# Pseudouroctonus reddelli - Texas Cave Scorpion - From birth to adult!



## Redellimom (Oct 1, 2014)

Hi everyone, my name is Jen and I am new to Arachnoboards. To give you some background on myself, I am a Microbiology major (junior) at Texas-State University in San Marcos, Texas. I have an AS degree in Biology , a level 1 certificate in Biotechnology, and will be graduating with an AAS degree in Biotechnology this spring. I have always been interested in animals since I can remember, and have drawn, taken photos, kept, worked with and studied hundreds of species. Though I have never kept scorpions for long before, since moving to the hill country and seeing them daily, and since I am working on fluorescent compounds in a lab, I have a deep interest in studying them, their behavior, habitat, food, fluorescence, and genetics. My children also have a deep love and respect for nature, and an abundance of curiosity I want to foster into a love of science like my own (though it seems they already possess that!). I wanted to start a blog, but that is still in the works, so I thought I would share my photos and experiences working with scorpions here on AB. 

Anyway, I am going to try to attempt to photo-document the growth of P. redelli, the central Texas cave scorpion, from birth to adult (behavior and beyond!). I live in Wimberley, TX, and had seen one of these beauties before, under a rock about 20 feet from our home. I took pictures of her, but let her go. For days I researched the species and could not find much about them online except for a couple research papers and one Texas Parks and Wildlife article. There are some other accounts, and some keepers here on AB that have them. But I wasn't happy with the limited information and pictures I could find, though they were all very informative. I looked for her for a few weeks with no luck! We live right on the Balcones Escarpment where this species is endemic, so I thought it's be easier to find one! But after literally finding fifty or more striped bark scorpions, including a female covered in scorplings, I was ready to give up!

Here is the gorgeous female found under a rock (she looks to be ready to pop with babies!):


And the C. vittatus with babies I found:



Then, I found one, when not looking for one at all, of course! On September 7th we found a beautiful P. redelli female climbing up the outside of our house around 2am. I caught her and took some pictures, and felt at the time that she was awful chubby. I entertained the idea that perhaps she was heavy with babies, and that we keep her to see if I was right, and take more pictures of the species and learn more about their behavior and care requirements in captivity. She was extremely calm and docile compared to the bark scorpions, and would let me hold her and take photos and videos of her in normal and UV light. My brother named her Scorpinox. She seemed to be eating just fine and growing bigger as well (well, rounder that is!), happy in her large plastic shoebox that I made into her home (using soil, sand, rocks and oak leaves from around our property). 

The night we found and caught Scorpinox:







Then on September 28th, when checking on her, I found she had about 15 babies clinging to he back! I was right! And so excited! I took pictures and after she tried to sting me -for the first time in 3 weeks, I thought I better leave her alone. The next day I checked on her again and the number of scorplings had easily doubled! She also appeared much calmer. I realized then she had been giving birth the day before when I was taking pictures. No wonder she tried to sting me!

Now that the scorplings were roughly 24 hours old, and she was calm as usual (she even crawled right onto my hand as she wandered around her home) I managed to pick up one of the babies with the blunt side of a pair of tweezers, and took some photos. The little guy (or gal) was only 3.5-4mm from chelicerae through the mesosoma; the metasoma maybe 2.5mm in length. What tiny babies! Yet it was hard to imagine they were all some how packed inside her little body! I wish I had a way to weigh them, but I am not sure they would register on any scale I have at home. Perhaps I can use the analytical balance at the lab! I will ask tonight if that is a possibility. Anyway, I took some more photos of one of the scorplings today, at 3 days old, and tried to get a picture of the lot of them on the ruler, but it's hard when Scorpinox keeps climbing up my arm! 

More photos to come! Thanks for reading and looking at my pictures!

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## Redellimom (Oct 1, 2014)

I am going to try to raise as many as I can in the main habitat, but may be separating them in a few weeks if they start to cannibalize each other. I have plenty of hiding spots-lots of oak leaves especially, for the little ones. And lots of food- mostly pinhead and small crickets. I will likely at least remove her and try to raise the young together. But who knows what will happen, we'll just have to see how it goes. Any advice is appreciated as well!
Here are some more pictures of Scorpinox and her little ones.

