if anyone has one they'd be willing to part with I'd be super grateful.


----------

