# Centruroides sp. (was: I love it when things warm up)



## skinheaddave (Mar 12, 2004)

First it was H.charcasus and L.mucronatus.  Now C.margaritatus.  This isn't a great shot, but I didn't want to disturb her too much.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Kaos (Mar 12, 2004)

That's cool Dave. I just got little ones on one of my Hottentotta polystictus, and im waiting for a couple more of them to pop.


----------



## Kugellager (Mar 12, 2004)

Nice going Dave,  all those litters of scorpions...cool.   Looks like it is time to raise some pinheads or fly larvae.

John
];')


----------



## skinheaddave (Mar 27, 2004)

Thought I'd just update this thread.  Here is a pic from a few days ago of the mother with her happy brood.  You can see a small ball of moults hanging off of her.  The young are all second instar at this point.  Since that time, the young have really started to disperse.  There are only about fifteen or so left on her back.  







Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Yve (Mar 27, 2004)

thats incredible Dave!...do different species produces different numbers in their litters....I only found about 7 in my flat rocks enclosure..


----------



## skinheaddave (Mar 27, 2004)

Yve,

Yes, there is a definite variation.  Some can produce relatively few -- I have 9 Opithacanthus rugiceps right now that were all that the female produced.  Others can produce huge numbers.  L.quinquestriatus is known to be up in the 100 range at times.  What is not obvious in the above pics is that they were actually on her belly too.  She looked like she was wearing a giant inflatable tube.  

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## skinheaddave (Mar 28, 2004)

And the fun continues ... C.gracilis.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## G. Carnell (Mar 28, 2004)

c gracilis, and tityus young are bloody beautiful,  theyre so colourful,


----------



## Silver.x (Mar 28, 2004)

Hehe, Wanna bring some to the expo? 

Aidan


----------



## skinheaddave (Mar 28, 2004)

Here's a better pic.







Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Silver.x (Mar 28, 2004)

Very cool, I would like to get a few of these in the near future, maybe have a colony later on. 

Aidan


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 1, 2004)

Here are some of the 2nd instar C.margaritatus under blacklight.  These guys never seem full and will keep eating, though I've been dumping in pinheads most nights since they left their mother.







Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Marc_C (Apr 1, 2004)

Wow Dave, you've been doing awsome lately. Keep up the good work. I can see my scorp collection growing in the near future 

At what point are these scorps out of the "danger zone"? I'm mostly wondering about the c.gracilis, but info on the others would be good as well.

How will you be caring for the c.gracilis once they leave their mothers care? Will you be serperating them or keeping them communal?

Can you guesstimate on the number of babies she had?

Thanks
Marc


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 2, 2004)

Marc,

I don't know when they are out of the "danger zone."  I have had poor overall success with C.gracilis but good success with C.margaritatus -- even at the young instars.  I will be keeping the C.gracilis communaly for now at least.  I will have a better idea when they leave her back.  I would conservatively estimate the C.margaritatus numbers at 50-60.  Very impressive numbers.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 12, 2004)

Well, it seems that my C.exilicauda finally decided to join in the fun.  







Cheers,
Dave


----------



## G. Carnell (Apr 12, 2004)

all centuroides young are so bloated....
nice babies btw


----------



## Scorpie (Apr 12, 2004)

wow nice shot.
was that picture taken straight after she burst?


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 12, 2004)

Scorpie said:
			
		

> was that picture taken straight after she burst?


Had to have been within a day -- two at most.  I don't check on everything every day, but I remember checking quite recently on all my expectant Centruroides.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Wolvie56X (Apr 13, 2004)

i just purchased some gravid Centruroides are Regal Reptile yesterday, yes, i go there often haha and another P Trans, but now i have 6 C. Limbatus, thought they were C Gracilis, in a colony tank, im gonna try posting pics, lets see how big it will allow:


----------



## Wolvie56X (Apr 13, 2004)

its almost done, just need to put some more stuff in it for them to hide on and some peat moss, have 6 adults in there, possibly 3 gravid females, so far everything is working well, in one of the pics, you can kinda see one of the ones i think is gravid, the first pic, man i need a new camera

Wolvie


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 13, 2004)

Yeah, that one definitely looks gravid.  Centruroides don't usually show it that much.  Is that  hex tank?

