# Best Communal Scorpion



## mrbonzai211 (Jun 10, 2008)

So my top three are P. imperator, H. spinifer, and B. jacksoni. These are the three I'm considering to buy in the future, but I can't decide which one species I want. So, I was wondering if anybody with experience could weigh in with reasons why each one of these communal scorps are the best.... I'm also open to other communal sp  suggestions.


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## bigtyler1025 (Jun 10, 2008)

ive never really been into the H. genus. The emps and jacksoni are really cool. im looking at getting a jacksoni in the future. any of the Centuroides species are very communal as far as i know. i have 12 Centuroides sculpturatus together. they are much smaller than any of the ones you have mentioned.


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## rasputin (Jun 10, 2008)

Hottentotta Judaicus is an awesome species to keep communally. just about any species within the genus Centruroides is great communally.


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## Doctor_Grunge (Jun 10, 2008)

I'd say which one is best depends on your situation, experience and what you want out of the scorpion. Pandinus, Heterometrus and Hadogenes sp. are all easy to aquire, good beginner species, and are considered to be communal. If you want something that is docile, Pandinus and Hadogenes would probably be your best bet. Something a little feistier would be Heterometrus. If you have kept scorpions for a while and are comfortable with species that have more toxic venom then you might consider Centruroides or Tityus, or Babycurus sp. I consider C. vittatus to be a good communal scorpion that can be kept by intermediate scorpions keepers but is also neat to have for advanced keepers. This is primarily because the toxicity of their venom is less dangerous than some other species in the genus, they are relatively easy to find/buy, not hard to care for, are very interesting to watch and one of the more active species in my experience. One thing to consider is that with C. vittatus (and Babycurus jacksoni) there is some disagreement as to weather or not the venom is dangerous enough to consider them medically significant, so if you do decide to keep either species be careful as they can both be relatively "quick" and sting readily if provoked.


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## ~Abyss~ (Jun 10, 2008)

B.jacks venom is not nearly as potent as C. sculpt. Welcome to the boards doc very impressed by your first post.
-Eddy


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## mrbonzai211 (Jun 10, 2008)

Basically, this will be my only venture into scorpions because I love Ts, but I've always wanted to keep scorpions as a side project. Since this is my one shot at getting something that fits me best, I want to make sure I'm matched up with the best possible scorpion for my needs. I guess this is a cliche request but, since I can only get one tank, I would like something:

-communal (as i said in my OP)
-fairly large; at least not tiny
-i don't mind venom, but frown on potentially dangerous species
-i would also like to be able to see them every so often. i don't mind burrowers, but i would like to see my only scorpions

Another thing.... is there any difference in the life span, or aggression, between male and female scorpions?


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## mrbonzai211 (Jun 10, 2008)

OMG!!! I forgot!!!! I hope you guys can pull through on this one cuz this is probably going to be very influential on my decision, but could you guys show me some pics of your scorpions that you think I might like? I'm a very visual person, so you guys helping me out would be very valuable to me. 

Thanks in advance everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Thongy (Jun 11, 2008)

then b jacksonis would be a very good choice.
google them


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## Xaranx (Jun 11, 2008)

Your criteria fit jacksonis perfectly.  







This is a group of 2i I separated from mom a couple days beforehand.


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## rasputin (Jun 11, 2008)

Doctor_Grunge said:


> One thing to consider is that with C. vittatus (and Babycurus jacksoni) there is some disagreement as to weather or not the venom is dangerous enough to consider them medically significant, so if you do decide to keep either species be careful as they can both be relatively "quick" and sting readily if provoked.


D_G, there's nothing anywhere that says anything about C. vittatus and med sig. if there is then send it to me because I require evidence.


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## muse (Jun 11, 2008)

I've got 3 hadrurus arizonensis in a 29G tank, and they seem to get along fine.  I've heard that they are not supposed to be communal, but mine have not even really had a skirmish with each other that I've noticed.  there are even times when they'll crawl all over each other like it's no big deal.  they're fairly large, and I see them out and about frequently.


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## JeffX (Jun 11, 2008)

I'd say B. Jacksoni would be your best bet as well.  Venom is a step up from P.Imps but nothing to worry about.  

I have five in a ten gallon and mine are all doing well.  I've had them for about a month now and they are getting big fast.  I see them more than I do my P. Imp and my Imp is much bigger than my B. Jacksoni.

I'd show you a picture but I can't seem to link to insect geeks at the moment.


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## mrbonzai211 (Jun 11, 2008)

Thanks for the B. jacksoni pics, they look awesome! Like I said though, I'm new to scorpions so I don't really what they all look like. Due to this, any pictures you can hook me up with will definitely help me make my decision.


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## Rosenkreuz (Jun 11, 2008)

mrbonzai211 said:


> Due to this, any pictures you can hook me up with will definitely help me make my decision.


Google


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## bjaeger (Jun 11, 2008)

Dude, get some B. jacksonis. They're awesome scorpions and they're VERY cool looking. You'll see them a lot more than the burrowers, I can guarantee you that much.


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## Aztek (Jun 11, 2008)

Get centruroides Vittatus.