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## Redellimom (Oct 1, 2014)

And some more pictures 


Sometimes she climbs right up onto my hand, as she did here! No fear in this little scorpion!


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## Redellimom (Oct 1, 2014)

Pictures from today (babies are 3 days old).
Tried to measure Scorpinox and her scorplings on a rock in her habitat, but she decided to climb up the ruler, and eventually right up onto my hand ::
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She walks around raising her pedipalps every couple of seconds. Since she doesn't see well, she feels around with them. Whenever she touches something, she stops, then either moves around or climbs onto it. Here she is raising them up:
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And here she is after climbing up my finger from the ruler:
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## Galapoheros (Oct 1, 2014)

It looks like the vittatus is on it's last leg haha, giving it up for her babies before she kicks the bucket.  I went to school there in San Marcos too, a long time ago, the school name has even changed since then.  It was kind of a crazy place back then.  The hill country is a great place to look for interesting things isn't it.  Have you seen any giant centipedes around there yet?  How about alligator lizards?  I've found that Reddelli is spotty in areas, I have had the best luck around borderline riparian, honeycombed areas.  The little reddelli have the most attitude from a little scorpion that I've seen.  Thanks for posting the pics.


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## Redellimom (Oct 1, 2014)

Here's another baby, 3 days old. Getting a tad more brown.
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And here's a male _P. redelli_ I found tonight. We've decided to keep him and call him Octavius. And below him, a juvenile _C. vittatus_ we have decided to keep as well, also found tonight. My 6 year old named it Dracula. Yeah, we name them  This species we do not even try to pick up, they are fast and aggressive compared to the cave scorpions. Still, a pretty scorpion for sure. 
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## Redellimom (Oct 1, 2014)

I spent half this summer documenting (well, taking pictures, collecting specimens- alive and dead, keeping a list) species we find on our property out here in Wimberley. There is easily 60+ species on it already. I was thinking of starting a blog but just haven't gotten around to it. Texas State is still kind of crazy, for sure, and they changed the name the first year I went too. We are loving it out here, much better than Austin. My family moved there back in 1984, and it's just so ridiculously expensive and crowded now, we had to leave. But I am so glad we did. It's incredibly quiet out here (except for the crickets and frogs at night!). We also live about 1500 feet from the Blanco river, so get a lot of frogs and toads and snakes, and yes, a riparian habitat. I wonder if P. redelli needs slightly higher humidity than C. vittatus? 

We haven't seen any alligator lizards yet, but have a spiny lizard in a tank my son named California.  We've also seen lots of birds too, including painted buntings and summer tanagers. This area is definitely what I would consider honeycombed! We live on about 3 acres of hole limestone rocks. There are also lots of cave crickets, so I am wondering if there's a karst or cave somewhere around here. There are some cave like areas around the neighborhood river park we go to. 

Interesting you say they have lots of attitude, they seem pretty laid back compared to C. vittatus! The male I found today was jumpy at first, but calmed down pretty quickly, and even crawled onto my hand. I have heard it both ways too, some say they're fiesty, others say laid back. Go figure. I have no experience with any other species than these two native ones, so I guess I don't really know what would be more/less attitude among scorpions. I hope to get my lab interested in them too. I've read that there have been studies involving scorpion venom proteins and how they have antimicrobial properties- some even against MRSA. Interesting stuff!


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## Redellimom (Oct 1, 2014)

Oh and yes, I have seen a BIG red-headed centipede about a month and a half ago on our property. Huge thing! Bigger than any of the lizards I've seen. I got some nice pictures and a video of it too 
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## Redellimom (Oct 2, 2014)

More of Octavius, the male P. redelli
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## Smokehound714 (Oct 2, 2014)

I so wish we got S. heros here...  the colorado river blocks them from california..


