Beginning my journey with Pandinus imperator

[Nightshades555]

It really depends how big your feeders are, but you can kind of guesstimate the amount of food based on the scorpion's size. For a little one like this I'd be feeding it a maximum of one adult cricket equivalent per week, but obviously if your crickets are smaller you might space that out into two or three feedings. By the way, just because your baby is pulling the food inside, doesn't mean it's eating it all - they have been known to hoard a bit as babies because they're happy to eat scavenged food!

That's a good point, I bet you're right, cuz this is a little scorpion, kinda hard to believe its eating that much. I'd say its just a tad bit older than this scorp pic i found on the net which is not mine...


Its the only pic on the net I could find that looks closest to my scorpion's age and size, but I'd say mine is a tad bit older if you can see this blurry pic i got of my scorp...

 

[ErikElvis]

I’ve been doing 2-3 regular mealworms with the heads crushed 1-2 times a week. The scorps were out wandering the cage yesterday so maybe it’s time for a few more.

 

[Nightshades555]

Generally speaking you're not going to significantly speed up time between moults by overstuffing it - you're just going to increase the amount of time it goes without eating. Temperature will have a bigger impact on the time between moults. Keep it on the higher end of its temperature range and it will develop more quickly (with the trade-off that it may have a slightly shorter lifespan). Feed it constantly without also increasing the temperature, and you're just guaranteeing that later you'll be posting a thread worrying about why your scorpion hasn't eaten in three months

I think I can see what you mean now cuz that little thing hasnt come up and been a ghost for like well over a week and a half now...

 

[Mordax]

I'm hoping to come across some emperor scorpions myself, but I can't find any breeders. Hoping I'll come across some on this board.

 

[Nightshades555]

**UPDATES**

Hello everyone. I just wanted to drop by and give some updates. Everything is going well with Kali, my young Emperor Scorpion, it comes out of its burrow and chills out under its long now and then, but damn they spend a lot of time in their underground bunkers. I was contemplating what that must be like, staring at dirt for days! Weeks! Sometimes months! They must just sit there and meditate or something. They have a lot of patience!

By the way, I have two scorpions now! I bought an Asian Forest Scorpion from PetSmart because I felt bad for it, it was in this tiny enclosure with nothing to hide under and somewhat exposed to the bright lights in the store. I took it home, and named it Saturnine. It ate one cricket about a month ago, and then it burrowed into the dirt and I haven't seen it since. Its been a whole month and its been down there doing its thing. I keep the environments misty and damp, not too damp, but damp enough. I believe this one is an H. spinifer but i'm not sure exactly. And I guess its normal for them to sometimes hide out and not eat for extended periods of time like a month or more?

Thats about it for now, loving having these amazing creatures they are fun to care for, even though I wish they'd come out more so I can see their magnificence. In time I suppose, they are teaching me how to be patient!

Here are some pictures of my Asian Forest Scorpion, Saturnine, and I also made a video which I can include the link to,







Video Link: My Asian Forest Scorpion - Saturnine

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Substrate there does look rather dry for Heterometrus - it should be moist throughout (but not soaked) and deep enough to allow burrowing - at least a few inches. Beautiful specimen! It’ll come out when it’s hungry

 

[Nightshades555]

It has about 6 inches of dirt to burrow into. and the pictures were from right when I put him in there, I just gave it a good spraying down to make it much more moist and I will keep spraying and misting it so its rainforesty. Soon maybe I will get them glass enclosures, but i dont know, these plastic bins are not too bad. Thanks for the insight I will pay more attention to that dirt and keeping it the right moisture. Great times these creatures are! So glad I got over my fear and got them!

 

[Nightshades555]

UPDATES on KALI, my Emperor Scorpion. (I hope its an emperor scorpion! Its so young to tell but <edit> it was just a baby, still kinda is)

My emperor scorpion, Kali, has been living a good life in skull mountain where it dug a burrow and hangs out. Kali has been eating well and regularly maybe once every week and a half or so. Here some cool pics:






However, today, I was shining my blacklight into her burrow and noticed she wasn't moving and I was worried and put her home up on my table and carefully started prodding in and accidentally f**cked up her little tunnel and burrow, but thankfully I realized she wasn't dead it was Kali's first molt under my care, and i kinda pissed Kali off and ruined the burrow and hideout. I apologized profusely and put everything back and let things be so Kali can chill out. Sorry not sure why i say "her" but i just feel like its a female, maybe im wrong

Here is the molt:



So, I'm gonna leave it be let things cool off. But things are going great with my Emperor otherwise.

Here is a compilation video of Kali and it was about the symbolism of scorpions too.

My Emperor Scorpion (Kali) & Her Symbolic Importance

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

UPDATES on KALI, my Emperor Scorpion. (I hope its an emperor scorpion! Its so young to tell but <edit> it was just a baby, still kinda is)

Ah, you have learnt the first rule of scorpion ownership: if it's in its burrow, leave it alone!

 

[Nightshades555]

Ah, you have learnt the first rule of scorpion ownership: if it's in its burrow, leave it alone!

Right I would have! but i thought my scorpion was dead, cuz it wasn't moving, but when i tried to check i realized it was the molt, but i accidentally messed up her burrow and so thus the many apologies to it and immediately put it back and left well alone!

Whoops! Now I know!

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Right I would have! but i thought my scorpion was dead, cuz it wasn't moving, but when i tried to check i realized it was the molt, but i accidentally messed up her burrow and so thus the many apologies to it and immediately put it back and left well alone!

Whoops! Now I know!

Well at least it was finished moulting, so no harm done.

