Catching scorpions in florida?

[A cave cricket]

Hello will somebody teach me the ways on how to catch a scorpion and where to catch a scorpion? And to care for a scorpion. And to identify the scorpion .

 

[Spoodfood]

Do your research, then buy a captive bred one.

 

[A cave cricket]

Not what I meant but ok.

 

[Spoodfood]

Not what I meant but ok.

If you want a scorpion, that’s the ethical and right way to go about it. Nobody is going to encourage you to go collect wild animals here that are readily captive bred.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

The most common scorpions in florida (Centruroides hentzi, slender yellowish scorpion with stripes) are not endangered, abundant in the right habitat and are a very small species with fast growth and reproduction rates (less than 1 year life cycle). Collecting a few specimens to keep is not even close to being a threat to their populations, they're not like emperor scorpions or tarantulas where collecting them could realistically have an impact. If you want to keep em I say go for it, you'll probably cause more ecological damage by driving to the place where you find them than the actual act of collecting them.

The other common species in Florida, C. gracilis, is less widespread but also a common and fast-reproducing species, and it's believed to be nonnative in florida anyway.

I vastly prefer collecting my own arthropods to buying them when there are native species that are common and interesting to keep. If you buy an exotic species you don't get to see the full story on their habitat and natural history, and why buy something that you can easily find yourself? (you'll probably have trouble finding captive bred specimens of abundant native species anyway).

C. hentzi live in dry upland habitats dominated by pines, especially more remote central parts of the state. You can find them under fallen logs or find them crawling around on bark and among leaf litter on warm nights (even easier if you have a UV light to make them glow). C. gracilis can be found under rocks and among logs in southern coastal areas especially on the keys.

 

[Dry Desert]

The most common scorpions in florida (Centruroides hentzi, slender yellowish scorpion with stripes) are not endangered, abundant in the right habitat and are a very small species with fast growth and reproduction rates (less than 1 year life cycle). Collecting a few specimens to keep is not even close to being a threat to their populations, they're not like emperor scorpions or tarantulas where collecting them could realistically have an impact. If you want to keep em I say go for it, you'll probably cause more ecological damage by driving to the place where you find them than the actual act of collecting them.

The other common species in Florida, C. gracilis, is less widespread but also a common and fast-reproducing species, and it's believed to be nonnative in florida anyway.

I vastly prefer collecting my own arthropods to buying them when there are native species that are common and interesting to keep. If you buy an exotic species you don't get to see the full story on their habitat and natural history, and why buy something that you can easily find yourself? (you'll probably have trouble finding captive bred specimens of abundant native species anyway).

C. hentzi live in dry upland habitats dominated by pines, especially more remote central parts of the state. You can find them under fallen logs or find them crawling around on bark and among leaf litter on warm nights (even easier if you have a UV light to make them glow). C. gracilis can be found under rocks and among logs in southern coastal areas especially on the keys.

Disagree.

You mentioned " not like Emperor scorpions ".

And how did the ban on wild collecting come about ??
Surely not from people over collecting from the wild, of inverts that happen to be in " vouge" at the time.

When you want to ethically obtain wild caught to sustain the captive bred species blood line, there won't be any in years to come because many people have taken your advice and " Go Plunder ".

 

[Arthroverts]

Disagree.

You mentioned " not like Emperor scorpions ".

And how did the ban on wild collecting come about ??
Surely not from people over collecting from the wild, of inverts that happen to be in " vouge" at the time.

When you want to ethically obtain wild caught to sustain the captive bred species blood line, there won't be any in years to come because many people have taken your advice and " Go Plunder ".

Bit of a jump to a conclusion, no? Specifically with regards to Pandinus, @Salmonsaladsandwich made an excellent point in showing that the life cycle of the species in question is very different and should be considered when approaching collecting.

Nowhere did I see anyone encouraging a "plundering" attitude, and it would be far better for someone to learn how to collect appropriately then to incentivize further collection of these species by larger companies that do not necessarily have an ethical modus operandi by buying online. The vast majority of scorpions sold in North America, and probably Europe too, are wild caught, and in this case C. hentzi is not being bred consistently in captivity, so there is no alternative than to source wild caught specimens, which can and is done sustainably. Let us not forget that every species did not come into captivity captive-bred...

Hello will somebody teach me the ways on how to catch a scorpion and where to catch a scorpion? And to care for a scorpion. And to identify the scorpion .

Love that you want to learn @A cave cricket, but it is your prerogative to seek out some of this information on your own, as the majority of experienced users on Arachnoboards are not going to take the time to answer questions like this that can be easily answered with some brief searches online. That's nothing against you, just a caution. Here are some resources you can use to get those questions answered:
iNaturalist
BugGuide
The Scorpion Files
A lot of your questions have already been answered in previous threads here on Arachnoboards, and you can search them up here. I also maintain a large list of helpful links on one of my site's pages, which you can find here.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Richard McJimsey]

If you want a scorpion, that’s the ethical and right way to go about it. Nobody is going to encourage you to go collect wild animals here that are readily captive bred.

