Collection container sizes???

[Vfox]

Hey Vfox, I appreciate the idea, and they are cheap. Unfortunately, the plastic used in them is extremely toxic to life forms. They off gas hormone mimickers and benzenes (? something like that ?), when hot. Seeing as I will be in 100*+ temperatures, I will not use those plastics for collecting. Otherwise I would have already ordered them!

I am going to collect scorpions in the U.S. I am still planning on going to Mexico, but only to take pictures! I don't know which will come first. It depends on how things go until it warms up. But I will not be collecting scorpions in MX, unfortunately their laws are very strict, and I don't want to go to prison. But I hope to get some cool pictures!

Ah, I didn't even think of the temp issues because they are supposed to be inert so the metals of whatever coin you have do not oxidize or "tone" in any way. However the same plastic may very well be toxic to organic life at higher temperatures. I'll need to research that more I suppose.

Yeah, don't do anything to get stuck in a Mexican prison, especially southern Mexico...it'd be best to avoid lol. I would imagine collecting out west is still viable for another month or so until the desert winter really sets in. Have you ever collected this late in the year? Like in a post I made yesterday I just found a small culture of Parcoblatta pennsylvanica cockroaches in 54 degree F temps here in PA; according to the literature I could find they are supposed to be dormant until spring.

Obviously the books underestimate the active cycles of most inverts. I've seen insects (not during warm spells but regular cold temps) and other inverts fairly active around here until the first snow falls around mid to late December. Most bees have already vanished but some, like yelowjackets, are still very active around here...along with stick insects and stink bugs...flies of all sorts...carpenter ants...loads of spider species...etc etc.

 

[Nomadinexile]

Ah, I didn't even think of the temp issues because they are supposed to be inert so the metals of whatever coin you have do not oxidize or "tone" in any way. However the same plastic may very well be toxic to organic life at higher temperatures. I'll need to research that more I suppose.

Yeah, don't do anything to get stuck in a Mexican prison, especially southern Mexico...it'd be best to avoid lol. I would imagine collecting out west is still viable for another month or so until the desert winter really sets in. Have you ever collected this late in the year? Like in a post I made yesterday I just found a small culture of Parcoblatta pennsylvanica cockroaches in 54 degree F temps here in PA; according to the literature I could find they are supposed to be dormant until spring.

Obviously the books underestimate the active cycles of most inverts. I've seen insects (not during warm spells but regular cold temps) and other inverts fairly active around here until the first snow falls around mid to late December. Most bees have already vanished but some, like yelowjackets, are still very active around here...along with stick insects and stink bugs...flies of all sorts...carpenter ants...loads of spider species...etc etc.

http://lifewithoutplastic.com/en/about-plastic/plastic-types.html

I did just find a coin tube site that doesn't use PVC though, so I will look at them. *EDIT* they are Polystyrene. Nix that. I try to use 1,2,4, or 5 recycling codes. 2, 4, and 5 are best I think.

I've found scorpions with snow on the ground. But I am not planning on collecting until the spring. I will be collecting fluorescing gems, minerals, and rocks until at least March. In March or April, I will be heading to S. TX to collect scorpions. That is the plan right now. Of course it all depends on what happens, how much money I leave with, etc. If I can make a bunch of extra money before I leave, I might go to MX to take pictures, then collect rocks. Or I might collect rocks, then go to MX, then collect in the U.S. It just depends. But I don't plan on collecting until the spring at least.

 

[H. laoticus]

No large pulley suitcase or one of those (I forget what they're called) pulleys with wheels? That's a hell of a lot of stuff.

 

[Canth]

These are the vials I currently have a lot of...how many would you need?

http://www.thorntonplastics.com/ind...e/capped/5oz-plastic-jar-capped-240-case.html

Edit: and poking holes is simple, the lids are a soft plastic in case you hadn't had any before.

 

[Nomadinexile]

No large pulley suitcase or one of those (I forget what they're called) pulleys with wheels? That's a hell of a lot of stuff.

