Leiurus Quinquestriatus sting

[RMLeone]

Hello I am new to this forum having just discovered it. I'm am not a new keeper and I have many scorpions. They include Androctonus Australis, Garzoni, Hector, Liouvillei, Amoreuxi, Buthacus Leptochelys Nitzani, Hottentotta Tamulus, Judaicus, Franzwerneri, Parabuthus Granulatus, Villosus Oranje, Schlechteri, Leiurus Quinquestriatus, Heberti.

This past summer my adult female Leiurus Quinquestriatus gave birth to 20 healthy babies. After they left mom's back I separated the babies and kept them in individual snap top boxes. The babies who are about the size of a dime now are kept in small boxes so I can ensure they succeed in feeding and growing. Feeding time is always interesting however they are now learning they can get up the side using their tail. So a few weeks ago during one of the feeding one climbed up the side and was teetering on the edge and I just sort of instinctively put my hand to block it. Some of the babies are more excitable than others, I've had an escape before and the baby crawled onto my hand and I put it back. (with my adults and juveniles/sub adults they are never handled and tongs are always used) being that these babies are about the size of a US dime I never used tongs because it may harm them. I didn't even think about being stung. ( yes I am well aware of the potency of my species venom) anyway this baby did not like that I blocked its escape and it stung me in my pinky.

So I'd like to explain the sensation and experience here.
The initial sting was not severe pain wise but it definitely knew I was stung. I calmly wrangled the baby back into the box gently. I then washed the sting site, by this time parenthesis has began to set in with localized pain. I called for an Uber ride to the Hospital ( approximately 45 minutes for the ride to arrive and go to the ER) I could feel the venom coursing up my arm and by time I arrived it was already up to my lymph nodes my finger, my knuckle and my elbow was hurting. I was feeling the effects of scorpionism by the time I arrived in the ER. Just putting any running water on my hand hurt, it felt as if I had road rash, my right knuckle felt as if I punched a wall and either bruised it very bad or fractured it. I could feel the venom hit my right chest/lung by now.( approximately an hour has passed. The ER having never dealt with a scorpion sting had to call poison control to see what they needed to do of course this took more time as the Dr. Had to be the intermediary, he asked what was the species and where did it come from. I told him Leiurus Quinquestriatus and I told him this is my pet and the region it comes from. So now over an hour and a half passed before I received medical treatment, they took my vitals and it was OK so they gave me a tetanus shot and a pain relief shot ( which didn't help) gave me some over the counter meds and sent me home after a few hours of observation.

Where would I rate this pain? Possibly a 6/10. My pinky and arm hurt nonstop for 24 hrs at least. My hand felt as if I punched a wall, scraped the skin off my knuckle and lit it on fire. I would say a bee sting hurt more as far as pain goes, but where a bee sting stops hurting fairly quick, this was the gift that keeps on giving.

I'm not sure if do to its size and age that I did not experience a worse case of scorpionism, but I will say I definitely will not be working with the babies without a spoon ( since the spoon is too slick for them to grip, I use spoons to wrangle the babies I get after they leave mom's back)

Overall I'd say that I got lucky, and nobody should free handle medically significant Scorpions.

I still love my scorpions and am not mad at the baby as it was 100% my fault and scorpions just do what scorpions do. I have plans to expand my collection after I move in May or June.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Medically significant scorpion sting of healthy adults are highly variable and unpredictable, the stings can range from mild to serious. But medically significant scorpions stings can be a very serious to deadly matter if there are pre-existing health issues e.g. respiratory, blood pressure, cardial, diabetes, etc. But adult deaths from scorpion stings are very rare. Also, other factors that can play a role in the seriousness of scorpion sting, amount of venom injected and number of stings, the season, the diet of the scorpion, the health of the scorpion, the maturity of the scorpion, and lastly, the victim's tolerance level or susceptibility.

The greater majority of human mortalities associated with scorpion envenomations occur between >1 y/o to >15 y/o. This is due to numerous factors:

Higher concentration of venom per a volume of blood, smaller corporeal body mass, and greater density of the voltage-gated sodium channels that results in a higher sensitivity to the venom’s action on a child's nervous system.

