My emperor gave birth!!

[pategirl]

Yay! My one and only scorpion has little ones crawling around on her underside at the moment. I don't know exactly how many, but there's at least one. I'm happy. This is the first invert to ever produce babies for me. I just hope I didn't disturb her too much by opening her container. I don't think filling her water made her too mad, but she did get a little defensive. I don't blame her, though. Do I feed the mom normally now that she has little ones around? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Bry]

Congratulations! I don't know about care for new mothers. But, do you need homes for any of the babies?

Bry

 

[pategirl]

So far I've only seen one...but I'll let you know!

 

[XOskeletonRED]

Feed the mother normally, just one prey item at a time. She'll feed the young for you.


adios,
edw.

Congrats!

 

[skinheaddave]

Pategirl,

You said underside? Have they already moulted and started to darken then? If they are still white and clinging to her, then don't disturb the mother. Don't even bother feeding her until they move off of her.

If, on the other hand, they are darkened and moving off her, then you can start providing food. If you only see one hanging around and it is already darkened, then I'd check the enclosure for other little guys that have already buggered off.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[pategirl]

They're white....she's still having them from what I can tell while spying on her through the glass of her house. From the looks of her belly, she's got a lot more left. I guess I'll have to wait and see, though.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

Interesting, Dave. I feed all of my females shortly after birth of young and by the time they come off her back, they are all fat and have a very healthy appearance. I have had great success so far, but I may just try it the way you are doing it to see how things come out differently from my present methods. I am virtually non-existant in the world of my scorps though, so other than them knowing food has arrived, they have no clue I'm there. I have found that I have cannibalism in extremely rare cases by the mother with this method (only one so far was a Hadogenes troglodytes which ate two scorplets prior to being fed). I have had quite a few people state their mother scorps had begun to eat the young and I always recommend that they feed the mother immediately and accordingly, the mothers have stopped cannibalizing them, so far. I also do not use crickets and such to feed them, unless it's a smaller scorpion (I use crix w/ legs removed). Larger scorps, such as Pandinus and Heterometrus, I use locusts (black/red locusts are native to my area) which have been de-winged and de-legged.


adios,
edw.

 

[Sean]

Originally posted by XOskeletonRED
, I use locusts (black/red locusts are native to my area) which have been de-winged and de-legged.


adios,
edw.

Do you feed ur scorps wild caught prey i have heard this is bad i was just wondering if you do if there is a procedure to doing it...cuz i have tonz of locusts and grass hoppers by my house i live on the far westside of phoenix where they really havent started building a whole lot there are a few trees where the locusts hang out and we get alot of bugs and stuff here so i was wondering if you can feed scorps and T's and things wild caught prey?thanks

Sean

 

[skinheaddave]

The young don't eat until after they get off her back. Until that point, they live off their stored energy, only taking moisture from their mother. While the mother may eat while they are on her back, there is also the risk that prey will stress her or will actualy get at some of the young. My preference is not to add anything until the young have undergone their first moult. At the same time, with my H.spinnifer there are always a few crickets in the tank so I have no control.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[skinheaddave]

Originally posted by Sean
i was wondering if you can feed scorps and T's and things wild caught prey?

Yes and no. The thing to realize is that you have less than perfect control over where the bug has been. If it is a pill bug that has lived under the same rock in your backyard its entire life then you just need to know if anyone around you is spraying pesticides etc. If it is something like a grasshopper, which can travel respectable distances, then I'd stay clear lest you get one that has been somewhere it shouldn't have been. This is, of course, my personal opinion. I have fed wild stuff to my scorps before when the conditions have been such that I know where they came from. I know people who consider that attempted murder. In the end, as with anything else in this game, consider the risks and benefits and make your own choice.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Sean]

Originally posted by skinheaddave
Yes and no. The thing to realize is that you have less than perfect control over where the bug has been. If it is a pill bug that has lived under the same rock in your backyard its entire life then you just need to know if anyone around you is spraying pesticides etc. If it is something like a grasshopper, which can travel respectable distances, then I'd stay clear lest you get one that has been somewhere it shouldn't have been. This is, of course, my personal opinion. I have fed wild stuff to my scorps before when the conditions have been such that I know where they came from. I know people who consider that attempted murder. In the end, as with anything else in this game, consider the risks and benefits and make your own choice.

