# C. vittatus (Pics) and some questions



## MrDeranged (Jan 13, 2003)

Okay all, just picked up supposedly 2 C. vittatus.  I'm wondering though.  I know that there is color variation, but one looks completely different to my untrained eye.  Tell me what you think.  Here's a few pics of the enclosure I have them in and the scorps themselves....

Enclosure:







With scorps in it:







Scorps together:



















Scorp #1:



















Scorp #2:







What do you think?  Two different scorps or the same???

Scott


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## XOskeletonRED (Jan 13, 2003)

Scorp two is identical to mine. Scorp one appears to have only lighter coloration insignifying it is merely a differentiation in subspecies. They do not fight consistantly? If not, ten-to-one, only subspecies. If so, I'd recommend moving one away from the other until a positive id can be made on the first. Centruroides subspecies tend to do quite well together, as I have a large group of margaritatus varying in color morph together, as well as a number of other Centruroides genus scorpions all kept with the others of their species. Yes, this includes exilicauda which is said by many to not be the community type. I keep the exilicauda in a custom flat though. If the scorps weren't together in the photo, I would be asking if the lighting is different between the tanks. lol. In this case, they appear to be near identical, other than size and color morph. 

Over all, I'd say, same species but brought in from a different area. Lighter color morph usually tends to say that it is from a warmer climate (allows their color to reflect heat instead of absorb). 

edw.


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## skinheaddave (Jan 13, 2003)

Exilicauda not communal?  Who said that?

Yes, Scott, they both look like C.vittatus, which can have quite a colour variation accross their range.  Whether or not their canabalistic instincts are mediated, they seem to be of similar size so if you keep them well fed you should be fine.

Cheers,
Dave


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## Bob the thief (Jan 13, 2003)

I once bred a female scorp that looks exactly like those , sold em all though 

It was a petshop that had them listed as texas desert scorpions.
Never saw them again.
The owner of the shop got stung by one the day he sold it to me. so I know it most likely wont kill you it was painful though.
But like I said she looked exactly like it.

Oh and wasent to agile with the tail like the arizonus are.





BTW where did you get that enclosure ? looks nice


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## MrDeranged (Jan 13, 2003)

Well, I didn't really see too much fighting per se.  At one point, one walked by the other and looked like it struck with it's telson and them kept on going.  The other slight instance I saw was also with them walking by and their telsons kinda got tied up with each other.  As for being well fed, I put in 8 1/2 crickets yesterday and they were all gone today.  As you can see in some of the pics, they dove right in 

Scott


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## MrDeranged (Jan 13, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Bob the thief _
> *
> BTW where did you get that enclosure ? looks nice  *


Made it myself.   Do a search for "Arachnohomes" in "The Watering Hole" forum.

Scott


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## Bob the thief (Jan 13, 2003)

Oh and if its the same nameless one I had bought they breed like wildfire.


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## steve055 (Jan 13, 2003)

The heart shaped "mask" that they have on their eyes is the best way to tell C. Vittatus from other similar looking Sp.


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## Kugellager (Jan 13, 2003)

I'm nearly 100% sure what you have is the aforementioned color variation of C.vittatus. The best and most sure way to tell the difference between C.exilicauda and C.vittatus by looking at them is that C.vittatus has that dark triangle marking extending from their medial eyes toward their mouth and C.exilicauda does not have that triangle.  Other wise they can look identical is most other respects.

I have heard of people keeping both of them (C.ex and C.vit )together communally. I have not tried it myself.

John
];')


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## zoobugs (Jan 13, 2003)

They look like the vitts that I have. Both appear to be females also.


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## Weapon-X (Jan 14, 2003)

*re*

yeah those look exacty like the 9 i just sold,    John: i have been keeping my texas barks and arizona barks together in the same tank for the last 2 weeks without any problems, they have tons of hides and have been fed reguraly to make sure no one gets cannibalized so far no problems.---Jeff


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## XOskeletonRED (Jan 19, 2003)

Upon reading, I reply to your question... and quote Ann Webb of the British Tarantula Society from a book titled "SCORPIONS  KEEPING & BREEDING THEM IN CAPTIVITY" (1998), "CENTRUROIDES EXILICAUDA (FORMERLY SCULPTURATUS) - SCULPTURED BARK SCORPION
Species considered DANGEROUS and must be housed alone."

I know they can be housed together, as I had said before, I keep them together as well. Though many authors and scorpionists say otherwise.

edw.



> _Originally posted by skinheaddave _
> *Exilicauda not communal?  Who said that?
> 
> Yes, Scott, they both look like C.vittatus, which can have quite a colour variation accross their range.  Whether or not their canabalistic instincts are mediated, they seem to be of similar size so if you keep them well fed you should be fine.
> ...


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## Kugellager (Jan 19, 2003)

Yeah but you really need to be careful with that Ann Webb book as there are many many errors in that book.  For instance...she states that C.hentzi is dangerous...it is nothing of the sort unless you have an allergic reaction.  It has many nice pictures but it is severly lacking on correct information.  A better book to rely on for basic information is the most recent edition of Manny Rubio's book 'Scorpions: A complete Pet owners manual.  