There's absolutely nothing unethical about collecting a species like Centruroides hentzi (a species seldom available in the hobby captive bred, not because they are endangered or even anywhere near threatened, but because they are generic brown scorpions) to keep.

Let the kid collect some bugs to get into the hobby, we all started somewhere.

 

[Dry Desert]

Bit of a jump to a conclusion, no? Specifically with regards to Pandinus, @Salmonsaladsandwich made an excellent point in showing that the life cycle of the species in question is very different and should be considered when approaching collecting.

Nowhere did I see anyone encouraging a "plundering" attitude, and it would be far better for someone to learn how to collect appropriately then to incentivize further collection of these species by larger companies that do not necessarily have an ethical modus operandi by buying online. The vast majority of scorpions sold in North America, and probably Europe too, are wild caught, and in this case C. hentzi is not being bred consistently in captivity, so there is no alternative than to source wild caught specimens, which can and is done sustainably. Let C.bentzi us not forget that every species did not come into captivity captive-bred...



Love that you want to learn @A cave cricket, but it is your prerogative to seek out some of this information on your own, as the majority of experienced users on Arachnoboards are not going to take the time to answer questions like this that can be easily answered with some brief searches online. That's nothing against you, just a caution. Here are some resources you can use to get those questions answered:
iNaturalist
BugGuide
The Scorpion Files
A lot of your questions have already been answered in previous threads here on Arachnoboards, and you can search them up here. I also maintain a large list of helpful links on one of my site's pages, which you can find here.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Interesting turnaround of simple facts.

And why is C.hentzi not being bred in captivity, because it's a small brown scorpion with no high resale value for any offspring.
Two other interesting facts :-
Why have counties like Mexico and Costa Rica banned export of species.

Why do you think that here in the U K almost all native species, including, flora is legally protected, because we are a smallish island that have had decades of collecting from the wild. Now wild collecting has stopped.

Come back in 5/10 years time and ask why you can't understand why there's no imports anymore.

It's already started with your native only policy regarding certain species.

As a side note,

The IHS used to host one of the biggest reptile shows in Europe - not anymore - traders and non business sellers continued along their jolly old ways of displaying animals in crowded conditions, no water etc.
This was just the ammunition that Animal Rights Activist needed to put further pressure on the local council to shut it down.
The next one in June will be the last.

You see, everything is fine until it isn't - then everyone winges and moans about legislation and the nasty councils/ governments.

We in this hobby, or any part of the exotic hobby, don't do ourselves any favours when it comes to foresight and prevention.

 

[CRX]

Interesting turnaround of simple facts.

And why is C.hentzi not being bred in captivity, because it's a small brown scorpion with no high resale value for any offspring.
Two other interesting facts :-
Why have counties like Mexico and Costa Rica banned export of species.

Why do you think that here in the U K almost all native species, including, flora is legally protected, because we are a smallish island that have had decades of collecting from the wild. Now wild collecting has stopped.

Come back in 5/10 years time and ask why you can't understand why there's no imports anymore.

It's already started with your native only policy regarding certain species.

As a side note,

The IHS used to host one of the biggest reptile shows in Europe - not anymore - traders and non business sellers continued along their jolly old ways of displaying animals in crowded conditions, no water etc.
This was just the ammunition that Animal Rights Activist needed to put further pressure on the local council to shut it down.
The next one in June will be the last.

You see, everything is fine until it isn't - then everyone winges and moans about legislation and the nasty councils/ governments.

We in this hobby, or any part of the exotic hobby, don't do ourselves any favours when it comes to foresight and prevention.

I can't speak on the rest but I will speak on the cruelty of reptile shows. The last one I was at, where I got my baby ASF, I saw so many reptiles cramped into tiny conditions. The worst I saw was a tokay gecko literally forced into a plastic container not much bigger than itself. IT COULDNT EVEN TURN AROUND!! Stuff like this makes me hate the pet trade, and humans in general. Sometimes I think this world deserves to be destroyed and restarted.

Also everyone selling baby mourning geckos in premade habitats for $300-$400. Just SMH

 

[Dry Desert]

I can't speak on the rest but I will speak on the cruelty of reptile shows. The last one I was at, where I got my baby ASF, I saw so many reptiles cramped into tiny conditions. The worst I saw was a tokay gecko literally forced into a plastic container not much bigger than itself. IT COULDNT EVEN TURN AROUND!! Stuff like this makes me hate the pet trade, and humans in general. Sometimes I think this world deserves to be destroyed and restarted.

No, don't destroy the world, leave it for all wildlife.

Man doesn't really serve any purpose on the planet.

Just seems hell bent on destroying everything they come into contact with.

 

[CRX]

No, don't destroy the world, leave it for all wildlife.