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## mrbonzai211 (Jun 11, 2008)

Rosenkreuz said:


> Google


Wow, google, who would have ever thought of that. You know what? That advice would actually fit for just about any query on this forum, so instead of participating positively in another person's post we'll just go around copying and pasting "google" into our replies. Awesome man, you really just streamlined the performance of this forum! I'm sure the bandwidth and the moderators are in appreciation of your suggestion.


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## ~Abyss~ (Jun 11, 2008)

Actually it's not a bad idea. I google alot of my questions first and find some answers. Also the search function does wonders. Don't get mad? Just ignore any answer you dont find useful.


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## mrbonzai211 (Jun 12, 2008)

~Abyss~ said:


> Actually it's not a bad idea. I google alot of my questions first and find some answers. Also the search function does wonders. Don't get mad? Just ignore any answer you dont find useful.


I understand that, but your perspective is skewed by your experience. I've had T's for 2 years, but before that I didn't know a thing about them and found myself lied to by many of the so called "facts" I found through google (some of those caresheets out there say some really messed up stuff... just look at what the hermit crab ones say and you'll know what I mean). The only real knowledge about Ts I've gotten is through this website, and while it may be easy for you to filter through the good and bad information using google, it's a lot harder for inexperienced people like me. If you need an example, just google the toxicity of B. jacksoni venom and see how many different conflicting results there are. I don't appreciate it when people take on their cocky little attitudes like it's an insult to them that I asked for some help. Don't defend people who are jerks. It's not worth it.


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## ~Abyss~ (Jun 12, 2008)

That makes sense, I'm not sidind with anyone here because I do a bit of both Ask questions here and google search.


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## Galapoheros (Jun 12, 2008)

I do the google thing too.  I look at info from diff sources and try and weed out the bad info.  After all, this is one of the sites you come up with when you google for this kind of info so I think it's good to look around.  Oh man, I've been stung a lot by C. vits.  Most of the time it didn't hurt much, but there were a couple of times where I invented my own curse words, ...still don't know what they mean but they sounded bad, haha,  ...seriously, it hurt really bad.  I read they have pre-venom and a more serious kill-venom, if it's true(not sure), I think it's a pretty recent discovery like within the last few years(?), ..something to google.  C. vits not dangerous though.  If they were, many people would die because of them every year here in the US.  I find them in my house a lot.  I've got two right now that I found in my house within the last two weeks.  They are pretty cool to keep.  They come out at night to hunt and tackle big prey compared to their size.  Depends on what you like when you see it.  I'm old fashioned, the big emps still impress me, no matter how cheap they get ...what a deal!


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## bjaeger (Jun 12, 2008)

I'd be totally lost without Google. I use it A LOT.

Here's an interesting pic of one of my 3i B. jacksoni feeding:





A single quick sting and that was the end of that cricket within a second.  I had cut the legs off of it because it kept kicking the scorp and scaring him. I also had used forceps on it's butt and that's why it's missing some parts..

That was the smallest cricket I had since the lousy pet store only hard large ones. I really needed pinheads for the B. jacks and my small T sling. :wall:


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## Doctor_Grunge (Jun 12, 2008)

rasputin said:


> D_G, there's nothing anywhere that says anything about C. vittatus and med sig. if there is then send it to me because I require evidence.


http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/c_vittatus.php 

I'm not saying that they inherently possess "medically significant" venom, just that I've seen discrepancies in peoples views on it, but I have seen several statements such as the one ("It probably has a minor medical significance for healthy humans.") found on the link above, so I'm more comfortable throwing out the warning because the actual potency of the venom and the sensitivity of the individual to it can vary from case to case.

*edit*
just wanted to add this as the way I left it before might not have clarified it. I'm not saying that C. vittatus is a big, bad, scorpion with venom that will kill you. I'm just saying people might want to be more careful with it than some of their other scorpions because I've seen disagreement regarding their venom strength and it would suck to get stung and find out that your a little more sensitive too it or its a little more toxic than you expected.


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## Raan_Jodus (Jun 12, 2008)

pretty positive C. Vittatus does not have medically significant venom.  BUT, from what i've read, its hella painful   I haven't let mine get a chance to prove it to me though.

all reports have pointed it to just being painful, and not causing any systematic problems.  In short, keep your hands away from it and you'll be fine.  They are a great species to have.  I have one left and I'm gonna miss him when he bites it.


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## ~Abyss~ (Jun 12, 2008)

Been stung by both B. jacksonii and C.vitts. NOTHING serious. C. sculpt...not THAT is painful. Lasted days even.


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## littebigspider (Jun 12, 2008)

I just purchased 3 B. jacksoni 2I to 3I and now I'm down to just 1. 
I placed all 3 into a 2.5 gallon tank with numerous hides and within 15 minutes 1 of them killed the other two. 
I'm not an expert I just wanted to share my experience with you. From what I have read adults tend to tolerate one another better then sub-adults.


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## vtecgsr (Jun 12, 2008)

Everyone here seems to lean toward the jacksoni.. Ive never owned any. I have owned a colony of 4 spinifer. That was so awesome, they would eat thing twice there size.. Like huge moths the size of humming birds!!


