# curious



## rhonny (Feb 16, 2009)

*hi all, i was wondering if i could get some help. i recently brought a alpine scorpion from my local pet shop now im sure that its name is black rock scorpion righ??? also the lady who i brough HER from said that she was a pregnant female, and given the info about telling the gender of the scorpion im sure she is a girl, but how do i tell if she is pregnant??? 
thanks 
rhonny*


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## SCORPIONNOOB (Feb 16, 2009)

Welcome first off! And congrats on the scorp! Im new to the whole game to but what Ive picked up on so far is that its hard to tell 100% that she is pregnant or not but there are a few tell tale signs that, im sure, people on here will better explain to you than I can so I will let them do so! Also, some of the local pet store personel arent very knowledgable but this certainly doesnt mean that yours isnt. Just something to think about! (my lps doesnt know a *#&@ thing!!) Im going to let the experts handle this for you! Good luck with her!


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## rhonny (Feb 17, 2009)

*thanks SCORPIONNOOB, yeah i thought that it wouldn't be something real noticeable, thanks anyways. hopefully someone can let me know asap. *


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## Aztek (Feb 17, 2009)

Also, the name given to the scorpion at petshops like "Black rock scorpion" does not tell us what scorpion it is. Because many different species can have the same name.

So I'll give you the scientific name for some scorpions that are most commonly found at petshops thtat sound like yours and you google the images okay?

Pandinus Imperator
Hadogenes
Vaejovis
Centruroides Vittatus


I'm pretty sure it's one of those


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## rhonny (Feb 17, 2009)

*Thanks aztec, i google imaged the names u gave me and a whole lot of different looking scorpion photos came up for each one. alpine scorpion... does that help????*


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## Aztek (Feb 17, 2009)

Hmm, I did a search and I found it to be the common name of a Urodacus.

This should help in terms of care.
http://venomlist.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18092

The last paragraph has care in captivity.
And in the middle it tells how to tell male from female.(Male longer skinnier "tail", Female shorter thicker "tail")


Are you from Australia? Or Europe?

The ones I previously mentioned where geared more towards the Americas


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## rhonny (Feb 17, 2009)

*thank you. i am from australia *


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## T.ass-mephisto (Feb 17, 2009)

yea its very unfortunate that pet sores do not use scientific names, because the common names they use differ from store to store making them almost useless in identification. pictures are usually the best and quickest way to a pos. ID.  anyways welcome to the boards.


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## rhonny (Feb 17, 2009)

*thanks. here is a pic of her taken off my phone, it is pretty poor quality but maybe you can identify her kind from this!!*


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## calum (Feb 17, 2009)

can't tell anything from that pic.. we need clear.


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## scorpio1 (Feb 17, 2009)

looks like opistophthalmus ecristatus to me,  but i could be wrong as im not sure how available they are in australia and you could be wright about the pregnancy thing i think good look with her


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## rhonny (Feb 18, 2009)

*yer sorry about the quality of the pic i will try and take some more and post. and i hope im right about the pregancy thing, how long does it usually take for them to give birth????*


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## calum (Feb 18, 2009)

differs greatly between species, temps, humidity, etc. could be a few months to over a year.


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## rhonny (Feb 18, 2009)

*oh gosh. thats aggges, lol. she hasnt come out of her hiding place in a few days. what that mean??*


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## T.ass-mephisto (Feb 18, 2009)

rhonny said:


> *oh gosh. thats aggges, lol. she hasnt come out of her hiding place in a few days. what that mean??*


in my experience thats means they like the hide and are getting settled. watch the tank at night you may see more activity.


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## rhonny (Feb 18, 2009)

*oh i see, so it hasnt nothing to do with the fact she may be ready to give birth?*


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## SCORPIONNOOB (Feb 18, 2009)

I see no activity from some of my scorps until nightfall and even then I dont see hardly any of them except my 3 big Emperors digging or drinking and occasionally my Asian forest scorp. Some people dont see theirs for months on end! A hiding scorpion usually indicates a happy scorpion (from what Ive read) but once again Im no expert! Im still learning as well. I did have some of the same questions as you and as soon as you get used to it, some of that "anxiety" wears off as you become more accustomed to your scorp! Cheers!!  

