# Do scorpions need water?



## Frogsarethapoop (Nov 21, 2006)

I have some wild caught northern scorpions which I caught in Alberta Canada. I supply them with water and have occasionally seen them drink from it, or what looks like them drinking. Do they need water or will they be ok with just crickets? I have only ever fed them crickets, sometimes I dust with calcium and or vitamin powder which I use for my amphibians. Any advice?


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## Alakdan (Nov 21, 2006)

Yes, they need water too.  The frequency of misting or leaving a waterdish will depend on the type of scorp that you have.  Most desert species can survive arid climate and get their moisture from their prey.  But a captive scorp need not go through such extreme conditions.  So a drop or two will be good for them.

Feed your crickets a variety of food like dog food (dry) and some fruits and veggies before you feed them to your scorp.  Don't bother with the calcum powder and vitamins, you are just wasting money.  Your invert will not benefit from it.


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## P.jasonius (Nov 21, 2006)

*can you post pics of them?*

I'm assuming you caught them in some type of wooded environment, I'm not familiar with Alberta.  Can we see?  post pics.
I used to have fun with mine by actually 'feeding' it water with a q-tip.  It didn't seem to mind or stress it out at all or I wouldn't have done it.  He was native to a desert region, though, and so I didn't offer water all the time.


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## Frogsarethapoop (Nov 21, 2006)

Well I took some pictures but they were blurry. Whats up with blurry pictures? Spend $500 on a camera and then it doesn't even take decent pictures. No it wasn't a wooded area I caught them from, no trees at all. Sort of like badlands I guess. Theres alot of dinosaur bones around where I caught them.


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## Leviticus (Nov 27, 2006)

Hey frogmanJ, I believe there is only one known species of scorpion native to northern Alberta and it is called the Northern scorpion. Paruroctonus boreus is the latin name. Here is a link with a picture of it let me know if it is the same. 

Joe

http://people.uleth.ca/~dan.johnson/scorpions/northern_scorpion_dj.pdf


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## Ryan C. (Nov 27, 2006)

Theres only one species native to all of Canada... but yes its _Paruroctonus boreus_


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## EAD063 (Nov 27, 2006)

How come you get them in Canada and they can't be over here in New England!!   Anyways, keep a Gatorade bottle cap of water in the tank as well as mist every now and then....  I perfer a bottle cap because the stone water dish I bought seems very porice and the waters seems to dissappear every night and it's a pain to fill it every morning.


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## Frogsarethapoop (Nov 27, 2006)

CanArachnid said:


> Hey frogmanJ, I believe there is only one known species of scorpion native to northern Alberta and it is called the Northern scorpion. Paruroctonus boreus is the latin name. Here is a link with a picture of it let me know if it is the same.
> 
> Joe
> 
> http://people.uleth.ca/~dan.johnson/scorpions/northern_scorpion_dj.pdf


Thats the one. I have read that article. I live about an hour away from that University.

Yeah I have always had a bottle cap with paper towel and water in it ever since I have had them sort of as a common sense thing. But then I read somewhere that they don't drink and they somehow get their moisture from their diet. But all I feed them is crickets, which don't seem very moist to me. So I thought Id ask. Im surprised no one replied and said something like "of course they need water stupid", or something along those lines.


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## EAD063 (Nov 27, 2006)

no that's not too bad of a question because many people don't talk about that scorp on here.. the only one I know who has a lot of them is ArachnoKid


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## Crono (Nov 27, 2006)

The better rule is if you are unsure, offer water in a small dish. At the worst the scorp ignores it until you get an answer.


AB is a little laid back, especially the scorpion forum. 
You ask nicely, people answer nicely. 
Most scorpion experts will be the first to admit they don't know anywhere near everything, and can understand someone not knowing something about a scorp very few people keep. The extra Mod attention also helps to keep things civil.
It might have been a little different if you posted "My scorp is dying, is it because it had no water?", but that isn't anything to worry about.
Good luck with these guys


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## Prymal (Nov 28, 2006)

Frogman,

They are generalists in the broad sense of the term and inhabit many different habitat types from rolling plains to dry forests, and everything in between except regions of high substrate and/or ambient moisture. They will excavate burrows, shallow scrapes under surface structure; adopt existing spaces, etc. It has an extensive distribution range from Canada to the USA: Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan; Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
As for water: ALL scorpions need water to survive. However, exactly how much they need is unknown. Even species from the most climatically harsh
deserts need water and most will accept it if and when offered. However, most will survive on moisture derived directly from consumed prey if fed regularly (crickets should be provided with a grain, vegetable and fruit diet).
For my 7 specimens (4 adults; 3 juvs), I use well ventilated containers and provide a light misting of room temperature water every 7-10 days. I provide just enough water to evaporate within a 24-hour period (trial-and-error).
Also, regarding the moisture content of crickets (Acheta domesticus): according to one report, crickets contain 76.31% moisture in comparison to superworms (59.67) and mealworms (66.07).

Good luck...Luc


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## shadowcaster (Nov 28, 2006)

wow luc, how'd u get all this info?!!  amazing indeed.


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## Prymal (Nov 29, 2006)

Shadow,

Here and there; collected literature; personal communications with people that have worked with this and other North American vaejovids in the field and lab, etc. 
Unfortunately, aside from P. utahensis and Smeringurus (formerly, Paruroctonus) mesaensis, there's very little information regarding the other members of the genus outside of systematics and distribution. 
Hopefully, we'll see new natural history, ecological and biological data regarding Family Vaejovidae from RevSys in the coming years. Until then, it's a matter of putting scattered pieces of info together.

Take care...Luc


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