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Wolvie56X (Apr 13, 2004)

yeah 10 gallon hex with a heat lamp on top, made a plexi top on my own and yeah theres 2 others in there looking kinda plump as well

Wolvie


----------



## Scorpie (Apr 13, 2004)

looks like a nice setup. 6 scorps in there? do they get along?


----------



## Wolvie56X (Apr 13, 2004)

at regel they had more in a smaller enclosure, but these 6 get along great, most of the time i catch them sleeping on top of each other or right next to each other, i do have one that only has 1 pincer, so there musta been previous fighting, but they are doing great, i finished the inside of the tank today, added peat moss and a few more branches for them, as long as there are other places for them to hide and ample food, they will get along, now the hard part is gonna be feeding them, i fed them all individually before putting them into the tank, so they are good for a few days, but now i gotta put 9 or so crickets in there and hope they all eat regularly

Wolvie


----------



## Scorpie (Apr 13, 2004)

can you post a picture of the finished tank.
i would love to see it


----------



## Wolvie56X (Apr 13, 2004)

ill take some in the morning, my camera sucks, it will be alot more lighter haha and i misted them, so its a little foggy in there, peat moss is great for holding moisture thats for sure haha

i need a new camera bleh

Wolvie


----------



## Scorpie (Apr 13, 2004)

yeh the pictures are a little blurry thats for sure.
i use moss in mostly all of my rainforest aquariums and it does hold moisture well thats for sure. the only bad thing is like you mentioned that sometimes you cant see in unless you open it up.


----------



## Wolvie56X (Apr 14, 2004)

*finished hex tank pics*

here are pics of the finished tank, dont really have any ideas of what else to do, they seem like they are having fun anyways

anyone know a good number of crickets i should put in there? 6 adult C. Limbatus

Wolvie


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 14, 2004)

Wolvie56X said:
			
		

> anyone know a good number of crickets i should put in there? 6 adult C. Limbatus


You know these are actually C.limbatus?  There were some C.gracilis going around a while ago all labled as "C.limbatyus" or some variation thereof.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Wolvie56X (Apr 14, 2004)

i honestly dont know, i looked at pics of both and they look more like gracilis, but the guy at the pet shop said limbatus, so until i get a good camera, ill say in the middle haha

the males look alot like gracilis, while the females look more like limbatus, its weird, but im borrowing a friends real good digital cam and ill take detailed pics of all my scorpions, the 'gravid A Australis' too lol just to be sure

Wolvie


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 14, 2004)

Just count the pectine teeth. 

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 20, 2004)

Well looks like one of my C.gracilis decided to join the fun.   Looks like there are about 18-20 babies.

John
];')


----------



## Scorpie (Apr 21, 2004)

Wolvie56X said:
			
		

> anyone know a good number of crickets i should put in there? 6 adult C. Limbatus
> 
> Wolvie


i think 8 would be fine. put 4 in when they are eaten put the other 4 in.


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 21, 2004)

Excellent John!  It is a small batch, but that just means less babies to feed.    I notice that they are already 2nd instar.  Any idea when they were born or did you miss that?  My second C.exilicauda decided to join the fun yesterday, BTW.

EDIT:  And, as I just found out, my second C.gracilis decided last night that it was feeling left out and dropped some young.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 21, 2004)

It was sometime between last night and last monday...I think...I don't recall if I checked in on them earlier...It strange that they are still on the mothers back.  All of the other scorps I have had have come of the mothers back within a day or so of molting to second instar...How long did yours remain with the mother?

Excellent on the C.exilicauda...are you going to put in the extra time to raise more to adulthood this time around? You still have a couple from tha first batch last year don't you?