p.s. Im still trying to get my Emp gravid as well so Im not good on the whole pregnancy thing like I said! She could be very well ready to give birth but once again I am going to let the experts handle this! I dont want to hand out free yet false information


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## rhonny (Feb 19, 2009)

*hey guys, you are all giving out some great info and i am very thankful. 
id love to look into buying more scorps...
also im wondering what kind of dirt i would need for her tank. i want to upsize her tank so need more ground cover...

thanks*


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## GiantVinegaroon (Feb 19, 2009)

rhonny said:


> *hey guys, you are all giving out some great info and i am very thankful.
> id love to look into buying more scorps...
> also im wondering what kind of dirt i would need for her tank. i want to upsize her tank so need more ground cover...
> 
> thanks*


If you're gonna get more scorps, do NOT keep them together in the same tank.  If you do, you're just asking for one of them to get eaten.

I'm assuming it's an alpine black rock scorp, _Urodacus manicatus_, as that's what google has shown me.

Here's a pic of one to see if it matches yours:






If that's what it is, I did a quick scan on their care and it seems cocoa fiber is the way to go.  Also, supply rocks for 'em to hide under.

PS-Google is your friend.

Hope this helps!


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## SCORPIONNOOB (Feb 20, 2009)

There are however, other species that commune quiet well with eachother but like scotty said there is always a chance of cannabilism regardless! So if you are looking to set up a community tank, itd be wise to go with a diff scorp! Cheers! Oh by the way.... once you start buying scorps... you never stop...


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## rhonny (Feb 22, 2009)

*yes that photo looks like her... ok thanks for that, so what happens when she has babies. i hope i dont have to pput them all in seperate tanks lol*


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## calum (Feb 23, 2009)

once she gives birth leave her alone for a few weeks till the babies moult to 2nd instar. I would remove the babies once they start to disperse from the mum. she may canabalise otherwise.


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## rhonny (Feb 24, 2009)

*ok cool. so i dont need to separate all the babies from each other just from her!?!?
*


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## calum (Feb 24, 2009)

no, seperate them all into individual containers.. naturally, they would al disperse from the mother and go thier own ways. most scorpion species that are communal as adults aren't communal as young ones.


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## rhonny (Feb 27, 2009)

*wow, so all the babies need to be alone...? thats alot of separating to be done lol*


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## ~Abyss~ (Feb 27, 2009)

its easier than you think use a spoon and buy delicups.
also you might want to check out the spiral burrow. It's an aussie scorp site and Mark Newton (the admin) is an Australian scorpion expert.


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## rhonny (Mar 14, 2009)

*ok guys shes had/having her babies now.. i think she is eating one  when they get off her back i separate them hey??? what could i put them in????*


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## Selket (Mar 14, 2009)

Once they get off her back, put them each in their own deli cup with some substrate. 

Congrats on the scorplings!


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## calum (Mar 14, 2009)

also, leave your scorp alone, do not disturb her. it is normal for scorpions to eat a few young. to much stress will cause her to eat her young.


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## rhonny (Mar 14, 2009)

*should i feed her at all???*


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## Aztek (Mar 14, 2009)

Try leaving an injured or dead cricket in there so the movement of the cricket won't disturb her.


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## rhonny (Mar 14, 2009)

*good idea.. could the reason she has eaten a young be becouse she is hungry?? she only has about 4 babies. is this normal?*


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## Aztek (Mar 14, 2009)

Most people attribute baby eating to stress.

Babies do vary from very little to a lot so it is normal.


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## rhonny (Mar 14, 2009)

*awesome, also. when can i place the babies in toegther? how would i go with mating sibling scorps???*


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## calum (Mar 14, 2009)

I don't think this species are communal, so keep them apart.


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## rhonny (Mar 14, 2009)

*i really want to breed scorps.. any idea how i can do this..?*


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## calum (Mar 14, 2009)

well, you can stick mature pairs together for a little while, but you are best to pull the male after mating. 

scorpions kept apart tend to mate more readily than scorps that have been kept together.


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## rhonny (Mar 14, 2009)

*i am only new at this scorpion stuff, so im sorry for all these questions but i wanna make sure im doing it all right... i would have thought that if i keep the babies together they wouldnt fight cause they have always been together??? how often do mature scorps mate???*


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## rhonny (Mar 15, 2009)

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## calum (Mar 15, 2009)

they stay together in the first instar.. but that's because they are helpless lumps of youlk, fat, and protein. they can't run away, or defend themselves. mum looks after them. when they are ready, usually second instar, they will disperse and go they're own ways.


