Centruroides vittatus care help

[BishopiMaster]

hey everybody, i am currently getting my collection up again, im buying some scolopendra polymorphas when cb babies get available but thats beside the point. i am looking to keep 3 centruroides vittatus in a 12x12x12 container, specifically the exo terra desert habitat kit small, i want my scorpions to live very long obviously so let me know if he will live longer if i take away the others. i plan to remove any uneaten prey 24 hours after its been given. the setup im buying comes with a thermometer and humidity gauge, but they are those cheap plastic ones so i was wondering if i should get the digital one from big apple herp.
i just want the best health for my scorpion or scorpion's so i will follow whatever guidelines i can and will spend extra money if necesarry.
i think i will feed them once a week, but switch up the menu every week.
so any advice is appreciated, also i am looking to breed them to get some cb babies so advic e on that is nice too


thanks

 

[Widowman10]

they are communal, so there should be no need to separate them (unless a female is about to give birth). and a temp/hum gauge is unnecessary and not worth anything anyway. better off without it. they should be fine on a once weekly diet of whatever. crix work just fine among many other things.

 

[BishopiMaster]

well i heard c. vittatus occur in wet forest in texas and deserts in texas, im confused, so how often do i miss the enclosure

 

[BishopiMaster]

err mist the enclosure

 

[Nomadinexile]

C. vittatus

Hey, I am not an expert, so take everything I say here with a grain of salt. I don't really know anything. But I do have a bunch of vittatus, 3 different morphs that I have collected from 3 different parts of texas. I would have to say that the barks are probably one of the easiest and least picky of the animals I have. They live in humid forest (for texas that is, but you would be surprised), to really bone dry deserts. Heck, it probably ranges from below freezing lows in the winter, to 115 degrees in the shade on a summer day. They can live in sandy, clay, duff, coco, etc,etc. I would think you would have a hard time killing them without almost trying. They will eat each other. I have seen it in nature while collecting. But I haven't noticed it in any of my cages yet. I think you could probably have more than 3 in there, especially given enough vertical room, and no long term food withdraw by you.

Speaking of, they hardly, if ever burrow in my enclosures. Cork bark is their best friend. Try to get enough room and "hides" with vertical space in there and they will be primo.

If you can find out if they are xeric or mesic, you could adapt habitat to their more local needs, but I doubt it really matters. I keep my mesic on pure coco, and make sure there is at least some humidity in there. I keep my xeric a little dryer, using really dry coco and sand mix. I invariably spill a little water filling water dish and mist a little once a week or so. If you have any other questions, I would be glad to answer them. Again, I am not an expert, but then again, I do have a couple hundred of them at my house right now. :O) Peace, Ryan

 

[Nomadinexile]

How much do you mist?

Saying how many times to mist is kinda iffy. How big is your mister? How many times do you squeeze before calling it a misting? 1, 25? So it varies. I personally try to mist mine 2x a week. Much lighter on xerics. I also always have water available to either. But I also let them dry out pretty good before misting heavily again for either one. So if you see/feel humidity in there. you can do a light misting once or twice a week. If it is bone dry, I would give them a decent misting once a week, and maybe a light one once a week as well. But that may be kind of micro managing. I don't know. It's just what I am doing right now, and they all seem to be doing great. I have more babies popping out than I know what to do with. So I think mine is o.k. :O)

 

[BishopiMaster]

well my mister is the size of a windex one, aged water, i usually mist 12 times, the scorpions im buying are going to be from ken the bug guy says theyre adults, what if it gets too humid i dont want any parasites on my scorpion or nematodes im getting paranoid and confused

 

[tabor]

OK, not trying to be a jerk at ALL but take this advice and you will succeed at keeping anything:

when in doubt (this applies to any species): see where they are typically found and the conditions of the area. Under fallen trees? Rocks? Just cruising about?

check the conditions they are found in the wild and replicate them.

applies to any species.

best advice i can give to anyone. sure, it requires some googling and searching, but the closer you replicate their natural environs the more success you will have.

 

[Widowman10]

exactly tabor! :clap:

best advice ever. does require a bit of research though for sure. unless you were lucky enough to find it in your backyard

 

[BishopiMaster]

i dont get how you were being a "jerk" thanks for the advice, will post in about 40 mins

 

[BishopiMaster]

well heres the deal i did some research and

Given its wide range of distribution this species can adapt to almost any condition. The color contrasts are mainly dependent to it's locale. Xeric color forms are generally darker and are commonly found in desert like regions, whereas the Mesic color form is lighter and brighter colors and come from more humid and lush habitats. In the wild this species will take up residence wherever it can, amongst tiny crevices in rocks, under rocks, between tree bark and even dark corners of bathrooms. It has the ability to allow for slight tissue damage for surviving temperatures well below freezing. C. vittatus is a nocturnal species, like most other scorpions, and takes refuge during the day in cool, dark and damper areas. Being a communal species, it is not all too uncommon to turn over a rock and find several C. vittatus sharing the space. Predominantly known as a climber, this species has been witnessed burrowing on numerous occasions as well - particularly during captivity.