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## mrbonzai211 (Jun 12, 2008)

Is there a difference in behavior between emps and H. spinifer?


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## Raan_Jodus (Jun 12, 2008)

Spinifers tend to be a little more aggressive I believe.

and as for the post about losing the baby Jacksoni, those are the dangers of not keeping young separated till maturity.  Many many people would say to separate the young until maturity specifically because of their cannibalistic nature.


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## Xaranx (Jun 12, 2008)

If you only got 3 you definitely not put them together, the only reason I leave mine together is because i have a couple females giving me new babies every few months.


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## Doctor_Grunge (Jun 13, 2008)

All I mean in terms of medical significance is more than localized symptoms. After all C. sculturatus is considered medically significant despite the extremely low number of lethal envenomation in humans, I've never been tagged though, so I don't know


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## bjaeger (Jun 13, 2008)

littebigspider said:


> I just purchased 3 B. jacksoni 2I to 3I and now I'm down to just 1.
> I placed all 3 into a 2.5 gallon tank with numerous hides and within 15 minutes 1 of them killed the other two.
> I'm not an expert I just wanted to share my experience with you. From what I have read adults tend to tolerate one another better then sub-adults.


That's why when I got mine I immediately separated them into their own containers. I got these junky semi-transparent round plastic containers at the Dollar Store; which pretty much suck! I went to Wal-Mart and got a sweet ultra clear one. I setup two pieces of bark in there with the water dish and it looks awesome! Now to get 4 more for my other 3i B. jacksoni's..


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## vtecgsr (Jun 13, 2008)

mrbonzai211 said:


> Is there a difference in behavior between emps and H. spinifer?


The emperor i had was really boring and lethargic.. The spinifers were more active and aggressive. I would definately go spinifer over emperor...


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## enjoier14 (Jun 13, 2008)

mrbonzai211 said:


> Wow, google, who would have ever thought of that. You know what? That advice would actually fit for just about any query on this forum, so instead of participating positively in another person's post we'll just go around copying and pasting "google" into our replies. Awesome man, you really just streamlined the performance of this forum! I'm sure the bandwidth and the moderators are in appreciation of your suggestion.


hahahah...sorry, I thought that was funny


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## Rick McJimsey (Jun 13, 2008)

Noone is going to mention c.gracilis?


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## bigtyler1025 (Jun 14, 2008)

bobtard said:


> Noone is going to mention c.gracilis?


On the first page it mentions all centuroides sp. Just saying


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## mrbonzai211 (Jun 15, 2008)

I've heard a rumor that emps and H. spinifer can be housed communally together. Is this true? Is there any other combos that you can do? Right now I'm in love with the big black scorps but I cannot for the life of me pick one, so maybe not having to pick would make my situation a little bit easier. 

Thank you everyone, this thread has been a HUGE help for me and has reminded me why I decided to join the arachnoboard community.


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## bigtyler1025 (Jun 16, 2008)

i have seen some info that says that they can be kept together, but i think that it would have to be under very scecial circumstances. H. spinifer is much more feisty than emps, and there are instances on posts in here where an emp got into a spinifer cage, and the spinifer tore it apart. i would say a no on trying to keep them together. unless anyone on here can give you anymore info.


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## talljosh003 (Jun 18, 2008)

Xaranx said:


> Your criteria fit jacksonis perfectly.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


jacksoni are so sexy :drool:


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## Aztek (Jun 18, 2008)

mrbonzai211 said:


> I've heard a rumor that emps and H. spinifer can be housed communally together. Is this true? Is there any other combos that you can do? Right now I'm in love with the big black scorps but I cannot for the life of me pick one, so maybe not having to pick would make my situation a little bit easier.
> 
> Thank you everyone, this thread has been a HUGE help for me and has reminded me why I decided to join the arachnoboard community.


Mine.
They're all good.


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## saxman146 (Jun 18, 2008)

I'd have to say B Jax


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## Malcara (Jun 18, 2008)

soon as i get the money i'll be buying about 12 israeli golden scorpions, but right now i just have an empty cage. Currently though i have 4 emperors one is pregnant. and just got in 4 baby jacksoni's 2 were dead on arrival  and a 2 inch hadrurus arizonensis. emperors are probably the best scorp for communal setups. some communal species require individual hides but emperors can bunch up ive seen 50 and more in 40 gallon cages all under a big piece of cork bark


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## Rydog (Jun 18, 2008)

anyone going to mention H. judaicus?


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## Malcara (Jun 18, 2008)

H. judaicus      Ther I mentioned it.


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## praetorian2150 (Jun 18, 2008)

it depends how big a budget u have. Ive seen that anything past communal emperors is big bills. Id say for communal, go emperors for the bang for ur buck


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## Rydog (Jun 19, 2008)

malcara, you saved my life.


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## talljosh003 (Jun 19, 2008)

praetorian2150 said:


> it depends how big a budget u have. Ive seen that anything past communal emperors is big bills. Id say for communal, go emperors for the bang for ur buck


but with small communal species you could use a smaller tank, therefor also saving money. its almost like a nice, gentle balance


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