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## rhonny (Mar 19, 2009)

*so i cant keep them together???? and how long does it usually take for them to get off mum's back???
oh and sasha (mum) isnt eating.. is that normal??*


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## dairy (Mar 19, 2009)

It's good that you're trying to do the best for them, but really all you need to do for the next while is nothing. It's been said more than once that the best thing to do when your scorp pops is to forget you have a scorp for a week or two.

The moult to 2nd instar varies by species and conditions, and once moulted, it may take several days or longer for them to leave the mother. The only experience I have here is with Emps, and they took 8 days to moult to 2I. When you see them scurrying around on their own it's time to separate. It should be pretty easy to tell the difference from a 1I to a 2I. They look less like little maggots with scraggly legs and more like mini versions of Mom. Abyss's advice there is probably the best you can get. A spoon and delicups  And one thing that he didn't mention but seems like common sense - be gentle!

Don't worry about Mom eating. She is capable of going for weeks, and probably over a month, without food. If you want you can offer dead/maimed prey once a week, but don't stress if she ignores it. If she needs to eat, she will. If she doesn't she'll just chill with her brood and "wait for the kids to move out."

Congrats BTW


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## rhonny (Mar 19, 2009)

*thanks... i think she has eaten another baby. i wish she would stop it.. only have 3 babies left now!! why is she doing this!*


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## calum (Mar 20, 2009)

stress. if you are poking around the tank all the time and annoying the scorp, it will see it as an unfit enviroment to raise young and will eat them. or, some other factor is causing her to do it. scorpion young have low survival rates, anyway.


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## rhonny (Mar 25, 2009)

any chance she could still be giving birth... as here seems to be more babies and littler then the others... plus it has been 12 days and they still on mum... what happeneing???


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## calum (Mar 25, 2009)

some species have small broods, some have large. generally, non - buthid species tend to have relatively small broods. I'm sure your scorpion is an _Urodactid_, these have quite small broods.  

and the young stay with the mother for different periods of time for different species. 12 days is nothing. 

patience is the key.


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## calum (Mar 25, 2009)

oh, and she is definetly finished giving birth.


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## rhonny (Mar 26, 2009)

oh ok. 
i just noticed a few new babies with her, more then what was originally there. 
this is my first scorpion and first lot of scorplings


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## rhonny (Apr 1, 2009)

i dont understand why they need to be separated.. they all live together in the shops.. so if i keep them together as babies they should be right shouldnt they


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## Naga (Apr 1, 2009)

Keep one thing in mind... Just because a pet shop does it doesn't mean it's the way it should be

A lot of your typical pet shops, which cater more to animals other than invertabrates, don't usually realize how potentially destructive putting some species of "odd creatures" together can be. In fact, most pet shops, as I'm sure you've seen, overcrowd most of their tanks, cages, and other such displays. They're only keeping the creature and selling it. It's not permenant, just temporary, so they figure it'll be fine

When it comes to pet shops, I ask trick questions that I already know the answer to, just to see if they're on par to ANY idea of what they're holding. My results give me an indication of that particular employee, and perhaps the entire store. Try it a few times. Ask a ton of questions here, take down answers, memorize them. Ask those same questions to pet shop owners, and compare


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## hasani1408 (Apr 1, 2009)

rhonny said:


> i dont understand why they need to be separated.. they all live together in the shops.. so if i keep them together as babies they should be right shouldnt they


Seperate them.  If you decide to keep them together more than likely you will end up with just 1 scorpion. 
Not to be rude but why ask questions and then insist on going against the advice of more experienced keepers. Most scorpions are not communal.


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## rhonny (Apr 1, 2009)

thanks guys
i seperate them last night


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## rhonny (Apr 8, 2009)

how would i go about breeding these guys?


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## calum (Apr 9, 2009)

what the babies? wait till they hit maturity then stick them together for a few nights and hope for th best.


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## rhonny (Apr 9, 2009)

whens maturity for them???


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## calum (Apr 9, 2009)

with this species.. I'm willing to bet a few years.


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## rhonny (Apr 13, 2009)

oh really, wow


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