John
];')


----------



## scorpio (Apr 21, 2004)

I think one of my C. exillicauda is gravid as well


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 21, 2004)

I didn't have much luck with C.exilicauda last time around, but this time I expect better results.  As for leaving the mother's back, I have found that C.gracilis and to a lesser extent C.margaritatus will climb back on a lot.  My one C.gracilis had an almost empty back at one point but when I went to take her out of the baby enclosure a couple hours later she had about a dozen on her.  It was actually 6 days from 2nd instar to when they left her back.  Compare that to only 2 days for C.margaritatus.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 21, 2004)

skinheaddave said:
			
		

> As for leaving the mother's back, I have found that C.gracilis and to a lesser extent C.margaritatus will climb back on a lot.   It was actually 6 days from 2nd instar to when they left her back. Cheers,
> Dave


Hmmmm...me-thinks i may have to check the main C.gracilis enclosure for some scorp munchkins.

John
];')


----------



## Eurypterid (Apr 21, 2004)

Kugellager said:
			
		

> Hmmmm...me-thinks i may have to check the main C.gracilis enclosure for some scorp munchkins.
> 
> John
> ];')


Good idea. As of yesterday, I have now had 5 litters.

Gary

Edited: Did I say 5? I meant 6. Hard to keep track, since those are just the _C. gracilis_.


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 26, 2004)

Interesting but crappy experience...frustrated too

Well all the baby C.gracilis are now deseased due to mites on the mother.  The adults came in with mites and I had a difficult time getting rid of them...haven't yet in my C.gracilis no my C.margaritatas enclosures...anyway the few that were on the mother instantly multiplied and proceeded to kill and partially eat all the babies.  The remainder of which are stuck to the mother...I just hope the other large female doesn't pop..

I have let the enclosures dry out to no avail...still have mites in them...anyone have a link to a supplier of Hypoaspis miles predatory mites?...I might try this...I'm seriously considering on sticking with the desert species after these recent experiences with mites...they are in general more active an much less likely to become holes that eat crickets...

I have yet to have a single problem with any unpleasantries with dry species...dead food items just dry up and never stink if you miss a piece...

John
];')


----------



## Eurypterid (Apr 26, 2004)

John,

Sorry to hear about your scorps. As you know, I had the exact same problem, probably from the same shipment. Check all your humid scorps. Once the babies came, these things went wild and I lost 5 adults, and 3 adult _C. margaritatus_ (my whole little colony, including 2 pregnant females), as well as almost the whole litter of babies. Check very carfully, especially under the posterior edge of the tergites. You may need to get the scorp to flex its body a bit to see well.

The predatory mites did work for me. That's the one good bit of news. And I managed to save 1 scorpling. Here's the link to the place I ordered from:

http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/hypoaspis.html

They are expensive though. I ordered 1/2L and it ended up costing over $40.00 with shipping (they will only ship guaranteed 2nd day). Good luck

Gary


----------



## Eurypterid (Apr 26, 2004)

Below is a pic showing how they got under the tergites of my scorps. It wasn't a great pic to start, so I bumped up the contrast and sharpness to make the mites more visible. They were very small, and were covered by the trailing edge of the tergite when the scorp was flat.

I tried everything, including drying and mite traps. The predatory mites were the only thing that gave any results at all (besides physically picking them off with fine-tipped forceps)

Gary


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 26, 2004)

Yeah thanks for the link...same critters I have and can see 100's?  1000? on one of the scorps and less on others...(only C.gracilis and C.margaritatas).  Sounds like once I get some started they will continue to reproduce as long as a food source is available...I think I will set up a couple of delicups to try to keep the cultures going once I get them.

Strange thing is..is that I never get them in the H.spinifer of my P.irminia(T) enclosures...conversely I notice wood lice in these enclosures...maybe its not the baby crickets (as I originally theorized)but the wood lice controlling the mites...need more study...