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## Galapoheros (Oct 2, 2014)

A lot of people see rivers as a blockade for some inverts but I'm not convinced of this, it would take a lot to change my mind.  It seems that within 1000s of years, a river would go through a dry spells leaving dry bridges.  Or if not that, floods should cause flooding of lower ereas where a heros, tarantula, etc. has to climb on something like a log that gets carried to the other side.  I don't know but it seems that kind of thing would be rather common.  I've seen that kind of thing around here, a log in a lake after a flood with spiders and a heros pede on it.


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## Redellimom (Oct 2, 2014)

I found a 1.5" S. heros in our chicken coop the other day, but it scurried off under the leaf litter before I could grab it! The blanco river here is studded with springs, like the swimming hole at the park we go to here in the neighborhood. But about a quarter mile upstream, the river goes underground. It does this above and below ground thing all along its course, so I wonder if the Colorado does the same. Seems like damns would pose a problem (or bridge?). 
That centipede above was 9" or so, I think. It was far too fast for me to measure it! I wanted to catch it, but again, way too fast! And I was not prepared for it!

Anyway, look what I found this morning, in the cup, in the bathroom:
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The cup is used for measuring water for the iron when we iron clothes. That's why it was in the bathroom. It has a grippy coated handle, and I think that's how she climbed up and got into it. Nice when they catch themselves and I don't have to look for them at all!
It must be P. redelli season out here! This is another gravid female too. So she's now in a plastic shoebox. It looks like we went from one scorpion to over 34 (including scorplings) in a week! Crazy! We are stocking up on little plastic containers just in case too. We've named the new female Marcelene. :
More pictures of her:
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## NewAgePrimal (Oct 7, 2014)

Those are some neat little scorps. I wish my c. vittatus was that docile. Although I do like her attitude. Unfurtunately, c. vittatus is the only scorp known to be endemic to Arkansas. That area in Texas sounds like it'd be fun to visit. Really enjoying this thead!


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## Redellimom (Oct 8, 2014)

Wow, I didn't know Arkansas only had one species of scorpion! There are lots of really big and interesting species here. We find a lot of Texas (Missouri) Brown Tarantulas too, and black widows, and brown recluses, mantises, snakes, lizards and more! I hope to one day travel to west Texas for a bug documenting/possible collecting trip, as I hear there are quite a few species of scorpion there. 

Marcelene seems to be getting plumper, I do hope she has her brood soon! She is a bit more skittish/fiesty than Scorpinox, as is Octavius. I hope that when the babies are gone (probably releasing them by the river, may sell some of them if any one is interested) I can put the three adults in the same enclosure. That would free up a little bit of space on my kitchen counter! That's if I can stop collecting/buying more! Here's a new addition to the collection:
 
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Sold as Heterometrus spinifer, but I believe it is Pandinus cavimanus, leave it up to the pet store to get it wrong! I think it is a female, and we've named her Elvira because she's a fiesty mistress of the night .
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## Redellimom (Oct 9, 2014)

UPDATE! Scorpinox's babies have begun to molt! I now have several 2i little ones! Several more seem to have died as well . I am thinking the container got too dry the past couple days. It is really big compared to her, so I moved her and the little ones into a large deli cup so I can monitor them more closely (and not lose the babies in the big container!). She is being a great mama, protecting her brood, yet still very laid back. These are still my favorite scorpion species! Today I am collecting termites for the babies when they start to leave her. We don't use pesticides on our 3 acre property so I'm not worried about wild feeders being poisoned- though we do buy farm-raised crickets, just to be safe. 

Here are some photos of one of the 2i babies. They are now 11 days old!
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## Redellimom (Oct 9, 2014)

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In the last one you can see one of the babies in the left bottom corner. It was the one I took pictures of. I put it back on mom but it got off of her. Another couple seem to be checking out the soil as well.


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## darkness975 (Oct 12, 2014)

I am really enjoying this thread.  I agree that the first C. vittatus you found looks like it's on its last leg.


