# African Scorps...what your favorite?



## Taipan (Sep 6, 2009)

Just wondering. My personal collection is moving toward an African theme so I'd love to hear which species you like and why?


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## Lucozade3000 (Sep 6, 2009)

Tricky one!
I would go for the Lychas burdoi, up to 40mm long, characterised by cryptic yellow and black markings.
Its coloration provides the perfect camouflage in moist leaf litter or loose bark.
Males of the genus are smaller than females.
This species is found in moist habitats in the far north-eastern corner of the Kruger National Park (cant collect there!), eastern Zimbabwe and Mozambique and up into central Africa.
AND
Uroplectes vittatus and formosus, love the color pattern.
One for the road?
Opistophtalamus pallipes (Northern Cape) amazing pedipalps..

-J


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## Widowman10 (Sep 6, 2009)

more and more i'm loving the parabuthus genus...

androctonus are a classic as well. i guess i'm just a sucker for big scorps with attitude problems.


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## Jorpion (Sep 7, 2009)

They may be slow and boring compared to other species, but I LOVE *H. paucidens*! Very cool body shape and coloration. Their tails are unbelievably long which is kinda cool as well


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## andy375hh (Sep 7, 2009)

ANDROCTONUS BICOLOR, & PARABUTHUS TRAANSVALICUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Obelisk (Sep 7, 2009)

Hadogenes sp. definitely look awesome!!


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## Exo (Sep 7, 2009)

Opistophalamus ericstriatus for sure.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 7, 2009)

I'm a sucker for the bigger ones too.  The Pandinus sp. I will always like.  P. transvaalicus, Hadogenes troglodytes, the bigger Opistophthalmus.


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## Warren Bautista (Sep 7, 2009)

Pandinus imperator.


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## Ice Cold Milk (Sep 8, 2009)

My new favorite: 
Uroplectes sp. 'Natal'

Reactions: Like 1


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## skinheaddave (Sep 8, 2009)

Still have a soft spot for Opisthacanthus, personally.

Cheers,
Dave


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## snappleWhiteTea (Sep 8, 2009)

i only have a p.imperator..so i guess that would be my fav o rite


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## Aztek (Sep 8, 2009)

Africa is too big.


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## Gracilis (Sep 8, 2009)

Aztek said:


> Africa is too big.


hahahahahahah :clap: :clap: :clap:


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## johnharper (Sep 8, 2009)

My two favorites currently are

Babycurus Gigas and Babycurus Jacksioni


John


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## spinningspider (Sep 8, 2009)

i just got a P smithi and a parabuthus liosoma! they are awesome


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## reverendsterlin (Sep 8, 2009)

Apistobuthus pterygocercus and I will find one eventually


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## Widowman10 (Sep 10, 2009)

reverendsterlin said:


> Apistobuthus pterygocercus and I will find one eventually


haha, i'm not sure the last time i've seen one for sale on here! if so, it's been a long time! they are pretty sweet looking though.


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## saxman146 (Sep 10, 2009)

Didn't they say that these species all died soon after being removed from their natural habitat?


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## Aztek (Sep 10, 2009)

saxman146 said:


> Didn't they say that these species all died soon after being removed from their natural habitat?[/QUOTE
> 
> Yes.


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## reverendsterlin (Sep 11, 2009)

saxman146 said:


> Didn't they say that these species all died soon after being removed from their natural habitat?


They have been successfully kept, BUT they require high temps (30-35c daytime 20-25c nighttime) and exacting humidity, a little bit off and the scorp dies from mycosis, on top of this they need a couple of months at 15c. Trying to create an enclosure that is not affected by the external conditions is probably the hardest part, especially if you live in an area that has regular rainfall or wide temperature changes, introducing prey into the enclosure can cause enough change to cause problems.
On a second note this WAS a single species genus but a second species was found in Iran 'A. susanae' (named after the woman who discovered the first species Dr. Susan Finnegan)


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## Aztek (Sep 11, 2009)

reverendsterlin said:


> They have been successfully kept, BUT they require high temps (30-35c daytime 20-25c nighttime) and exacting humidity, a little bit off and the scorp dies from mycosis, on top of this they need a couple of months at 15c. Trying to create an enclosure that is not affected by the external conditions is probably the hardest part, especially if you live in an area that has regular rainfall or wide temperature changes, introducing prey into the enclosure can cause enough change to cause problems.
> On a second note this WAS a single species genus but a second species was found in Iran 'A. susanae' (named after the woman who discovered the first species Dr. Susan Finnegan)


You must really love that scorpion to know all this.

For years everyone always mentioned that sole scorpion.

But you have said a new specie from that genus has been discovered.


And about keeping it... what you're saying is that those who live where it lives will have the most chance of keeping it alive?