John
];')


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 27, 2004)

Well I bought some...we'll see what happens once I get them.

John
];')


----------



## Nikos (Apr 27, 2004)

I also use woodlice to control fungus in the humid terrariums, they also eat the feeder remains. Try it, it works fine.


----------



## G. Carnell (Apr 27, 2004)

is this woodlice as in pill bugs?  or the ones which DONT roll into a ball???  im going to get some from my garden now, if this really helps


----------



## Nikos (Apr 27, 2004)

George Carnell said:
			
		

> is this woodlice as in pill bugs?  or the ones which DONT roll into a ball???  im going to get some from my garden now, if this really helps


 Actually I use both. But I think that the pill bugs control fungus and woodlice the feeder remains.
Woodlice is also eaten by smaller scorps while pill bugs don't.


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 27, 2004)

George Carnell said:
			
		

> is this woodlice as in pill bugs?


Woodlice are tiny tear-drop shaped insects that are 1mm+/- in length.  They are greyish or brownish in color and are fast moving compared to mites. They do eat cricket remains as I too have observed.

Here is another interesting thing to note...the enclosures with the wood lice are mite free...the other interesting thing about this is that I have bark in both of these enclosures which I did NOT cook in the oven.  The ones with the mite problems have bark that I cooked for about an hour which would effectively kill any wood lice in the bark...I'm starting to believe the theory that it might not be necessary to cook them...

Regardless...the Hypoaspis miles are coming so I will experiment with them first...maybe I'll try introducing wood lice to one of the enclosures for a comparison.

John
];')


----------



## G. Carnell (Apr 27, 2004)

hmm, are you sure about the size?  th eones in my garden (both the woodlice and the pillbugs) get to over 1cm  and even the babies are bigger than 1 mm....

anyways,  im going to get some now,  ill post pics to show you what i mean maybe


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 27, 2004)

I think we're calling two different things wood lice...not the Pill bug kind.

John
];')


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 27, 2004)

So bad news.  We had a cold snap here, the heat went back on and I guess everything dried out too much.  My ever growing collection of s'lings was decimated.  I still have some of each species, mind you, but the C.gracilis were hit hard.  I would guess I lost 3/4 of the 2nd instars and all the first instars off one female's back.  The C.margaritatus fared better -- I maybe lost only 1/3 of them.  The H.charcasus don't seem to have suffered, nor have the C.vittatus.  The C.exilicauda are mostly gone.  The unknown Centruroides I recently picked up lost about 1/2 the first instars off her back but the remaining half seem to be doing fine.  The Opisthacanthus seem fine.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## G. Carnell (Apr 28, 2004)

how can they die so quickly? the second instars i mean...  mine can survive a few days in dryness, or was it dry for longer?

good luck with the remaining ones anyway


----------



## skinheaddave (Apr 28, 2004)

Your instars of what species?  I have found C.gracilis particularily succeptable to this sort of thing. 

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## G. Carnell (Apr 28, 2004)

Grosphus limbatus, but these are less tropical than your Centuroides so i guess thats the difference, maybe...


----------



## Tarantula (Apr 28, 2004)

skinheaddave said:
			
		

> L.quinquestriatus is known to be up in the 100 range at times.



 ;P 

I think my LQ is pregnant  Hope I get 100 baby scorps


----------



## Liron Samuels (Apr 28, 2004)

Congrats on the litters everybody! 
Sorry to hear you lost so many scorplings, dave.


----------



## Kugellager (Apr 29, 2004)

Well I received the Hypoaspis mites today and placed the media in the C.gracilis and the C. margaritatas enclosures only to find another C.margaritatas dead...DOH!

I have a little of the media left and am wondering if I should introduce it to my H.spinifer and P.irminia humid enclosures even though they seem to be stable due to the little critters living in them...or do you think It will mess with the bio-balance and cause problems?

Maybe Gary or Dave...preferably someone who has used Hypoaspis spp. mites before.

