Generalized Questions related to Striped Bark Scorpions

[ChaoticKraken]

Hello all.

Recently I began catching and keeping our local species of scorpion. We get a LOT around here and most people consider them pest. I've put the word out around town that I will gladly take any living specimen they catch as most people I know encounter them inside their homes and offices. I am trying my best to provide a sanctuary for these lil guys and have done a good bit of reading, and I find that I learn something new and interesting about them all the time.

As of today, I have 5 scorpions in my care of various sizes. Smallest being about an inch in total, and the largest being just over an inch not counting tail.

My current enclosure is a 10gal glass aquarium tank. Half of the tank has a raised soil bed and the other half has aquarium pebbles. I have included 2 decent sized hides and 5 smaller hides. (Fish decor, but its textured enough to be easy to crawl on. Yes, I made sure to not buy anything too smooth so they wouldn't slip and fall). I have 4 small bottle cap sized dishes with some pebbles in them spread around the enclosure for water that I check daily. I have seen discussions about using a sponge much like you would for a hermit crab, but I have yet to upgrade to that.

My current heat source is a brooding lamp suspended about 2-3 feet above the enclosure aligned off to one side. It works, but I am looking to get something better. I don't quite like the heat mat idea, and haven't gone much into it.

They are being fed whatever soft bodied critter I am able to find and catch from my back yard. Typically crickets. However, from observation I think they prefer caterpillars but those have proven hard to find.
I am wanting to set up and maintain a feeder colony of crickets, and I have read alot about gut loading, but no actual details on what kind of specific nutrients Striped Barks need.

I will try to remember to post some pictures later on, but if you read this and have any input, I'd much appreciate it.

 

[Desert scorps]

Putting a sponge in the water dish is a HUGE no-no. It’s basically a breeding ground for fungus and bacteria, so standing water with pebbles in it is just fine.
Make sure these guys have vertical hides since they need to hang upside down to molt.
As for heating, I personally don’t heat my native species because my room is averaging around 85°F during the day and 75 at night in the summer, and in winter months my room averages around 70-75 during the day and 65-70 at night.
For my more heat-dependent species I use a heat mat, but I do know heat emitting bulbs work well. Just depends on what you prefer.
As for feeders, personally i’d recommend breeding roaches instead of crickets. Crickets are somewhat bad feeders in general, and take a lot more work to actually breed and maintain successfully. Roaches are extremely easy to care for, and breed like crazy so you’ll always have a good supply if given the time to grow in numbers. Not to mention they make no noise and have almost no smell, compared to crickets which are super annoying and smell awful.

 

[Chief101]

If you plan to add more scorpions I suggest get another tank not only do they need more space but mainly to separate the small ones and the big ones so they won’t cannibalize each other.

 

[Desert scorps]

If you plan to add more scorpions I suggest get another tank not only do they need more space but mainly to separate the small ones and the big ones so they won’t cannibalize each other.

10 gallon should still be good for a while even if he adds a few more

 

[Chief101]

10 gallon should still be good for a while even if he adds a few more

Yeh but any cannabilsm you should separate

 

[ChaoticKraken]

As for feeders, personally i’d recommend breeding roaches instead of crickets. Crickets are somewhat bad feeders in general, and take a lot more work to actually breed and maintain successfully. Roaches are extremely easy to care for, and breed like crazy so you’ll always have a good supply if given the time to grow in numbers. Not to mention they make no noise and have almost no smell, compared to crickets which are super annoying and smell awful.

I will have to look into feeder roaches. I have not come across anything about them yet. Any idea of a specific breed?

 

[ChaoticKraken]

Yeh but any cannabilsm you should separate

I have kept cannibalism in mind. So far they seem to get along fine. I assume as long as they are getting proper feeding, they wont have a need to turn on each other. I have been keeping an eye on them for this though.

 

[Desert scorps]

I will have to look into feeder roaches. I have not come across anything about them yet. Any idea of a specific breed?

My personal favorites are Red Runners, but I know a lot of people swear by Dubia as well. I just prefer red runners because they don’t burrow into the substrate like dubias do, that’s really the only reason I pick them over dubias.

 

[BearThompson]

Hello all.

Recently I began catching and keeping our local species of scorpion. We get a LOT around here and most people consider them pest. I've put the word out around town that I will gladly take any living specimen they catch as most people I know encounter them inside their homes and offices. I am trying my best to provide a sanctuary for these lil guys and have done a good bit of reading, and I find that I learn something new and interesting about them all the time.

As of today, I have 5 scorpions in my care of various sizes. Smallest being about an inch in total, and the largest being just over an inch not counting tail.

My current enclosure is a 10gal glass aquarium tank. Half of the tank has a raised soil bed and the other half has aquarium pebbles. I have included 2 decent sized hides and 5 smaller hides. (Fish decor, but its textured enough to be easy to crawl on. Yes, I made sure to not buy anything too smooth so they wouldn't slip and fall). I have 4 small bottle cap sized dishes with some pebbles in them spread around the enclosure for water that I check daily. I have seen discussions about using a sponge much like you would for a hermit crab, but I have yet to upgrade to that.

My current heat source is a brooding lamp suspended about 2-3 feet above the enclosure aligned off to one side. It works, but I am looking to get something better. I don't quite like the heat mat idea, and haven't gone much into it.

They are being fed whatever soft bodied critter I am able to find and catch from my back yard. Typically crickets. However, from observation I think they prefer caterpillars but those have proven hard to find.
I am wanting to set up and maintain a feeder colony of crickets, and I have read alot about gut loading, but no actual details on what kind of specific nutrients Striped Barks need.

I will try to remember to post some pictures later on, but if you read this and have any input, I'd much appreciate it.

That's the same species we have here in Arkansas (Centruoides vittatus). Although I don't think this species is particularly medically significant, I've looked high and low for any information regarding the LD50 of its venom, to no avail. Are you aware of any lists, published or otherwise, that specifies the LD50s of the various Centruoides species? Thanks.

 

[ChaoticKraken]

LD50s

Hey! Same state!

And no, sorry, I haven't come across any list about LD50s. But I haven't looked either. The only thing remotely close is I've read somewhere that there's over 2000 species world wide of scorpions, and that there are only 4 (maybe it was 5) that are registered to be toxic to humans, aside from personal allergies.

To be honest, I end up down some serious rabbit holes when I go reading and all the information and sources blur together.