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## psychofox (Sep 11, 2009)

reverendsterlin said:


> They have been successfully kept, BUT they require high temps (30-35c daytime 20-25c nighttime) and exacting humidity, a little bit off and the scorp dies from mycosis, on top of this they need a couple of months at 15c. Trying to create an enclosure that is not affected by the external conditions is probably the hardest part, especially if you live in an area that has regular rainfall or wide temperature changes, introducing prey into the enclosure can cause enough change to cause problems


These requirements, with slight differences, go for practically all desert species. It's common practice, at least for the more serious of keepers, to give their scorpions a cooling period. An oven with a thermostat is the solution regarding the heat- it's not harder than that. I live in northern Europe, so I don't have the issue with cooling my invert room. While some scorpion species are indeed harder to keep and breed than others, it's not rocket science.


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## ftorres (Sep 14, 2009)

Hello All,.

Out of all the scorps that are currently on the hobby, my favorite is Babycurus gigas.

Now if we were able to get Pandinus dictator, that would be my favorite.

regards
to all.

francisco


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## Tarantula_man94 (Sep 14, 2009)

snappleWhiteTea said:


> i only have a p.imperator..so i guess that would be my fav o rite


same here. Want more though. also looking for pedes....


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## Kugellager (Sep 15, 2009)

Hottentotta arenaceus from Namibia. Cute little buggers.













John
];')


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## Goon_CH (Jan 31, 2010)

hello kugellager

I do not think that the scorpions are the photos hottentotta arenaceus. are more likely hottentotta conspersus.
hottentotta arenaceus lighter and above all, they have only two stripes on the move. the three stripes of your photos are typical of conspersus. the two species are quite similar but still differ on the basis of these two features. especially put the stripes are actually very clear.
Here you can see photos of my arenaceus times when you want: http://www.suisse-skorpions.ch/hottentotta_arenaceus.html


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## SixShot666 (Jan 31, 2010)

Always liked the Babycurus J.  But would love to own some of the Androctonus sp. and the Parabuthus sp.


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 3, 2010)

Not listed in order of preference.   All of these will probably be far out of our reach for a long, long time.  But just in case.... 

1.  Uroplectes vittatus
2.  Uroplectes olivaceus 
3.  Lychas asper
4.  Lychas burdoi
5.  Opisthacanthus rugiceps


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 3, 2010)

I double posted accidentally going backwards with my browser.  Ooops and sorry.


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## megabytex3 (Feb 4, 2010)

Hottentotta Hottentotta!!!awsome!!!


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## freeman (Feb 4, 2010)

megabytex3 said:


> Hottentotta Hottentotta!!!awsome!!!


+1 
from those i kept so far.


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## SixShot666 (Feb 6, 2010)

megabytex3 said:


> Hottentotta Hottentotta!!!awsome!!!


I seen a couple of these species on sale at my pet shop....How long do they normally live in captivity??? :?


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## megabytex3 (Feb 8, 2010)

SixShot666 said:


> I seen a couple of these species on sale at my pet shop....How long do they normally live in captivity??? :?


from what I know its 3-4 years...I actually have one but it still haven't reach that age so I really still don't know if the 3-4 years is really true or not...


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## Kugellager (Feb 9, 2010)

Goon_CH said:


> hello kugellager
> 
> I do not think that the scorpions are the photos hottentotta arenaceus. are more likely hottentotta conspersus.
> 
> Here you can see photos of my arenaceus times when you want: http://www.suisse-skorpions.ch/hottentotta_arenaceus.html


Admittedly the photos and lighting are not best as I took them under a reading lamp in a candy bowl that was on the table in our bungalow on our honeymoon in Namibia.  Color is never the best indicator of ID and these were actually quite a bit lighter when viewed with the naked eye.

My ID of these is very tentative as in all the literature I have seen on H. arenaceus and H.conspersus the only significant difference seems to be the spotting on the arms of the pincers and the length to thickness ratio of the first segment of the tail.

They very well could be H.conspersus.  But, based on what I read and saw in the literature I thought they fell on the H.arenaceus side of the ID...I did not have any kind of magnification or measuring device to use on these...Nor the time as it was my honeymoon.  

The habitat location for these individuals is Sossusvlei Mountain Lodge in the NamibRand Nature Reserve which, from the range maps I have seen, falls in an area that may straddle to two described species ranges.

Heck, for all we know the two species may be just slight locality variations of the same species.  There are very few differences in morphology between the two as described in the literature.

John
];')


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## SixShot666 (Feb 10, 2010)

megabytex3 said:


> from what I know its 3-4 years...I actually have one but it still haven't reach that age so I really still don't know if the 3-4 years is really true or not...


Thanx for the reply!!! 3-4 years?!?! Not bad....Not bad at all. Probably might one later on in the spring.


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