The lowest risk groups are healthy adults ranging between <18 years old to >50 years old with a much lower occurance of life threatening envenomations. But it is smart to report to the hospital immediately because delayed hospital treatment can increase risk of serious envenomations due to the toxins advancing through the body and its organs and delayed use of antivenom (if it is available) decreases its effectiveness.

 

[RMLeone]

I do have health issues and I probably dodged a bullet, I will definitely be more careful in the future!

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

I do have health issues and I probably dodged a bullet, I will definitely be more careful in the future!

Yes, please be careful because you belong to one of the higher risk groups which includes the pediatric >15 and the elderly <50.

 

[RMLeone]

Most definitely I am 54 have borderline high blood pressure, respiratory as well as potentially leukemia now, so this gal is going to not take chances in the future even from babies.

 

[Arachnopets]

The official sting report can be found here:

Scorpion - Leiurus quinquestriatus

Leiurus quinquestriatus sting reports

arachnoboards.com

Thank you @RMLeone for sharing your experience with all of us.

 

[RMLeone]

The official sting report can be found here:

Scorpion - Leiurus quinquestriatus

Leiurus quinquestriatus sting reports

arachnoboards.com

Thank you @RMLeone for sharing your experience with all of us.

I completed it in the sting report this one can delete

 

[Taffy]

Hello I am new to this forum having just discovered it. I'm am not a new keeper and I have many scorpions. They include Androctonus Australis, Garzoni, Hector, Liouvillei, Amoreuxi, Buthacus Leptochelys Nitzani, Hottentotta Tamulus, Judaicus, Franzwerneri, Parabuthus Granulatus, Villosus Oranje, Schlechteri, Leiurus Quinquestriatus, Heberti.

This past summer my adult female Leiurus Quinquestriatus gave birth to 20 healthy babies. After they left mom's back I separated the babies and kept them in individual snap top boxes. The babies who are about the size of a dime now are kept in small boxes so I can ensure they succeed in feeding and growing. Feeding time is always interesting however they are now learning they can get up the side using their tail. So a few weeks ago during one of the feeding one climbed up the side and was teetering on the edge and I just sort of instinctively put my hand to block it. Some of the babies are more excitable than others, I've had an escape before and the baby crawled onto my hand and I put it back. (with my adults and juveniles/sub adults they are never handled and tongs are always used) being that these babies are about the size of a US dime I never used tongs because it may harm them. I didn't even think about being stung. ( yes I am well aware of the potency of my species venom) anyway this baby did not like that I blocked its escape and it stung me in my pinky.

So I'd like to explain the sensation and experience here.
The initial sting was not severe pain wise but it definitely knew I was stung. I calmly wrangled the baby back into the box gently. I then washed the sting site, by this time parenthesis has began to set in with localized pain. I called for an Uber ride to the Hospital ( approximately 45 minutes for the ride to arrive and go to the ER) I could feel the venom coursing up my arm and by time I arrived it was already up to my lymph nodes my finger, my knuckle and my elbow was hurting. I was feeling the effects of scorpionism by the time I arrived in the ER. Just putting any running water on my hand hurt, it felt as if I had road rash, my right knuckle felt as if I punched a wall and either bruised it very bad or fractured it. I could feel the venom hit my right chest/lung by now.( approximately an hour has passed. The ER having never dealt with a scorpion sting had to call poison control to see what they needed to do of course this took more time as the Dr. Had to be the intermediary, he asked what was the species and where did it come from. I told him Leiurus Quinquestriatus and I told him this is my pet and the region it comes from. So now over an hour and a half passed before I received medical treatment, they took my vitals and it was OK so they gave me a tetanus shot and a pain relief shot ( which didn't help) gave me some over the counter meds and sent me home after a few hours of observation.

Where would I rate this pain? Possibly a 6/10. My pinky and arm hurt nonstop for 24 hrs at least. My hand felt as if I punched a wall, scraped the skin off my knuckle and lit it on fire. I would say a bee sting hurt more as far as pain goes, but where a bee sting stops hurting fairly quick, this was the gift that keeps on giving.