Cheers,
Dave

Well to get to the grasshoppers u have to go alittle ways out into the desert i dont think anyone would be using pesticides out there....and where the locust are its like a jungle, all kinds of bugs crawling around and stuff pedes bark scorps all kinds of stuff its in a small tree area by the desert area kinda sounds confusing but yeah, i dunno if anywould be spraying that kind of stuff specially with cows running around and stuff

 

[XOskeletonRED]

That's interesting, Dave. Immediately after feeding my H. spinifer female, after the last birthing process, the young scorps had collected to her prosoma and a number of them stayed on the food for at least a period of an hour in apparent time limitations, per group. They were quite plump shortly thereafter. Immediately after the first molt had hardened well for each scorp, they had the same reaction of moving to the mother's prosoma and climbing onto the food. Noticeably, the food's softer components, disappeared quite rapidly and the mother was constantly holding the prey above her prosoma after killed, as if to attract the little ones (she broke it in half to expose the insides).
Soon after, when the young spinifers would come off her back for a minute or two at a time, I had several which would attack and kill prey, such as wingless fruit flies. Have you ever noticed this rapid aggressiveness towards prey items in any of your faster growing species? This was only two weeks after birth.
Strange feats.


adios,
edw. :?

 

[skinheaddave]

So you're saying first instar emps were eating? Can anyone else back this up?

As for agressivness, most scorps are pretty self-reliant once they seperate from their mother's backs.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[XOskeletonRED]

I'll film it during it's occurance after the next gravid female pops. I have no clue how to get a video on the computer, though. I don't think my software will allow me to. If you have any ideas as to a method I may use, I'd like to hear them. The same occured with Hadogenes troglodytes, though she stung the prey first. She's probably closer to popping than the spinifers, so I may just film her and her young. She wasn't nearly as comforting to myself when doing such, because she was in the process of eating it as well.

adios,
edw.

EDIT (had to research some of my documents): I'll probably break out with a microscope on it. Knowing me, I'll probably attempt to film and photograph through the microscope as well. I'm curious as to know whether they were merely using it as exterior fluid hydration method or whether it goes somewhat deeper than that and into interior fluids consumption (drinking/eating). It's pretty obvious that the scorp's exoskeleton wouldn't have hardened enough to crush any of the prey's exoskeleton, much less, the chelicerae, considering it was a friggin' three + inch long locust in both situations. :?

 

[Longbord1]

will the mother emporrer eat the babies if left in the cage to long

 

[XOskeletonRED]

If the mother is not fed well, she may result to cannibalism of the young, yes. If fed well, I have personally never had a scorp cannibalised.


adios,
edw.

 

[PrincessToad]

I was just reading through this thread. I am new to the scorpion game and my black emp. had babies over the weekend. I like the theory of feeding her right away. Should I kill the prey before I put it in with her? I have also heard that the temps in the cage need to be higher than normal. I keep them at about 80 now will this be sufficient? About how long does it take for the babies to molt for the first time? Also how soon can I move the male back into the cage with the mother and babies? Thanks.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

The prey, in which I used immediately after scorp birth had stopped, was a very large item. Actually, it was about the same size as the scorpion (she was in her burrow, so the young could not be harmed, because it could've never gotten past her claws guarding the burrow and I guarded as well). I don't recommend feeding the scorp anything too small, unless it's already dead. The small food being hand fed to the scorp is the best way, so it doesn't go to waste. If she doesn't eat it, remove it and try back again a few hours later. The mothers have quite a tendency to refrain from eating young when normal food is in their claws. Scorps have a tendency to eat their food right where they caught it as well, which helps prevent any scorplets which have fallen off her back from staying off her back for long and she'll also move a little slower if fed as well. As for temps, scorps work the same way as ts and spiders and it is best to have a warmer area and cooler area in the enclosure. 85/85 is best but I think it was Dave said, he runs one side to around 95, so the other side should stay at around 80 to 85.


adios,
edw.

bed time, now!

 

[jper26]

My emporer just had babies today five came out so far just my luck the stupid crickets just had babies in the cage so i had to remove mommy so the crickets didnt hurt them.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

well, congrats on the little ones!


adios,
edw.