John
];')


----------



## skinheaddave (May 2, 2004)

Sorry, John, never used them.

Anyhow, the L.mucronatus dream is back online.  







This time I will be leaving them with the mother for a while longer in the hopes that they might do better.  Last time I seperated them and it didn't work out too well.

Cheers,
Dave


----------



## G. Carnell (May 3, 2004)

this is what i term woodlice btw- its 1cm long


----------



## Nikos (May 3, 2004)

I think this is a pill-bug, I have these in the moist terrariums too and mine are also around 1cm +- long.


----------



## Kugellager (May 3, 2004)

Scorpions apparrently like them (pill bugs)  as food.  I have put them in some of my enclosures with some of the smaller scorpions and they are gone pretty quickly.  All the you see left are the segments of their carapaces...which by the way glow a little under the blacklight...its a whitish-blue color.

John
];')


----------



## Mr. X (May 4, 2004)

How small are you talking about, when you're saying my smaller scorpions

Thanx,   Xavier


----------



## Kugellager (May 4, 2004)

In my frame of reference I consider scorpions under about 2.5 inches(6cm) from mouth to telson to be small...

John
];')


----------



## Mr. X (May 4, 2004)

Ok good, so i can fed my A.bicolor with those but the only problem is the desert conditions. Do you think it might be possible?? Cause it would be greath, where i live there's pill bugs everywhere.

thanx


----------



## Nikos (May 4, 2004)

Kugellager said:
			
		

> Scorpions apparrently like them (pill bugs)  as food.  I have put them in some of my enclosures with some of the smaller scorpions and they are gone pretty quickly.  All the you see left are the segments of their carapaces...which by the way glow a little under the blacklight...its a whitish-blue color.
> 
> John
> ];')


 Indeed they are eaten by my hadrurus arizonensis  but none of the lychas mucronatus and mesobuthus martensii likes them.

John which scorpion species ate them?

I think it is the desert species that can eat them. I'm waiting some desert species this week (androctonus/hottentotta) and I'll try the pill bugs with them too.

I have also noticed some pill bugs climbing on the scorps and "possibly" eating something.....could it be mites or feces?


----------



## G. Carnell (May 4, 2004)

hey, just a warning, they cant survive AT ALL in dry conditions.
if you put them in an arid tank, they will die within the day you put them in.

i feed them to euscorpius spp- 4cm ~~


----------



## Kugellager (May 4, 2004)

vardoulas said:
			
		

> John which scorpion species ate them?


Um....the species I have botherd to collect them for and feed them to were 3r instar Grosphus flaviopiceus and V.coahuilae...the G.flavopiceus is definitely not a desert species and the V.coahuilae definitely is...The pill bugs usually require moist conditions...I can find tons of them in my compost pile and under the wood chips in my flower beds...but...too time consuming...plus I would probably end up weeding instead of collecting pill bugs 

John
];')


----------



## G. Carnell (May 4, 2004)

hey john,
so youve had grosphus spp go through their second moult? or did you buy them as 3rd instar?
im asking because some people have told me that its very hard to get grosphus through to 3rd instar, as most die or just dont moult...
kinda scared as ive got some 2nd instars


----------



## Kugellager (May 4, 2004)

I bought them at what I thought was 3rd instar...was very unexperienbced with babies at the time and crickets killed two just after they molted...one drowned in water dish...basically I blew it due to lack of experience at the time.  They would have done fine if I knew what I knew now.

John
];')


----------



## skinheaddave (May 4, 2004)

What we have here is a good example of why common names suck.  I was always under the impression that the ones that rolled into balls were pillbugs, the ones that didn't were sowbugs.  Then one considers that some people seem to call some isopods "pillbugs" whereas others reserve that for the myriopods.  Apparently some people also call either the myriopods or isopods "wood lice," a name also used for the much smaller organisms John is refering too.

Cheers,
Dave


----------

