# My Petco Sells Emperor Scorpions? What? Please Read



## Kade135 (Jul 10, 2018)

Last I heard Emperor Scorpions were near impossible to find, and if found, VERY expensive. I just bought 2 Small ones, about 2 inches long at my local Petco for $25 each. And they’re definitely Emperors too, not Asian Forest. Are emperors a common thing again? Or did I just get an extremely lucky find?


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## THR (Jul 10, 2018)

Not only here in US, so is back in China. It seems that the number of wild pandinus is in decrease, prices are doubled or even tripled.


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## ianhunt (Jul 10, 2018)

Here in philippines emp scorpions are not so difficult to find due to overbreeding.


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## Sarkhan42 (Jul 10, 2018)

Kade135 said:


> Last I heard Emperor Scorpions were near impossible to find, and if found, VERY expensive. I just bought 2 Small ones, about 2 inches long at my local Petco for $25 each. And they’re definitely Emperors too, not Asian Forest. Are emperors a common thing again? Or did I just get an extremely lucky find?


I would say it’s a bit of both. I recently picked up 2 slings for the same price that were captive bred, and I’ve seen a good amount of them
Offered up here and there so it seems like there may have been a few successful breedings all at once. That being said, finding them at a petco is certainly some good luck!


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## AnimalNewbie (Jul 10, 2018)

You sure there emperors and not heterometrus species.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## NYAN (Jul 10, 2018)

If you can get good pics and post them here, they will be IDed. I’ve seen emperors at petco also and they go for $50+. $25 is closer to Asian forest scorpion price than emperor, however someone on here got emperors once being sold as Asian forest scorpions are petco.


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## Kade135 (Jul 10, 2018)

Here’s one of them. I may have mistaken it, might not be an emperor, but definitely Pandinus something...


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## Kade135 (Jul 10, 2018)

NYAN said:


> If you can get good pics and post them here, they will be IDed. I’ve seen emperors at petco also and they go for $50+. $25 is closer to Asian forest scorpion price than emperor, however someone on here got emperors once being sold as Asian forest scorpions are petco.


I posted pictures above ^


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## NYAN (Jul 10, 2018)

Kade135 said:


> Here’s one of them. I may have mistaken it, might not be an emperor, but definitely Pandinus something...


Looks like Pandius to me.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Kade135 (Jul 10, 2018)

NYAN said:


> Looks like Pandius to me.


But Imperator or Dictator?


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## NYAN (Jul 10, 2018)

Kade135 said:


> But Imperator or Dictator?


My guess is imperator because its petco. However I don’t know enough to tell the difference.


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## Galapoheros (Jul 12, 2018)

Yeah that's imperator.  I have imperators and asked Petco if they were willing to buy from me some day.  They said they don't buy from individuals "that way", whatever that means.  I suppose a person has to fill out some paperwork for petco in order to sell to them.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Nicole (Jul 13, 2018)

They are CB imperator from a large colony built after the import ban went into effect. Just recently the colony is producing enough that they are widely available in quantity, hence the retail price drop. For a long time the stores only had spare males but now juveniles of both sexes are available. Basically, emperors are back, but this time they are captive bred.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## CWilson1351 (Jul 13, 2018)

I've been seeing them locally as well. Though here in "Tax-achussetts" they go for $80 each. Luckily I already have some so I don't have to spend that much.


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## AngelDeVille (Jul 13, 2018)

I need to stay away from petco...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tonydog (Jul 14, 2018)

Kade135 said:


> Here’s one of them. I may have mistaken it, might not be an emperor, but definitely Pandinus something...


I'm new to the Hobby so I could be wrong but don't emperor scorpion have red Stingers the one in the picture looks like it's white


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## Lithobius (Jul 14, 2018)

NYAN said:


> If you can get good pics and post them here, they will be IDed. I’ve seen emperors at petco also and they go for $50+. $25 is closer to Asian forest scorpion price than emperor, however someone on here got emperors once being sold as Asian forest scorpions are petco.


I wonder if the "Asian Forest Scorpions" at PetSmart are emperors with this sudden boom of ACTUAL emperors. It might be worth checking next time I'm there.


