My First Scorp, and Ive Got Some Questions

XzotticAnimal420

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
85
Hey everyone,

Ive been a T keeper for nearly 15 years, and a few days ago my boyfriend brought home two P. Imperators from the LPS. He asked for a male and a female, and Im pretty sure thats what we got (I can post pics later to confirm) but being that I have never had a scorp in my life, I have a few questions. My male looks to be 1 instar older than my female, he is bigger but I dont think he is fully grown. Id say just guessing that he is about 4.5" from pincher to the base of his tail, and she is just under 4". Id like to see them breed in the future but I read that Emps dont reach sexual maturity until around the 4th or 5th instar, and that the females are usually larger than the males.

How can I tell how old they are?

Is it likely that with her next molt my female will be larger than my male?..and possibly be ready to mate in the near future?


They get along great, but the male hides in the cave and the female is constantly burrowing...I read in the same book that females will often dig a burrow when they are pregnant. Im not thinking that this is likely with my female since she is smaller than my male and apparently not sexually mature yet..

But could it be?


The LPS was feeding them crickets, but I feed my T's roaches so thats what I have been offering them, but I havent had any luck getting them to eat. They dont even try to kill the roaches, they just ignore them.

Any suggestions?


I have found a few sites with "care sheets" for Emps, but I havent found anything with really good, detailed info about them.

Anyone know of any really good Imperator info sites?


Thanks in advance for any help.
 

dairy

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
295
A couple of things that will help others help you:

Pics - preferably with something for size comparison

Measuring - from the mouth parts to the tip of the tail (stretched out) - ignore the reach of the claws

Sexing - Pics of the underside, the clearer the better. It needs to show the pectines and genital operculum

Emps reach maturity at 7th or 8th instar and AFAIK are not able to successfully pop a brood before then. You can tell when they're mature as the tip of the tail will change from white to red/orange. The rate at which they grow is really variable based on feeding and temperature so it's hard to say how old they are without knowing how they were kept.

The burrowing is normal for any Emp, gravid or not. The juvies especially. It's not a good indicator that you've got a gravid Emp. The only gravid emp I've kept had a couple of burrows dug within a week of bringing her home and she didn't pop for another couple of months.

As far as the roaches, IDK. If they're hungry enough I'm sure they'll take one. They can go a long time without eating (I've kept juvies that didn't eat for a month) and they'll be perfectly fine. If they haven't eaten after a week or two you could try offering crix. They will also scavenge - try a prekilled roach in front of the burrow.

There are about 10000000 Emp threads on these boards. Try searching and browsing through some of the topics. You're bound to find some.

When they are mature you should have no trouble getting them to mate. It's ridiculously easy. Basically, keep them together and provide a flat hard surface like a piece of slate. Gestation is ~9 months.

Enjoy your new addiction :)
 

cannabeast

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Messages
143
"There are about 10000000 Emp threads on these boards. Try searching and browsing through some of the topics. You're bound to find some." LOL

yeah i know some really good emperor scorpion sites. they werent very hard to find either; thats just because i have google chrome, it would be super difficult with iexplorer.... if you had iexplorer you would have to go to http://www.google.com
then from there you have to type in pandinus imperator or emperor scorpion care, or something like that.

http://www.pandinusimperator.nl/EN/story_EN.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_scorpion

http://www.redtailboa.net/forums/ar...r-scorpion-pandinus-imperator-care-sheet.html

http://www.care-sheet.com/index/Pandinus_imperator

hey with my experience, crickets suck. they seem to like roaches a lot more. but if you are feeding them constantly, they get slow metabolism and wont eat for a long time.maybe wait a couple of weeks then feed them a couple of fat roaches.. yeah use the right substrate and keep the right humidity, make sure they have enough hides, food and water in a small dish to dip their pinchers in and drink at night.... they are too high maintenence, but they are worth having because they are so big. grats on your new pets, and welcome to scorpions!
 
Last edited:

XzotticAnimal420

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
85
Ok, sorry it took so long. Here are a few pictures of the pair. I couldnt get any good shots of the undersides..Im still not comfortable with handling them and I didnt want to "make them" show me their pectines so here are a few overhead shots. Im more concerned in knowing about how old they are but if you can tell the sexes at all by these pictures, Id accept guesses ;)

..and sorry, but I didnt have anything else to show size comparison handy, so the AA battery is whatcha get.











I believe the smaller of the two is the female, but how old do you think they are? And I thought I read that the females grow to be larger than the males..correct?
 

dairy

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
295
It looks like you have one mature and one juvy there, the smaller of the two being the juvy.

As far as age the mature one is likely > 1.5years and the juvy < 1.5 years. There's no way to narrow it down definitively.

It's hard to tell from the pictures what the other side of the enclosure is like (looks damp) but the substrate they're sitting on looks pretty dry. It's not a problem as long as the other side is indeed more moist.

To get shots of the pectines without handling you can A) wait for them to glass dance and take a picture through the tank wall or B) place a container inside the tank and use a "poke stick" to coax them into it and then slide them out into a container with a clear bottom. Or you could just go for it with the handling :) I promise that if you get stung or pinched it wont hurt me a bit :p

Edit: Without ventral pics there's no way to make an educated guess at the sex.

The scorps themselves look good. The juvy is definitely plump but I'd guess you've got at least a few months before it molts again.

AA battery works great for size comparison - doesn't matter where you go a AA is the same size. It does make me wonder if scorps are conductive though :p
 

H. laoticus

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
1,017
Hey there
You should dump water onto the substrate so it's thoroughly damp. They're a forest species and need high humidity.
 

XzotticAnimal420

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
85
Ok, thanks for the advice. I have added water and the substrate is now nice and moist. I will try and get a ventral shot for sexing.

Dairy~ So when you say one is mature and one is a juvy, do you mean, one is full grown and in 6th or 7th instar? As in ready for breeding? I read somewhere that Imperators dont reach their sexual maturity until their 6th or 7th instar which usually isnt until they are 3 or 4 years old.
 

dairy

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
295
IIRC 7th instar is mature for most Emps. Others get an extra molt in there and are mature at 8th. I wouldn't stake anything on that as a fact but I vaguely remember something about gender being a factor.

I say the larger of the two is mature based on the color of the telson. It looks uniformly darkened and about the right color. If I'm right then it is ready to breed.

Growth is really variable depending on how they're kept. Kept at 75-85 and fed 2 crickets twice per week I'd expect an Emp to mature in about two years. Maybe someone with more experience raising Emps will chime it.

I've got a brood right now (well, the remnants of a brood - gonna beat my old roomie if I ever see him again 'cause he killed off over half of them) that are coming up on 1.5 years, are still at 5th instar and have been there for months with no signs of showing premolt. But then again I've been keeping them at 60-70 and feeding 5 crickets about once a month.

I haven't done it but I've read that if you keep them at ~85 and feed a cricket a day they grow like crazy and can mature in well under 2 years.

In any case 4 years is a very slow growing Emp.

If you really want to start breeding right away take a look at the Sexing Emps sticky then head down to the pet store and find yourself a female with a dark telson. With a little luck you can find a fat female with a dark telson and skip the part where you have to wait 9 months for gestation :)
 
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