You are telling me! Last attempt at putting the pack on my back, was tough. And that was with only a half gallon of water in it! I'm going to take some stuff out for the winter part, and send some "winter stuff" back to Paige and receive summer/scorpion stuff in the spring. I'm going to go through it and repost winter/summer list maybe later this weekend or later this month. But even so it will be tough. And that doesn't include the weight of the rocks! I hope to have a hundred pounds of "rocks" when I get to the AZ gem shows, but hopefully I can get a rolling case for that stuff before hand. :wall:

These are the vials I currently have a lot of...how many would you need?

http://www.thorntonplastics.com/ind...e/capped/5oz-plastic-jar-capped-240-case.html

Edit: and poking holes is simple, the lids are a soft plastic in case you hadn't had any before.

Thanks Canth! :worship: Yes I've had those before. I think I have plenty in that size now. More than I will need.

Part of the reason is that I think I am going to have to limit my scorpion collecting unless someone wants to distribute. Even then, I will have to find a person or two to accept receiving collecting jars in the mail and letting me pick them up on the way. It's a logistical nightmare. There is also no promises that I would get anything out of it, for a while anyway. Demand is fickle, especially in this economy, and especially with our domestic species. So now I am thinking I will limit my collecting to pre-orders and a few select species that I am pretty sure will sell quickly. I will post more detailed info in an upcoming post tonight, but the sizes I need most right now are going to be large and micro. Measurements to come.

Thanks again Canth!

 

[Nomadinexile]

@ Red Hour Glass

Wondering what you think about this:

I think that I could possibly put one M/F pair of D. whitei in a peanut butter jar measuring 128mm x 75 mm. They would be packed with toilet paper in separate pockets made in the TP. They would have to be safe for 3 days total like this.

Is this a good, safe idea? Or a really bad one?

I don't want to loose any scorpions due to my error, but especially not any of these.

Your thoughts? Thank you!

 

[Nomadinexile]

What I really need size wise right now is:

30 micro vials, approximately 1"x1/2", or I may just use the little 7 day pill boxes. Those have worked well in the past for the V.w. and V.c.

The other size I need more of are:

30+ 110mm x 55mm and 150mm x 75mm for Hadrurus sp. I may be able to trade roaches or get free on craigslist, the metal tea tins like the ones from Zhena's Gypsy Tea or Chami.

I need to put those ads up this weekend.

I hope I can find cheap pill planners, and then I should be about good on containers....

The hard part is going to be getting them to me! Should be do-able though...

 

[John Bokma]

I am late to the party but this is what I used the last time:

And put them together in a box with a lid with four "snaps". Each bag has a little hole, made on the spot, and I stapled the bags close.

Edit: I keep the 4 together in a tank, so far so good. They eat pre-killed superworms, and pick them up from the same spot each time. One is most likely going to molt soon. Don't know the species yet.

 

[Nomadinexile]

Thanks for sharing your experience John B. How long did you keep them in the bags like that? Was it for just one day?

The reason I ask is that whatever I use, (and I'm leaning towards hard jars now), is that I have to collect, then ship them in what I'm collecting them in.

For example, It is no use for me to put in baggies if I have to ship in hard cases. Then I am just carrying two containers.

I will be shipping directly from the field, not my house. So whatever I collect in is also the shipping container.

Thanks! Ryan

 

[John Bokma]

Clear. I kept them for several hours like that. I have no idea if one can keeps them longer like that. Normally when I hike for 3-4 days I take hard containers with me. The ones I like a lot are 3 x 3.5" "Xeonic". They have 4 flaps that click in place. I used a hot needle to make small holes in them:

I use those for Centruroides species, especially the ones I can't identify in the field and might be medical significant. Normally I put some dry grass/leaves in the container as well to prevent the specimen from bouncing around too much and at a hotel, in the night, I put a tiny piece of wet towel paper in each box to provide moisture (in the field I drop tiny bit of water on some of the grass). I've kept scorpions for 4 days like that, no problems.

If you return to a hotel or similar at the end of each day, maybe the ziplock/plastic bags method still is a good one if you can repack them at the end of the day?

Anyway with the above species (Vaejovis?) I could stack 4 in a box I normally use for one. And I don't run out of boxes that way (I normally just take 4-5 boxes with me). On the other hand I don't want to collect too much in the field. Not only am I not a big fan of collecting too much in the wild, but also I don't want to take care of many, many scorpions. On top some might be gravid.