 

[Sterls]

$50? That's a lot cheaper than here in the UK, I have 2 at 3i and they cost more than double that haha, never been sting by either tho, do you not feel it at all? Been stung by my 6i spinifer and I felt that <edit>...

A lot of people have been saying they're hard to find lately, but I was seeing them pretty consistently when I was actively looking at dealer lists a few months ago - at least here in the states. I got mine for $45 in December from my LPS. 1.5" body length.

 

[Spoodfood]

Probably best going for a male H. Spinifer if it's a first scorpion tho, my males are very docile but my females are seriously aggressive, to the point they are unhandleable

I was wondering if anyone else had that experience with them. My girl is immediately angry with me as soon as I open her enclosure or do anything. She has no interest in dealings with me

I came across a true one at a pet store recently (I know, shocker). But I’d check around at T and invert vendors. <edit> A Pandinus imperator was my starting point in the hobby. He’s still around too. Very calm, great starter. I love mine.

 

[Nightshades555]

My emperor is doing very well and the texture on its claws is starting to come in and its getting much darker in color.

I also bought another Asian Forest Scorpion that was MASSIVE and I figured she was probably gravid and i seem to be right. she is giving birth today!!! I thought she was eating something but there was nothing put in the enclosure the last 2 days and then realized those must be her babies, and she is in a weird stance like hunched over them. I put the heat lamp closer to her little rock and her enclosure is in the corner of the room under the heat lamp and im just going to let her be undisturbed for next few days.

I had a feeling she was gravid so I was expecting this, and now I have a bunch of ASF babies I will be having to take care of, I might at some later time down the road find a mate for my emperor because I wouldnt mind breeding some of those. But for now I have mama ASF and she is giving birth as we speak. Soulreaper is her name.

Meet Soulreaper... the Black Dragon of Retribution (Asian Forest Scorpion - Heterometrus spinifer)

p.s. the small container she is in in that video is just what i brought her home in, not her real home.

 

[soulnexus]

Your scorpion looks pretty cool. I like the black metal in the background of your video.

I recently got an asian forest scorpion and it just had babies as well. I made the mistake of feeding her while she had babies on her back. Thankfully she just ate the cricket and went back to chilling in her hide.

Anyways I enjoyed reading your thread. I hope you keep updating it.

 

[Collin Clary]

Very nice, however your Heterometrus are H. silenus, not H. spinifer. Real H. spinifer are not particularly common in the pet trade.

 

[Nightshades555]

H. silenus! I was trying to get to the bottom of that and so thanks for the correction!

She had babies anyway, and i got one bad picture because i didnt wanna disturb her anymore than that but she is in her little rock and all the babies on her back, and I have a heating pad under her tank where the rock is, and a big infrared heat light right next to her rock and I spray warm water in the tank every few hours to make sure she is nice and warm and her home is humid like the jungle.

 

[Nightshades555]

She had a LOT of babies, Im not sure what Im gonna do with them all...

 

[Nightshades555]

I have a question about caring for scorplings, though this is for my Asian Forest Scorpion, which I probably should have made a new thread for, maybe I will, but for now, its here. Mommy did a great job so far, and is still doing a great job as far as I can tell. It seems they have grown so unusually fast. According to some of what Ive read so far, it says that the scorplings will stay with mommy from a few weeks to a month, but then some say once they are off her back they should be separated. Well, they are all off her back and very active playing with mommy and their scorpling siblings, and ive kept mommy well fed with crickets each day, which she has been also feeding to them. But i didnt feed her until they were off her back and she started eating lots of crickets at that time and feeding them all

She has this hollowed out rock thing for a home within her tank, and thats generally where she always stays but hangs out just outside the opening sometimes, but most of the time she stays in there. She still has all her scorplings in there even though they have all already moulted once, and she still seems quite interested in tending to them and keeping them in there, so my feeling was that I shouldnt seperate them from her just yet. But I dont understand how this has all happened so quickly because she only gave birth to them on June 11, so its been barely two weeks. if she wanted them out would she kind of kick them out and make them go off on their own if she didnt want to bother with them anymore? Though it seems kinda crowded in there, so im a little unsure what to do

If I see any stray ones venturing off is that a good time to grab it and seperate them from the rest??

Any advice is appreciated

 

[Collin Clary]

I have a question about caring for scorplings, though this is for my Asian Forest Scorpion, which I probably should have made a new thread for, maybe I will, but for now, its here. Mommy did a great job so far, and is still doing a great job as far as I can tell. It seems they have grown so unusually fast. According to some of what Ive read so far, it says that the scorplings will stay with mommy from a few weeks to a month, but then some say once they are off her back they should be separated. Well, they are all off her back and very active playing with mommy and their scorpling siblings, and ive kept mommy well fed with crickets each day, which she has been also feeding to them.

She has this hollowed out rock thing for a home within her tank, and thats generally where she always stays but hangs out just outside the opening sometimes, but most of the time she stays in there. She still has all her scorplings in there even though they have all already moulted once, and she still seems quite interested in tending to them and keeping them in there, so my feeling was that I shouldnt seperate them from her just yet. But I dont understand how this has all happened so quickly because she only gave birth to them on June 11, so its been barely two weeks. if she wanted them out would she kind of kick them out and make them go off on their own if she didnt want to bother with them anymore? Though it seems kinda crowded in there, so im a little unsure what to do

If I see any stray ones venturing off is that a good time to grab it and seperate them from the rest??

Any advice is appreciated

There's no need to separate with members of Heterometrinae unless there are signs of aggression or cannibalism. Several species are well documented in nature to have multiple generations living in the same burrow.