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## CWilson1351 (Jul 16, 2018)

Tonydog said:


> I'm new to the Hobby so I could be wrong but don't emperor scorpion have red Stingers the one in the picture looks like it's white


When younger Pandinus imperator have a white stinger (telson) it turns red as they mature.


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## Tonydog (Jul 16, 2018)

O ok thanks for the info didn't know that . 


CWilson1351 said:


> When younger Pandinus imperator have a white stinger (telson) it turns red as they mature.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Nicole (Jul 17, 2018)

Lithobius said:


> I wonder if the "Asian Forest Scorpions" at PetSmart are emperors with this sudden boom of ACTUAL emperors. It might be worth checking next time I'm there.


I wouldn't count on it. Petsmart's vendors wouldn't substitute a scorpion with a wholesale cost 3-5 times that of Asian Forests. They would be selling at cost at best, but most likely at a loss if they did.


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## AngelDeVille (Jul 17, 2018)

one of my local claims to have dictators for $59.99........

There are two other locations I may try to call....


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## gottacontra (Jul 19, 2018)

Kade135 said:


> Last I heard Emperor Scorpions were near impossible to find, and if found, VERY expensive. I just bought 2 Small ones, about 2 inches long at my local Petco for $25 each. And they’re definitely Emperors too, not Asian Forest. Are emperors a common thing again? Or did I just get an extremely lucky find?


After reading this thread, I called my local Petco and sure enough they had a couple of them. I wanted a female, as I already have a male. It was hard to get a good look at the store, but looked like a female. I get home and looks more like a male. Thoughts?


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## AngelDeVille (Jul 21, 2018)

gottacontra said:


> After reading this thread, I called my local Petco and sure enough they had a couple of them. I wanted a female, as I already have a male. It was hard to get a good look at the store, but looked like a female. I get home and looks more like a male. Thoughts?


That looks female to me, but I do better looking at two side by side for comparison.


I’m heading to a local petco later today just to see...

But it’s not the location that claimed to have dictators...



AngelDeVille said:


> one of my local claims to have dictators for $59.99........
> 
> There are two other locations I may try to call....


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## gottacontra (Jul 21, 2018)

AngelDeVille said:


> That looks female to me, but I do better looking at two side by side for comparison.
> 
> 
> I’m heading to a local petco later today just to see...
> ...


Yeah, I called a couple of petcos first. One didn’t have any and the other had two. Price was $30.


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## AngelDeVille (Jul 21, 2018)

gottacontra said:


> Yeah, I called a couple of petcos first. One didn’t have any and the other had two. Price was $30.


The shop I just visited had 2.   Definitely Pandinus. imperator.....

I was able to sex the larger of the 2 as male, the second smaller was feisty and I was unable to sex.

They had reptiles 50% off today, and luckily scorpions are reptiles....  got both for $32 and change out the door.


Larger male...





Smaller unsexed...

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## NYAN (Jul 23, 2018)

I went to petco today and have true apparently captive bread emperors for $26. They are younger however.

Reactions: Like 1


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## AngelDeVille (Jul 24, 2018)

When I bought mine Saturday they were in the typical Petco swampy enclosure with 10-15 crickets roaming freely, so I assumed they wouldn't be hungry.

They each took down an adult dubia instantly last night. I really should have made a video...


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## kingofall (Mar 7, 2019)

They are selling Pandius Dictator at my petco for 69.99


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## KevinsWither (Mar 7, 2019)

I'm curious who has the original Pandinus imperator from Ghana or Togo.


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## Alex99 (Mar 7, 2019)

I called 3 of my closest petcos and none of them had any ): I'm wondering if it's just the west coast that has them because the east is dry lol.


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## NYAN (Mar 8, 2019)

Alex99 said:


> I called 3 of my closest petcos and none of them had any ): I'm wondering if it's just the west coast that has them because the east is dry lol.


I would order from a private seller. Don’t give those awful corporations money for animals please


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## kingofall (Mar 8, 2019)

Alex99 said:


> I'm wondering if it's just the west coast that has them because the east is dry


Im on east coast and they have them here.


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## Nasty Nate (Mar 9, 2019)

My local petco only carries the rose hair tarantulas.   I have to order the emperor scorpions.  Was kinda bummed to hear that.


