Just got a baby liocheles australasiae

[Bubbik]

Hi,
First of all I'm new here nice to meet you all.
So, I just got my first pet scorpion and I thought I did a lot of good research and was ready.... but now I have her.
And I am second guessing some things. She is a 1/4" liocheles australasiae or dwarf wood scorpion that I am feeding fruit flies, and I think she might be eating springtails as well.
Its her enclosure I'm more worried about. She is super small and requires fairly high humidity especially as a scorpling. So I set up a 3oz mason jar wit about an inch of sub a wood chip (apple) and some sphagnum moss. Only 2 little holes in the lid to retain moisture. Is that ok? Do I just kinda feed her and leave her alone till she gets bigger? should I check on her sometimes? I found info on how to set it up but not really what to do after. any help would be appreciated
Thanks.
Bubbik

Decided to add photos

 

[Kada]

My personal opinion, especially having witnessed them in the wild in my country quite a lot, is a mason type jar isn't nearly well ventilated enough.

Personally I would use something with side ventilation. Plastic is easier to melt/cut holes in. Otherwise something with a wider structure to allow at least a little more air movement. Here, in the wild, they are often found in and around dead wood for prey, which always is shaded, humid and with very good air circulation. I feel they need this air circulation, even if they decide to hide from the light. A similar sized deli cup with a few decent air vents punched in the sides, including near soil level, would be ideal. Some wood sticks/bark to climb on/hideunder might be beneficial as well. I see them nearly 100% of the time off ground, on wood. Not fossorial. Not arboreal.

 

[Bubbik]

Thank you for that. I'm trying to do this right. Will makes those changes tonight. I definitely have better containers knowing they want more air flow.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Agreed. Also fruit flies and springtails tend to be a bad main food source and many scorplings crash if only fed this long term. Pinhead crickets or the tiniest possible roaches provide more nutrition. You could squish the prey items if they are too big, and the scorpion will eat the insides. Remove after a day.

 

[Bubbik]

What about mealworm segments? That's the recommendation i got previously and have started a colony. I was planning on that being her next meal. I've only had her a week so she hasn't eaten much yet, but its definitely good to know sooner than later.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

It's better than flies/springtails that's for sure. Roaches/crickets are definitely a lot more nutritious, but I've had success with mealworms too.

 

[Bubbik]

Thanks for the advice, looks like I should probably at least get some crickets too. Should I mix it up between different feeders to get a variety of nutrients?

 

[Joey Spijkers]

You don't have to, but it can be good.

 

[Kada]

I find the species fairly easy. Generally speaking. I have only kept a couple relatively short term so my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. My thoughts are, however, flies eat fruit and similar foods and are not at all in line with where this species naturally lives. Things like termites, cockroaches, crickets all eat various fungi/wood/soil related food stuffs and it seems plausible this may be more beneficial than say a fruitbfly that only eats a potato mash, or mango, or etc. Purely a guess. I like cockroaches because they eat both decaying woody materials as well as fruit, and they seem a good middle ground. Of course, this depends on species..

 

[Bubbik]

I'm not sure about getting termites but I could get one of the other roach types. I put her in a larger enclosure with more airflow and pieces of wood, and she immediately burrowed. Though she is so tiny its hard to find her anyways. At least I'll have a variety of options ready and guy loaded for when she shows up.

 

[Kada]

For sure, I was just commenting on wild food types I see them eating. When I kept mine, they did well on small roaches, isopods etc. I'm not raising ants, termites etc either!

 

[Bubbik]

ok good, yea trying to raise termites for her food kinda seemed like a step too far. Your advice has been very helpful. It's nice getting advice from someone who lives in the actual range. I live on a mountain in Colorado so my idea of how a tropical ecosystem works is probably flawed.

 

[Kada]

They are pretty simple and easy in my opinion. But I haven't raised multiple generations in captivity either. I have fed them various roach species, small crickets, isopods. I must admit, back in the day, I would feed random wild termites I had in my garden if i was out of feeders i raised. A practice I am now extremely against (wild food). Relatively simple. Ideally small and slow is easier for them. Their claws are small, stinger tiny and they aren't super acrobatic nor fast. Which is probably why they like sitting under bark waiting for the never ending food train of termites and ants walking by. Picking them off at their leisure haha.

I may be wrong, but my observations haven't ever put them into the "aggressive" feeder/hunter category. For sure grubs would be on the diet as well, I would presume. So mealworms are probably fine as well.

 

[Bubbik]

Honestly at this point losing her in her enclosure is my biggest concern since she is just s little speck, and is the shyest pet I've had so far. But as long as she has what she needs in there she will pretty much take care of herself.
Is being against wild caught food just because of pesticides?

 

[Kada]

Honestly at this point losing her in her enclosure is my biggest concern since she is just s little speck, and is the shyest pet I've had so far. But as long as she has what she needs in there she will pretty much take care of herself.
Is being against wild caught food just because of pesticides?

My company is organic agriculture. So I dont worry at all about sprays as i can garauntee there are none with constant testing and controlling the entire operation (ie. There are no sprays). I worry more about pathogens and parasites. Not only my pet getting wild pathogens, but also wild prey contracting foreign pathogens via my pet and possibly releasing them into my environment. I worry more about the latter to be honest. I have taken a fairly strong stance on separating wild and captive animals in recent years due to this risk. But that is perhaps a discussion for another thread. That is, however, my reasoning

As an aside. Although I feed them isopods sometimes, I recommend not keeping isopods in the same enclosure. I have seen them munch in various critters in the wild, presumably due to molting or other such traumatic experiences. Ants are also extremely aggressive. Stick to the normal stuff, they should be fine. I just think flies are pointless personally.