Centrudoides excilicauda

[Mike Lachance]

Posted by Mike Lachance on April 08, 2002 at 16:23:23:

I've been moving over the last 2 weeks. Moved my 2 Cen. Exili. a week ago and they have been happy in their new home (one baby one adult, in separate enclosures)

Saturday evening i was removing some boxes from the rear cab area of my truck. I brushed my arm against the back of the front seat and felt a tiny pinprick on the underside of my forarm. Looking up i was startled by the site of an adult Centr. Exili. scampering away up the back of the seat. Although im not "scared" of the critters, the surprise and connection i made right there was quite shocking.

I had been stung! Where did he come from?? Was it one of mine???

I answered the last question first. No he couldnt have been mine, since mine were inside in their cases, quite secure and content.

They most likely came from my apartment with my boxes and such. (where i had found my two existing "pets".

I concluded the scorpion must have been either on the seat back, or on the floor of the truck. upon my reaching in to remove the items from truck the scorpion had managed to get between my arm and the seat back. a simple crushing threat was all it took to force him to let me know what was about to happen to him.

My reaction was "well, i guess i get to find out how well i take the venom"

I immediately went inside and got a plastic cup to retrieve the insect. Once i had it in the cup, (a simple nudge or three and the scorp. fell in) i took a closer look. Rather fat! Whatever he was eating was in abundance and the scorp must have had a hearty appetite! Not quite as old as my existing adult pet. Body same size, but tail considerably shorter. This C.E. is a bit "rounder" overall.

For what its worth the new scorpion has been introduced to the old scorpion, and now share the same enclosure and burrow. Perhaps they are infact male and female and i will have babies soon enough!

About the sting. Not at all painful. Very distinct "pins and needles" sensation 1-2" around site of sting for perhaps 2 hours. Subsiding over the next 24 hours, during which time the underside of my forarm became slightly sensitive (in sensation only, no pain) and by the next evening any traces of sting effects were gone. The sting itself would only rank a 1 or 2 on a pain scale from 1 to 10. very mild. Venom effects on my arm were relatively mild from what many "wives tales" would lead one to expect. I had no real ill effects whatsoever from the sting. No swelling or rash or any adverse reactions beyond the mild tingling in the vicinity of the sting.

But i now feel i have my "quota" and would be happy to never get stung again and have a sensitized reaction!

 

[invertepet]

Centruroides exilicauda

Well, I suppose I was bound to get nailed by something, turns out the first 'significant envenomation' was from a Centruroides exilicauda (Arizona Bark scorpion) tonight.

Forgive my lack of verbosity, my left hand is still pretty incapacitated.

Earlier in the day, I got an order for one of these bark scorps and checked the cup only to find one specimen. There was a small gap in the lid that had probably been left from the last time I fed or watered the pair. This evening while using the computer, I felt a tickling on my neck around my shoulder. I tried to brush it off and got stung two or three times in the left middle finger, and then twice more in my neck where it meets my shoulder, near the back.

Ow. The pain was kind of like a nervous shock at first, then radiated out as if electrified. Both sting sites are still tingly, painful and partially numb (especially the neck site). My left hand is somewhat stiff, but I can (sort of) type so it's not all that bad.

It's been three hours since the intial envenomation. I checked briefly into the local ER just to be safe and was released after I manifested no systemic reactions. They gave me an antihistamine, something for allergic reactions and a tetanus shot.

Right now, I don't feel dizzy or nauseous, but a tiny bit sleepy and my neck is just the slightest bit stiff. The worst pain is in my left finger, which I'd rate about a 4 out of 10, maybe a 5.

I'll summarize tomorrow after I have a night's sleep.

bill

 

[invertepet]

To wrap up the report -- The next day the tingling was almost completely gone. Rubbing either sting site produced a little pins/needles sensation, but it went away over the course of the day. No other symptoms other than those that were localized to the actual areas I was stung.

I did sleep 12 solid hours that night, so recuperation might have been aided somewhat.

I can't help but chuckle when I look at 'Ninja Assassin', the new name I've given this daring C. exilicauda that managed to not only escape, but crawl up my chair onto my back and sting my neck and finger several times! He lost part of one leg in the ensuing 'flick' off of me but is doing fine, the little bugger.

bill

 

[D4RK-3L3M3NT]

Centruroides exilicauda

Well, it was bound to happen and was expected due to the re-housing of the new babies I just posted a thread about. Anyway, these babies I re-housed are at 1/4" (not counting tail or pedipalps) and on their 2nd instar.

I was stung twice by two different scorplings, the after effects were very minor - even a little "ticklish" as I began feeling a little numbness and tingly feeling on my right index finger. This effect lasted about 60 seconds with nothing following even after several hours.

I suppose this is so, due to the young age and small size of the species - but I wouldn't experiment this with an adult.