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## Cowturtle (Mar 11, 2019)

Just found one at a petco in Kentucky for $30 that's the cheapest I've seen them anywhere locally reptile shows have them for around $50. I've seen them on wholesalers lists for $35-45.


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## Galapoheros (Mar 12, 2019)

kingofall said:


> They are selling Pandius Dictator at my petco for 69.99


The odds are that they are not dictators.  P. dictator is extremely rare in the hobby but many dealers and stores sold imperator as dictator.  So unfortunately, many out there think they have dictator but they don't.  Dictator is much harder to find than imperator.  Emails, Youtube, Pinterest, ...I know of only 2 others that have true dictator.  I know others do but they keep a low internet profile.  Dictator is very rare, research, don't be fooled.  The trend is that just because somebody works at a pet store, it's assumed they know but it's best not to assume that.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## kingofall (Mar 12, 2019)

Galapoheros said:


> The odds are that they are not dictators.  P. dictator is extremely rare in the hobby but many dealers and stores sold imperator as dictator.  So unfortunately, many out there think they have dictator but they don't.  Dictator is much harder to find than imperator.  Emails, Youtube, Pinterest, ...I know of only 2 others that have true dictator.  I know others do but they keep a low internet profile.  Dictator is very rare, research, don't be fooled.  The trend is that just because somebody works at a pet store, it's assumed they know but it's best not to assume that.


How can you tell whether or not it's a dictator? The one I saw was a dark greenish blue color.


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## Dry Desert (Mar 15, 2019)

kingofall said:


> How can you tell whether or not it's a dictator? The one I saw was a dark greenish blue color.


As far as I know P.dictator is smaller than P. Imperator 140mm as opposed to 200mm. P.dictator is blacker than  very dark brown/blackish of imperator. Pectine tooth count is less on P. dictator.  If it's being advertised as P. dictator then it more than likely is not. P.dictator comes from a very small area of the Cameroon and hence is very rare.


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## Snakewoman (Mar 18, 2019)

I'm late to the thread but yes Emperors were very hard to find for a while because they could no longer be imported.  That's what I heard anyway.  I remember they went for about 10 bucks at the local reptile show before they became scarce and now that they're back they go for about 50 bucks.


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## MantidMaster (Apr 8, 2019)

Just bought a big female "Dictator" Scorpion from PetCo, hopefully it is what is advertised, which is highly unlikely. However, reasonably priced Pandinus _is_ reasonably priced Pandinus 

(by reasonably priced I mean 30 dollars)


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## mantisfan101 (Apr 10, 2019)

Dry Desert said:


> As far as I know P.dictator is smaller than P. Imperator 140mm as opposed to 200mm. P.dictator is blacker than  very dark brown/blackish of imperator. Pectine tooth count is less on P. dictator.  If it's being advertised as P. dictator then it more than likely is not. P.dictator comes from a very small area of the Cameroon and hence is very rare.


I think that they’re also regulated by CITES so exports would probably be very rare and illegal. I recently read an article about someone who got busted trying to export some to France.


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## Steve28885 (May 7, 2019)

Is your petco still selling Rose Hairs? Damn I can’t find one anywhere.


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## velvetundergrowth (May 8, 2019)

My local "regular" pet store had them until recently, I believe they carry H. laoticus now.


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## Dry Desert (May 8, 2019)

mantisfan101 said:


> I think that they’re also regulated by CITES so exports would probably be very rare and illegal. I recently read an article about someone who got busted trying to export some to France.


@mantisfan101  You are quite right.  Pandinus imperator, P.dicator and P.gambiensis are all on CITES appendix 2 and the chances of seeing any of the last two, let alone being able to purchase any are very remote. P imperator have now become more readily available due to captive farming in their home country and the quota for export now a little better. There is no quota data available for dictator or gambiensis. If the pet stores/ expos think something is rare that's what it will be sold as. Hence most of the Asian forest scorpions being sold  are H.petersii or H.laoticus Not H.spinifer. A while go when imperator imports were banned P.cavimanus were being sold as imperators. There was even a period of time when the import ban was " side stepped " and imperators were being sold as P. Africanus !!!


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