so basically the xeric morphs which are darker are found in the desert area, ( in this case the exo terra desert should be just fine which is what i am getting) and ill add some various rocks and dry branches as that i assume is whats found in the desert there, i wont use cactuses because i dont want it getting injured and developing parasites.

then the mesic morphs are the light and brighter ones, in this case i need to provide a more humid and lush habitat as it says, i dont know what that is as too climbing objects, substrate and temperate/humidity.
since i am getting 3 i am wondering if they are all different morphs what to do then. also i read burrowing has been observed, whatever substrate i use, it needs to encourage burrowing, and a source i saw says to replace the way dish every few days, but i am thinking it make it available at all times

 

[tabor]

i told you so

applies to any species.

your own research is better than others advice 90% of the time.

 

[BishopiMaster]

also tips on preventing parasites would be nice Too, i already take out any uneaten prety 24 hours after its been given

 

[tabor]

also tips on preventing parasites would be nice Too, i already take out any uneaten prety 24 hours after its been given

that plus not feeding wild caught prey should be enough'also get food from pet stores not bait stores.

 

[Nomadinexile]

Burrowing?

If anyone with personal knowledge contradicting my no burrow views below, I would love to hear it. I could be wrong about this. But I have a ton of them in my house right now. And I have collected them in Many locations and bioregions. So if I am wrong, I would like to know what I am missing. But I don't believe they burrow. I am sure they could if needed. And yes, they will "burrow" under a rock. But they don't dig holes they crawl into like my P. reddelli. Not ONE burrow yet. So anyone????

(They don't burrow. They will "burrow" under a rock. But I have collected hundreds of them and never seen a burrow. I have 3 different morphs in my house all with room to burrow. They don't. (they "burrow" in tree trunks, under rocks, and in rock piles.) When I redo my tanks I am going to lower substrate level in a couple of cages and add more vertical.)

From the hundreds that I have collected in 3 parts of texas, I would say that my local mesic are way darker than any of the xeric I have found. Oh, and panthernesis, (I am doing some research myself) looks two different ways depending on what website you are on, so I am still confused about those. I have some that were i.d. as "panthernesis" and can't figure that out because a lot of the websites contradict each other. Which is why it's better to look on here tabor! It's hard to tell who's right, except on here because a ton of other hobbyists' etc will jump in to reaffirm or deny your advice. Some websites are good, others are not, but it is really hard to tell sometimes.

Even with the wet one, that doesn't mean super wet. It shouldn't look like a rainforest or the like. And you should always give them water if possible. They can go a couple of days without it. But I always leave water dish.
(we could survive if our water was portioned out to us, but isn't it nicer to pour yourself a cup when you are thirsty?)

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. And if you want some more detailed info on weather, I would recommend getting some city names where they are found, and looking them up on weather channel. Heck if you wanted to spend enough money, you could set up an automated system that replicates the weather daily where they are from. But that would be a little overkill. :O)

And if you want some more pics of where they are from, let me know and I will put them up later. Right now, I have some vittatus and P. reddelli that I just collected that need packed up. so Good Luck! Peace, Ryan

 

[Nomadinexile]

parasites etc.

I am not an expert on this,.. but I can tell you what I do and I bet someone else will chime in to reaffirm on deny my practices. (If you haven't noticed yet, there are some differences in opinions on here sometimes)

1. You could try isopods in mesic cage. They may or may not live. They need some humidity, I have 20 in different cages of scorps and T's and have only had 1 isopod death so far from unknown causes. But if you are keeping dry xeric tank, they probably won't make it.

2. Substate-if your substrate is dirt from your back yard, it will have tons of bugs, fungus, and micro organisms. You should buy substrate from pet/gardening store that looks to be clean and good quality. I use shredded coconut husk that can be bought in bricks at gardening stores for less than $3. It is fairly sterile and I haven't had any problems with it yet. You can also steralize your own substrate, but you will have to research that yourself.

3. Clean up food leftovers ASAP.

4. Let things dry out really good for a day or two before misting again. (a lot of problem organisms require humidity.)

5. Keep an ICU or Temporary home ready and available. IF you see something you don't like going on in there, or its just been a while, move them out and clean cage completely, then rehouse.

6. IF you decide to add more to your colony, it would be a good idea to keep them in their own container for a week or two (anyone help??) to make sure they didn't come with hitchhikers. After a week or two, and a examination, you are clear for takeoff and you can throw them in with the others.

Hope this is helpful. And don't forget to read other stuff from other people, here and on other websites. I would bet that even most "scorpionologist" don't know everything about every species.... So double check everything!

Peace, Ryan

 

[BishopiMaster]

so the website says the xeric forms are darker and the mesic forms are lighter and brighter and are found in more humid areas, yet you say the mesic are darker, so this must mean xeric are darker?
so what if my 3 morphs are all different but i want them to be in the same cage, i also im going to make it 90 degrees, so if i have lets say 2 xeric and 1 mesic could the extra heat kill the mesic? how do i keep all together like that. also deal with the isopods is it is hard to buy them online and i dont feed wild caught prey to any of my invertebrates

 

[Nomadinexile]

Don't worry

I can show you pictures and tell you where different morphs were collected, by me and my girlfriend. The lighter ones are from the desert. At least comparing everyone I have found from Austin to almost Big Bend.