 

[telow]

i went to dollar tree yesterday and they got these nice little containers
you get 10 for $1 there a little bigger than a 2oz. deli cup
but these wont crush on you but its worth checking out
i bought 50 haha there not bad at all there clear with white lids
i dont have a camera anymore but you should go check those out
its a great price

 

[Nomadinexile]

Thanks for the reply John. Larger containers work great for Centruruoides. I usually put tp in something like a peanut butter jar with holes, and that has worked great for me. As for the Vaejovis, I think it is better to keep them separate. I have kept communal Vaejovis tanks, but they have lots of room and hides, and are well fed. I would expect losses shipping them communally straight from the field (where the food supply is sometimes inadequate) and in such close quarters!.

There will be no hotels, or hostels, or anything like that. I will be with backpack under the sky the whole time. I may have a time or two I visit a friend, but that won't correspond to shipping and may be too long after collecting.

As for collecting too many:
I only plan on keeping 10 of two species for myself. These are nice rare species that I am hoping to find someone here to baby sit for me for a while. In return, they will get to keep/sell any slings produced until my return in the summer/fall. These are two of the more valuable U.S. species that will sell well if desired by the scorpion-sitter. Upon my return, they will be my only scorpions and should not be too much work at all.

As for wild-collecting:
Yes, I am not a big fan of wild-collecting. I am an environmentalist at heart, and have been arrested attempting to defend the wilderness in the U.S. from destruction. I have been featured in news broadcasts doing so, and am friends with many of Americas most renowned environmentalists. You could probably most easily find me in a news report done in Missoula, MT when Winona LaDuke and the Indigo Girls stopped by during their Friends of the Earth Tour when W.L. was Ralph Naders VP candidate during his president campaign. I am the guy behind them during the interview in the Tripod hanging in front of the Federal building protesting logging in the largest roadless area in the U.S., in the Nez Pierce National Forest at the edge of 3 wilderness areas. I care as much as anyone about our ecosystems.

So when I collect, I am more cautious than most. While I do want to get paid a little, the payments I receive in no way pay for the time and effort I put in collecting. I do it for many reasons, one of the foremost being I love being in nature, but greed is certainly not the reason. I could beg or work in any major U.S. city and make 10x as much money as a hitchhiking scorpion collecting trip! In fact, when I was driving to collection sites, I don't think I paid for the gas with what I sold!

I also want to get new species in the hobby.

So I am very careful not to over collect. On this trip for example, I plan on getting no more than 10-20 of the species I do collect. These will be collected from many different locations, and in locations that will not be collected in again. I only hunt in a small area of each location habitat for that specie, and there are many areas surrounding each location that are not available to hunt due to private property, parks, etc. If I had any concern about effecting populations, I wouldn't hunt at all. I would just hunt rocks instead. But I am confident in my ethics and judgement. I know I am not doing a disservice to this world and it's creatures. And possibly doing the reverse. I feel the more that people appreciate the planet, and the creatures that inhabit it, the more likely they are to care for its preservation.

Of course, some people will disagree with my feelings on the topic. I have friends who don't think anything should ever be wild caught. That's okay. I can agree to disagree. And they don't have to buy these species.

But these are all new to the hobby. All the species I plan on getting are unavailable to hobbyists right now. The only exception would be H. spadix and H.a. pallidus, yet these have a huge range, and I only plan on getting 10 each, and I may not get any of them depending. The rest are not in breeders hands, or in a two examples, they do not have enough for their breeding program. I don't plan on collecting any species that are readily available.

Sorry for the long drawn out reply. But the last thing I want is people to think I am going out to pillage and destroy scorpion populations for profit.

This is a hobby, and I enjoy being outside. And I care about them and all life, and will collect accordingly! And all of the ones I collect will be going straight into breeders hands, so that they will be available in the future as CB slings!

 

[Nomadinexile]

i went to dollar tree yesterday and they got these nice little containers
you get 10 for $1 there a little bigger than a 2oz. deli cup
but these wont crush on you but its worth checking out
i bought 50 haha there not bad at all there clear with white lids
i dont have a camera anymore but you should go check those out
its a great price

Thanks telow. What kind of design are they? Pop top? Screw on? I still think they are too big and too small for my current needs, but I want to go check out the pill planners there, so I will look while there!

 

[telow]

pop tops just like about like vial there maybe 1.5in ^ 2in O (guessing)