John
];')


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## skinheaddave (Jan 19, 2003)

John,

C.hentzi is dangerous.  Consider, if you would, that you are driving down the road and you see a C.hentzi on a tree by the side of the road.  While you're going "hey, there's a C.hentzi on the tree" you aren't paying attention to where you are driving and are likely to get into an accident.

Cheers,
Dave


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## Kugellager (Jan 19, 2003)

Excellent point Dave.  

If I indeed did see one on a tree as I was driving down the road I would probably attempt to stop so fast so I could catch it the car behind me would end up in my back seat. =D

John
];')


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## invertepet (Jan 21, 2003)

Hey Scott, what's up with the straw? Watering? Soil aeration?

Nice looking pair of scorps, btw.

bill


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## MrDeranged (Jan 21, 2003)

I use them to get water to the layer of gravel underneath the peat so that the moisture leaches into the substrate from below.

Scott


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## invertepet (Jan 21, 2003)

Good idea! Hadn't thought of that. Similar to sandy or scrubby environs where the moisture level is inches or more below the surface.

bill


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## XOskeletonRED (Jan 22, 2003)

*lmao* I am in total agreement with you on that one.  heheh... The reason I have that book, is definitely not for information, but rather the photography. Most impressive, in my own opinion, is the photograph taken by one W. Wuester of the Tityus stigmurus. Excellent photography for a most menacing appearance of a scorpion. One of these days, I am going to find someone to get me a few sent here. *drools* Definitely a very killa scorpion, though not nearly as venomous as many others, including the yellow counterpart which appears almost identical, off the coloration side, the Tityus serrulatus, which is also a very impressive scorpion.
 Does anyone happen to know what the species name is of the scorpion photographed on pages 40 and 41 and listed as a Guatemalan buthid (photograph by Zoltan Takacs)? I can find many that appear similar, but nothing I find seems to match up perfectly, not to mention, Zoltan's site doesn't specify anything about it.

later,
edw.


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## Kugellager (Jan 22, 2003)

The red in that Tityus sp. is awsome coloration...I got it mostly for the pics too.  I believe the scorp on pages 40-41 is a C.gracilis.

John
];')


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## genious_gr (Jan 25, 2003)

Hi. emmmm I'm not much in the scorpion business (actually cause my mother draws the line at keepin scorps  ) but a few years ago I was with a friend of mine on a "safari" to catch some spiders... We had 11 when we found and succesfully cought 2 scorps that looked just like those ones (we didnt know and put them with the spiders... now spiders after a few hours=D )
We finally let them go so they had a nice lunch 
My point is.... does this species live in Greece????


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## Kugellager (Jan 26, 2003)

Genious,

These scorpions in the above pics are native only to the southwestern US and northeren mexico.  So they are not what you caught on 'safari'.  What you most likely could have caught was the species Buthus occitanus.  This species is common throughout the Mediterranean and Mideast.

http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/b_occitanus3.jpg

By the way they are on the dangerous side. If you should come across them again be careful when collecting them.  

John
];')


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## XOskeletonRED (Jan 27, 2003)

Out of curiosity, what species spider was this and how large were the scorps in comparison to the spiders??? I feed all of my scorps wolf spiders all the time. At least, during the warmer parts of the year, when they tend to find their way into the garages. My scorps appear to find them a great delicacy. Especially my A. australis' and C. margaritatus'. The others tend not to care too much about them and go after the crickets and any large lizards and locusts I happen to find while I'm in the back yard (minus the emps and H. spiniferis who love dining on Ts). Never had a spider or T that has been able to take out one of my scorps. I also feed H. trilineatus adults all the black widows and stuff I happen to find that are small. 
 Forgot to mention, thanks for the info on the pic in that book. I had been curious about it for quite some time. Though I thought it obviously was a Centruroides, didn't know what species, cause the only ones I keep are margaritatus and exilicauda. As for the pic of the T. stigmurus, I love it. I fould it on an online site also, but it had little or no similar coloration and was obviously the same photo. I scanned the pic out of the book though and it looks great as my desktop background. It just takes up a lot of space on the comp cause I scanned it at such a high res. I just wish I could get my hands on a few of them is all. Wouldn't mind a few T. serrulatus also though. Just don't think I'll ever find anyone to send me some. I know a little about why on the serrulatus, but no clue about any info on stigmurus.


edw.
SCORPS RULE!!! 
hehehhe  ;P


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## genious_gr (Jan 28, 2003)

I don't have a clue of what kind of spiders they were....
They look like some wolf spiders I have seen in books but I haven't seen any wolf in reality to be sure...
The one I caught were like 1.5 cm long (hehe find how long that is in inches;P ) so they were a bit smaller than the scorps... maybe i'll post a picture but that has to be in the spring....
Ow... if you go to my site : www.geocities.com/genious_gr
you'll find a video of a similar spider laying her eggsack....
The site is really premature...


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