Man doesn't really serve any purpose on the planet.

Just seems hell bent on destroying everything they come into contact with.

I meant destroy man, lol

 

[Dry Desert]

Also everyone selling baby mourning geckos in premade habitats for $300-$400. Just SMH

Exotic livestock shows will be stopped in years to come, probably sooner than people realise.

The exotic hobby has no foresight at all, only specialising in whinging and whining when things get out of control, then, hey, let's blame the local councils/ governments for placing all these nasty restrictions on us.

I give the pet trade, as we know it today,. 10/15 years top, then there will be no exotic animal free movement.

Anything that remains will be so closely regulated that hopefully the money oriented Royal Python and similar markets won't exist.

 

[CRX]

I feel like a PETA radical for saying this but I agree, the pet trade is wrong. It does some good, but the evil it causes vastly outweighs everything else.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Anything that remains will be so closely regulated that hopefully the money oriented Royal Python and similar markets won't exist.

I wouldn’t mind that. I’ve always thought that a little more regulations wouldn’t hurt. Thing is, if the hobby won’t police itself and progress, the regulations will be more strict than we want. And that’s fair. The way it’s going now, the hobby is providing too many reasons for bans and stuff like that.

I believe there is nothing inherently bad about keeping animals, as long as they are kept and respected as animals. Not products in a drawer.

 

[Arthroverts]

Interesting turnaround of simple facts.

And why is C.hentzi not being bred in captivity, because it's a small brown scorpion with no high resale value for any offspring.
Two other interesting facts :-
Why have counties like Mexico and Costa Rica banned export of species.

Why do you think that here in the U K almost all native species, including, flora is legally protected, because we are a smallish island that have had decades of collecting from the wild. Now wild collecting has stopped.

Come back in 5/10 years time and ask why you can't understand why there's no imports anymore.

It's already started with your native only policy regarding certain species.

As a side note,

The IHS used to host one of the biggest reptile shows in Europe - not anymore - traders and non business sellers continued along their jolly old ways of displaying animals in crowded conditions, no water etc.
This was just the ammunition that Animal Rights Activist needed to put further pressure on the local council to shut it down.
The next one in June will be the last.

You see, everything is fine until it isn't - then everyone winges and moans about legislation and the nasty councils/ governments.

We in this hobby, or any part of the exotic hobby, don't do ourselves any favours when it comes to foresight and prevention.

Ay, I agree with the majority of what you said. I disagree with you on this specific situation; the collection of scorpion species like C. hentzi and C. gracilis in Florida. This is the situation at hand and zooming the conversation out to a global or national context doesn't really address any of what I've said.

I can definitely dialogue on the subject, though I think it won't be a very interesting conversation as like I said, I agree with you for the most part.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[A cave cricket]

I just asked for care and stuff,
but it's more of a civilized argument lol.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Ay, I agree with the majority of what you said. I disagree with you on this specific situation; the collection of scorpion species like C. hentzi and C. gracilis in Florida. This is the situation at hand and zooming the conversation out to a global or national context doesn't really address any of what I've said.

I can definitely dialogue on the subject, though I think it won't be a very interesting conversation as like I said, I agree with you for the most part.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

I agree with you there though.

The thing is, collecting a few specimens is going to have less of an impact than buying from a dealer that catches them in mass.
Of course captive bred is the best option, but it’s simply not available for most species at the moment (especially in the US).

That being said though, the danger of recommending online to do it, is that more and more people might start doing it.

 

[Arthroverts]

That being said though, the danger of recommending online to do it, is that more and more people might start doing it.

I thought this for a long time. Then I realized something; the No. 1 biggest threat to invertebrate populations is not collecting, far from it. It's people building right over the top of habitat without a care in the world. I'd rather have someone go out collect a few specimens, gain an appreciation and understanding of what they can find in their area, and so thus hopefully go on the journey towards becoming a conservationist for their area, then stay at home and be completely unaware of what lives around them, much less care if that subdivision goes in or not. You can't protect what you do not know about, as I see every day as the land I love gets torn up every day for more houses, more buildings, more parking lots. There are people chainsawing Joshua Trees illegally because they are simply unaware of what they are hurting (and possibly for more nefarious reasons in some cases, but that's another story).

And before anyone says, "Well that's just getting them started on the path to mass collection and poaching," I have talked with poachers/mass collectors, both in the US and overseas, and the single driving factor behind why they are doing what they do is not because someone on the internet told them to go collect the local fauna. They're in it because they saw a lot of $$$ at the end of line.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Joey Spijkers]

I have talked with poachers/mass collectors, both in the US and overseas, and the single driving factor behind why they are doing what they do is not because someone on the internet told them to go collect the local fauna. They're in it because they saw a lot of $$$ at the end of line.

That makes sense.
I get why people are hesitant to recommend it, but you’re right, it’s not much of a threat.