They will probably be all the same morph. If they are not, I wouldn't worry. I checked weather channel for you and one of my spots in chihuahuan desert was 63% humidity this morning. It gets wet in the desert, and it dries to a crisp here in austin sometimes. It has been 100*F here in austin for last week. They just stay under rock in shade all day and come out at sunset.
Oh, and it either freezes or gets close to it in the desert as well,..
So while they both MIGHT prefer a little different humidity, in nature, both morphs will experience the same conditions for parts of the year at least. So I think they would both be just fine. Don't Worry be happy now, ooooooo
:O) Ryan

so the website says the xeric forms are darker and the mesic forms are lighter and brighter and are found in more humid areas, yet you say the mesic are darker, so this must mean xeric are darker?
so what if my 3 morphs are all different but i want them to be in the same cage, i also im going to make it 90 degrees, so if i have lets say 2 xeric and 1 mesic could the extra heat kill the mesic? how do i keep all together like that. also deal with the isopods is it is hard to buy them online and i dont feed wild caught prey to any of my invertebrates

 

[BishopiMaster]

I just found and read my book "Scorpions FROM THE EXPERTS AT ADVANCED VIVARIUM SYSTEMS by Jerry G. Walls.
never heard of them but this book has a lot of knowledge.
Well anyway here where i live it is about 70 degrees outside maybe dropping to 67 indoors and sometimes at night it gets very cold here usually 55 degrees to 45 at night.
it says most scorpions should be kept at 75 to 86 degrees during the day and dropping a few degrees at night, i dont know how much a few is but i am trying to replicate the natural environment and it could be stressful to go from 86 to 45, i guess i could just switch the bulb to red every night or maybe there is a device to lower the bulbs temperature a few degrees.
it says to use a heavy duty appliance timer to turn heat lamps on and off giving the scorpion a warm day of 14 hours and a cooler night of ten hours, but i was thinking to just use a timed dimmer
as for humidity it says to keep the bark scorpions at 50-55% and nothing below 50. as for substrate it says to keep them at a 50/50 mix of potting soil and sand and some corkbark and rocks for hiding, this combines 2 elements from the xeric and mesic forms habitats into one so i think it would be ideal. it also says to gutload the feeders a few hours before with some calcium supplement powder and some vegetables so i will start doing that as well.
as for the potting soil a lot of them have special chemicals to help plants grow and i dont want that, so if anybody can point me to a good brand thatd be great as well.
thanks for all information again keep em coming, i am learning a lot.

 

[alexi]

I just found and read my book "Scorpions FROM THE EXPERTS AT ADVANCED VIVARIUM SYSTEMS by Jerry G. Walls.
never heard of them but this book has a lot of knowledge.
Well anyway here where i live it is about 70 degrees outside maybe dropping to 67 indoors and sometimes at night it gets very cold here usually 55 degrees to 45 at night.
it says most scorpions should be kept at 75 to 86 degrees during the day and dropping a few degrees at night, i dont know how much a few is but i am trying to replicate the natural environment and it could be stressful to go from 86 to 45, i guess i could just switch the bulb to red every night or maybe there is a device to lower the bulbs temperature a few degrees.
it says to use a heavy duty appliance timer to turn heat lamps on and off giving the scorpion a warm day of 14 hours and a cooler night of ten hours, but i was thinking to just use a timed dimmer
as for humidity it says to keep the bark scorpions at 50-55% and nothing below 50. as for substrate it says to keep them at a 50/50 mix of potting soil and sand and some corkbark and rocks for hiding, this combines 2 elements from the xeric and mesic forms habitats into one so i think it would be ideal. it also says to gutload the feeders a few hours before with some calcium supplement powder and some vegetables so i will start doing that as well.
as for the potting soil a lot of them have special chemicals to help plants grow and i dont want that, so if anybody can point me to a good brand thatd be great as well.
thanks for all information again keep em coming, i am learning a lot.

I'm about 90% sure that gutloading feeders with calcium is unnecessary at best, harmful at worst. Gutloading in general is good, but arachnids don't use calcium, and there are rumors that high calcium diet in some arachnids causes problems. It's unsubstantiated that it causes problems, but I'm pretty sure it's accepted as fact that it's unnecessary. Correct me if I'm wrong....

Gutloading with veggies and things I'm sure is all well and good, but I don't think so for calcium supplement. By the way, I've never gutloaded my feeders and haven't really seen any reason too... does anyone know what happens to your scorp if you don't? Obviously it will miss out on the contents of whatever you load into the things gut, but does anyone know what the ACTUAL harmful effects are? Will your scorp not grow as big/fast, or will it just be sluggish, or will it have some other kind of problem?