is my AFS Eating springtails

[CRX]

Yeah, mine has springtails in his enclosure too, they routinely crawl all over him. I don't how I'd be able to molt with all those things, but he does it somehow.

 

[adam james]

That's a third instar? Looks more then that to be honest. My Emperor Imperator is at 3i and it's way smaller then yours. That looks more of a 4i but in my opinion.

I have no experience, but he is pretty small. In the third image (in the post with multiple images), that cup that was his hide, is a solo-cup shot glass.

In the case that he is 4i, does that mean has 3 molts left or four? he is max 2" chelicera to telson with metasoma straight.
how much larger do they get per molt?

 

[adam james]

Springtails are safe. I have heard stories of certain species of isopods eating molting scorps, but I've not experienced it personally.

I agree that your scorpion looks more like an i4. It seems to be a Heterometrus silenus.

Is it the dark telson? I asked the breeder before i ordered that I wanted to make sure it was a spinifer and not a silenus. I wanted orange or red telson, and general larger size , or a longimanus (but they are not around here at all it seems). Basically i wanted an emperor and could not get one, so i wanted something afs that was similar in appearance, and we have no swammeradami's here that i can find either.

 

[Veno Manus]

If you were local I could get you a 3i Imperator Pandinus

Is it the dark telson? I asked the breeder before i ordered that I wanted to make sure it was a spinifer and not a silenus. I wanted orange or red telson, and general larger size , or a longimanus (but they are not around here at all it seems). Basically i wanted an emperor and could not get one, so i wanted something afs that was similar in appearance, and we have no swammeradami's here that i can find either.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Is it the dark telson? I asked the breeder before i ordered that I wanted to make sure it was a spinifer and not a silenus. I wanted orange or red telson, and general larger size , or a longimanus (but they are not around here at all it seems). Basically i wanted an emperor and could not get one, so i wanted something afs that was similar in appearance, and we have no swammeradami's here that i can find either.

The dark telson is one of the characteristics. The granulation is also already clearly visible despite it being a juvenile.
The sellers have no idea which Heterometrus species they're selling most of the time.
The species that have a reddish telson when adult (P. imperator, H. spinifer, and to a lesser extent H. longimanus and J. cyaneus) will have pale, almost white telsons as juveniles.
Still, I feel that any Heterometrinae species is a decent alternative to an emperor.

 

[adam james]

The dark telson is one of the characteristics. The granulation is also already clearly visible despite it being a juvenile.
The sellers have no idea which Heterometrus species they're selling most of the time.
The species that have a reddish telson when adult (P. imperator, H. spinifer, and to a lesser extent H. longimanus and J. cyaneus) will have pale, almost white telsons as juveniles.
Still, I feel that any Heterometrinae species is a decent alternative to an emperor.

Thank you. My main concern will be that I plan to breed this one once I can determine its gender.
The breeder I got it from said he could get sex out a mate when I am ready to determine what i need.

Now that I have the scorp, it makes no difference to me what its telson color is, etc. I like it all the same However can/do scorpions mate with siblings? is there any risk genetic wise, and should I source the mate from a different brood?
If not, then the original breeder will probably be my best bet for a mate as It will be the same spec.

Thanks!

 

[Veno Manus]

This is an Imperator Pandinus. My female.

 

[adam james]

This is an Imperator Pandinus. My female. View attachment 460042

That is a fine looking specimen

 

[Veno Manus]

She's a jerk lol. But yes she's my biggest, sassiest scorpion. She had a 16 count brood of some even sassier babies. I only kept 1 of them. And kinda hoping it's a female cause it's still young in the 3i stage.

That is a fine looking specimen

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Thank you. My main concern will be that I plan to breed this one once I can determine its gender.
The breeder I got it from said he could get sex out a mate when I am ready to determine what i need.

Now that I have the scorp, it makes no difference to me what its telson color is, etc. I like it all the same However can/do scorpions mate with siblings? is there any risk genetic wise, and should I source the mate from a different brood?
If not, then the original breeder will probably be my best bet for a mate as It will be the same spec.

Thanks!

Inbreeding is not a direct health concern, but when it is done over multiple generations, specimens will get smaller, so it is preferable to add unrelated blood into the gene pool every once in a while. Since H. silenus is so commonly imported, the bloodlines have received very little to no inbreeding, so I personally wouldn't worry.

 

[adam james]

I just wanted to come back to this thread and add that while my scorpion does look premolt, it still has not molted yet. Terrarium has plenty of humidity and moisture, and temps sit from 73 - 76F on average. Feeding once every two weeks with a largish cricket, a bit more often every 1.5 wks with the smaller ones. Would this be normal time (8 months) to molt for a 2.5" (4i ?) silenus? Or does this mean its actually further along and/or a lot older than i was told when I purchased?