I'm not sure if do to its size and age that I did not experience a worse case of scorpionism, but I will say I definitely will not be working with the babies without a spoon ( since the spoon is too slick for them to grip, I use spoons to wrangle the babies I get after they leave mom's back)

Overall I'd say that I got lucky, and nobody should free handle medically significant Scorpions.

I still love my scorpions and am not mad at the baby as it was 100% my fault and scorpions just do what scorpions do. I have plans to expand my collection after I move in May or June.

sheesh, these little critters are incredible with how much pain they can cause. glad to hear it wasn’t worse.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

sheesh, these little critters are incredible with how much pain they can cause. glad to hear it wasn’t worse.

Yes, species of Buthid can have very painful stings this is due to defensive toxins that can induce intense pain in mammals and in regards to medically significant species possess other toxins with a potent toxicity towards mammals. It is a remarkable survival strategy carried on for millions of years that was triggered by an onslaught of insectivorous mammal predators.

 

[Taffy]

Yes, species of Buthid can have very painful stings this is due to defensive toxins that can induce intense pain in mammals and in regards to medically significant species possess other toxins with a potent toxicity towards mammals. It is a remarkable survival strategy carried on for millions of years that was triggered by an onslaught of insectivorous mammal predators.

yea they’re super cool. i love my Buthids, don’t own as many as i wish but i certainly love the ones that i do own.

 

[RMLeone]

yea they’re super cool. i love my Buthids, don’t own as many as i wish but i certainly love the ones that i do own.

Me too I love all my animals they are such incredible animals who have lived millions of years, inhabit every continent except Antarctica and have evolved to be so adapted. I definitely want more, and I will not stop caring about them and sharing these incredible animals, showing they are helpful to humans and there is much to appreciate about them. 1 sting is not going to detere me from raising them. I also learned a valuable lesson that even babies can sting. I've changed my tactics now placing the boxes in a glass bakeware and having a spoon near by in case of future escapes. I have found that many have such a wide range of personality. Some are just spicy, some are extremely docile and some are runners.

 

[Vice]

Thank you for sharing your story. I only got stung once from a Hottentotta Hottentotta. The impact felt like my hand was hit by a hammer. After that it felt like I put my whole arm in a deep fryer... That pain lasted for about 10 hours. Thankfully I was a healthy young adult and no real medical supervision was needed. I also got send home after a couple of hours of observation with painkillers (who also didn't help).

 

[RMLeone]

Thank you for sharing your story. I only got stung once from a Hottentotta Hottentotta. The impact felt like my hand was hit by a hammer. After that it felt like I put my whole arm in a deep fryer... That pain lasted for about 10 hours. Thankfully I was a healthy young adult and no real medical supervision was needed. I also got send home after a couple of hours of observation with painkillers (who also didn't help).

Right pain relief didn't help at all. Just glad we lived to tell about it. I hope we never get stung again.

 

[darkness975]

Hopefully the doctors didn't use the opportunity to make snide comments about invertebrate keepers.

 

[RMLeone]

Hopefully the doctors didn't use the opportunity to make snide comments about invertebrate keepers.

Yeah too many "activists" trying to paint keepes and the animals we keep in a bad light. There is not any keeper I know that doesn't care about the animals they keep and of course we love animals. The truth is the animals in our care have way better lives than if they were in the wild. Many of us responsibly keep our animals from captive bred stocks, thereby letting native populations to thrive. Accidents do happen even to the best professionals, such as snake milkers who provide a valuable service, even that field has accidental bites and they exercise extreme caution, sometimes animals get the best of us. Most of the pushback from people are uneducated people who have never kept the animals nor educated themselves by speaking to keepers.

I of course have some disagreement in handling of dangerous animals without purpose, such as picking up venomous snakes in the wild without proper tools. I also don't think they should be a prop or photo op for social media.