 

[pandinus]

bout a week or so back, i was working with my 2nd instar C exilicaudas. as is usual, when i lifted the rock they were on, about 5 or 6 ran up my fingers and onto my hand. Now usually i feel fine handling(when necessary) hot scorps at such a young age, because i was not sure that their stingers were even developed enough to penetrate the skin. I also have the added advantage of being a guitar and bass player, so my fingers have thick callouses. so try as they might to tag me, most of them just came off and i put them back in their home. save for one. this guy got me in just the right way that he got through my callouse. at this point i feel it would do well to remind you that this scorp is only about an eight of an inch long fully stretched out, and that to see it's aculeas, i would most likely need a microscope. Given that, this little guy packed a punch! it felt like someone pricked me with a sewing needle. hat was all that happened, but when you factor in the guy's size, that's quite impressive. I am now much more cautious with all of my babies, and am aware that they can sting, and even though there is little to fear, it could have been something much hotter, so i am lucky. never underestimate your scorps, not even babies

 

[Gsc]

Packing up some boxes today to ship out tomarrow, I got hit by an Arizona Bark scorpion at 8:36am... Its now 6:27pm and my leg is still swollen and having muscle spasms as I type this message. Numb for about a 10"-12" radius of the sting area... tingling with some burn. Wow, they pack a punch. About 15 minutes after the sting I had some chest pains and a "light headed" feeling, but those soon passed... I've been hit by my fair share of scorps, but so far this sting takes the cake. Be careful y'all!

 

[quinquestriatus]

Exilicauda sting

I was stung by centriodes exilicauda a couple months ago when I was switching her into a different cage. I didn't feel the initial sting, but I felt a warming sensation as the venom went in my finger. I pulled back and it felt like someone had hammered a nail through my finger. Very painful. I went to the bathroom and ran hot water across it which seemed to help sooth the pain. I switched it to cold water and found out my finger was hot/cold sensative. Cold water made it worse. After about a half hour the pain subsided and I had a tingling sensation all the way up my arm kinda like pins and needles. It stopped just before my shoulder. after about an hour the tingling sensation was in my forarm and hand. An hour and a half later my left index finger where I had been stung was stiff and had pins and needles all over it. I wasn't too worried so I went to bed. Next day I woke up and my finger wasn't as bad, it was still stiff with pins and needles and still a little bit sensative, but I could at least use it. At around 24 hrs after the sting I showed no symptoms of the envenomation.

 

[PeterParker]

stung

1:30 PM I saw my Juvinile Excilicauda with an unusual position so I touched it thinking it was already dead but to my surprise it moved quickly and I got stung at the tip of my index finger and I cant feel my entire finger nail for 3 hours and now (4:30 PM) I can type again to report it here as I was suppose to report it earlier but the problem was I got a numb finger.

aldous:wall:

 

[JSN]

I was stung by one of these when I was really young, like 8 or 9 probably, I was moving a rock in one's enclosure and got me on my hand...just iced it...not too bad...

 

[shoegazer]

I was stung by a large female while collecting scorpions on a university field trip just outside of Tuscon in the summer of '03. I had been catching these guys by hand - pinching the tail/telson by the side to immobilize the stinger. Yeah, yeah, I know....but that's not how I got stung.

I got stung by casually flicking these guys across the sand of a wash so I could get a better grip on them (they were quick to get into the vegetation once touched). This female apparently got my left ring finger because a very hot, intense sensation suddenly began to build in that finger. For a brief moment, I almost panicked, because this was a field trip with students and I wasn't sure if this would require a hospital visit at the time. Anyway, the onset was intense and rapid, but within 6 or 7 seconds, it began to fade just as fast and was gone within 15 seconds or so. No residual tingling or anything. On a scale from 1 to 10, the pain was a 6 at worst. :?

I then picked up the female by the tail and put her in my jar. I kept her for over a year, but she never did reproduce.

 

[Charlie]

barc scorp

I work at a Goodwill in Mesa AZ and I was lifting a box of donated items, it was rather heavy so I had it up against my stomach and I got stung just to the right of my belly button by a rather small bark scorpion.

The initial pain was bad but not as bad as I thought it would be, but within about 10 minutes or so it really started to burn. felt kind of like someone was holding a lit cigarette to my stomach.

I had a pretty good handle on the situation, did not begin to panic or anything until the pain started to run down my right leg and I started to get a pins and needles feeling in my right foot.

When I started to panic I left work, walked into the Mexican restaurant next door, got drunk went home and passed out. Then next morning there was a burning sensation on my stomach about a 6 inch radius from where I was stung and by the next day there was just a numb Novocain feeling.

By 4 days or so later I have no lasting effects other than an overcautious way of handling donations.

Thanks,

Charlie