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## Redellimom (Oct 13, 2014)

I've got some updated photos (and with a new camera)! They young are now 15 days old, and have nice hard exoskeletons that fluoresce! Most of the babies (all but 5) are still clinging to her back. I have made a small scorpartment for the babies that have left her. I think we've lost about 7 during the molting process, but the rest are doing great. They have a nice tan color to them, and it appears that at least one of the babies that has left her has been munching on a cricket drumstick.  I caught some termites today to feed them when the time is right. Also, Marcelene is looking very, very fat, so she's probably going to pop soon. She hasn't been eating much in the past week so either she's getting ready to birth her brood or molt, but I think it's the former, as she is slightly bigger than Scorpinox. Also took a nice picture of Octavius in his water "dish." 
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## Redellimom (Oct 13, 2014)

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## Redellimom (Oct 13, 2014)

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Octavius:
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Vlad the Red Claw:
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And Marcelene looking like she's going to explode:
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## Redellimom (Oct 13, 2014)

scorpion975 said:


> I am really enjoying this thread.  I agree that the first C. vittatus you found looks like it's on its last leg.


Thank you! And I wish I had kept the poor old girl, but she should spend her last days (weeks, months?? years????) enjoying her freedom.


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## Redellimom (Oct 13, 2014)

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Another one of Octavius:
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And a couple of Dracula for good measure 
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## Redellimom (Oct 25, 2014)

So it's been a few days, lol. But Marcelene popped out about 45 babies or so on the 15th. I have pictures on my other computer but have been having issues with it so haven't been able to post them yet. They molted today, so 10 days old now and bigger. Marcelene looks like she is wearing a baby suit.  Scorpinox's babies left her about the same time Marcie popped, and in total there were 28 of them. I traded half of them to the lps for an Avicularia versicolor sling . I still have 14 more and they are getting nice and fat. They are also now in deli cups as the scorpartment was drying out too fast. Now only a psuedoscorpion lives in the scorpartment by itself. Last Wednesday I found about 4 more P. redelli while out on the property and decided to keep one of them, one that is lighter, more red and less chocolately. Named her Wednesday. I have some photos of her next to Scorpinox to show the color variation. I also moved Scorpinox, Wednesday and Octavius into a 5 gallon critter keeper decked out with rocks, pieces of oak bark, lichen-covered sticks. leaves and a fake cactus. So far no trouble, and they are all very active at night, coming out as soon as the lights go off. When I get my camera batteries charged I will see if I can download some more pictures. This week I am getting two S. donensis slings and an unidentified AZ scorp from kent the bug guy- excited! It is apparently very true, scorpions are like potato chips, can't have just one, or just two, or just 5....lol. Pictures soon!

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OK it seems I am having trouble attaching images now.  Will try to figure it out soon


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## Redellimom (Oct 25, 2014)

Sorry folks, I had to remove some photos so I could attach some new ones. I am going to upload some of the better ones to my gallery so they can be viewed there. Anyway, here are some of MArcie the day she had her babies:

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## Redellimom (Nov 16, 2014)

*Update!*

So it's been a while but i thought I would go ahead and do an update on how the little ones are doing. I did sell half of Scorpinox's brood to the local reptile shop and when Marcies's babies reached 2i and left her (at about 2.5 weeks old) I set them up (with the remaining of Scorpinox's brood) in two containers for communal rearing. I have not seen any aggression towards each other, no cannibalism and only maybe 2-3 losses due to me accidentally squishing them under the edge of a bark hide (oops...). They even huddle together in a pile sometimes like they used to on mom's back. They are eating ferociously on 1 day to 2 week old crickets (occasionally I'll throw in a couple older, pre-killed ones) and termites. They are still all 2i (even the lat of the brood born on 9/28) and quite tiny. But lovely! 
On a recent field-collecting trip of mine, i found 3 4i or possibly 5i juveniles, one 3i juvenile (left it there) and three more adults. I parted with the adults and gave them to a friend so he could start trying to breed them. Right now, I have all 4 of the adults in a 5 gallon critter keeper with tons of bark and rocks and hiding places, and have not have any trouble with them set up this ay. They get crix and roaches often to prevent cannibalism as well.I may be attempting a cool-off period for them starting the next month. But we''ll see. 
Here's some pictures of some of the 2i babies:


In this one, I promise I am not squishing the one under my thumb, it just crawled there to get away from the light, 




And here's Marcelene in her "baby suit" when her brood of ~50 babies just molted to 2i. That's a ton of babes!

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