Still the percentage of any scorpion fatalities is so small ( approximately 3k) when taken into account that there is nearly 9 billion people, 3k is miniscule, more people die by dog attacks in the US alone than all the the scorpions and snakes combined as well as sharks.

We all care about animals deeply and respect them, we don't need a clueless person using an accident to say "see this is why we need to ban them"

I will always keep inverts, and of course I learned from this experience and I immediately changed my protocols when dealing with the babies. I'd love to say I will never be stung again in the future but animals sometimes are unpredictable and change from their normal behaviors.

I know a professional scorpion researcher who collects venom for valuable research and they got stung, it happens but we shouldn't be vilified for it.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Right pain relief didn't help at all. Just glad we lived to tell about it. I hope we never get stung again.

Absolutely, accidents can and do happen. But we should always put sound safety protocols first e.g. never use bare hands in the place of tongs/hemostats combined with catch cups, use specially designated deeper plastic shoeboxes/coatboxes/tote boxes to provide an extra layer of holding cell containment for feedings and maintenance of smaller subadult or juvenile individuals that may be housed in smaller more portable enclosures such as reptile deli cups and/or square cups, ventilated tackle boxes and/or small parts organizers, etc. Scorpions are not difficult animals to safely manage considering their size, strike range, and ease of containment.

 

[darkness975]

Most of the pushback from people are uneducated people who have never kept the animals nor educated themselves by speaking to keepers.

In a nutshell, yes. They love their cat or dog even though they do more damage to the environment than almost any other invasive species, save for humans and farm animals. But by all means pick on the responsible exotic keeper.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Thank you for sharing your story. I only got stung once from a Hottentotta Hottentotta. The impact felt like my hand was hit by a hammer. After that it felt like I put my whole arm in a deep fryer... That pain lasted for about 10 hours. Thankfully I was a healthy young adult and no real medical supervision was needed. I also got send home after a couple of hours of observation with painkillers (who also didn't help).

Yes, Sub-Saharan Africa offers little in the way of scorpion epidemiological studies. But a H. hottentotta is suspected of killing a 2 year old child in Nigeria. But Hottentotta species of this region do not appear to be nearly as toxic as some species from North Africa and Asia most notably H. gentili and the notorious H. tamulus. But never throw caution to the wind and always be safe. But yes, Hottentotta stings can sure as hell smart. I know of a ex-European hobbyist and breeder that has claimed to have been stung multiple times by H. jayakari that he used to breed with no serious effects just localized pain. Iran recently put H. jayakari on their list of medically important scorpions due to prolonged treatment of pediatric stings and one pediatric case of a sting producing bone marrow infection. (Medically important can be a broad nebulous term.) I reiterate always be safe, better safe than sorry.

 

[RMLeone]

Yes, Sub-Saharan Africa offers little in the way of scorpion epidemiological studies. But a H. hottentotta is suspected of killing a 2 year old child in Nigeria. But Hottentotta species of this region do not appear to be nearly as toxic as some species from North Africa and Asia most notably H. gentili and the notorious H. tamulus. But never throw caution to the wind and always be safe. But yes, Hottentotta stings can sure as hell smart. I know of a ex-European hobbyist and breeder that has claimed to have been stung multiple times by H. jayakari that he used to breed with no serious effects just localized pain. Iran recently put H. jayakari on their list of medically important scorpions due to prolonged treatment of pediatric stings and one pediatric case of a sting producing bone marrow infection. (Medically important can be a broad nebulous term.) I reiterate always be safe, better safe than sorry.

Yes I agree, I definitely changed my protocol when dealing with my babies and juveniles. I now keep tools nearby and I place my deli cups and snap top boxes in a glass bake ware dish that has high sides and since the glass is too smooth to climb they will be much easier to recapture if they climb their container. I've had my L.Quinquestriatus climb on my hand in the past, I didn't try to get him to do this, I remained calm while in shock in my mind he just climbed back in on his own. After my sting from a baby I definitely changed thank God it wasn't my adult that stung me. My adults are hit and miss some days they can be calm other days they will threat display me just going by the enclosure.

My female Leiurus Quinquestriatus sometimes is cranky