My PetSmart Scorpion had babies

[Amimia]

Good morning all,

As the title says, about a year ago I bought a petsmart scorpion as a rescue. It was sold as an Emperor Scorpion, but considering it was bright green under a light, after some research I decided to just call it a H. longimanus (I could definitely be wrong.)
Anyway, the actual question: I woke up this morning and she had little white babies clinging to her back. What do I do now?

For reference, this is my second scorpion. She gets fed crickets, lives on cocofiber, has some flat rocks and a hide. She's always been a very active and healthy scorpion. (Sorry for the reflections in the picture)

Also, I should mention, as of now she is still currently having babies (Not sur eod the correct term, sorry.) She's being left alone in a dark room.

 

[G. Carnell]

Keep leaving her alone in the dark room! No need to feed her at the moment

make sure it is warm/hot and humid - after about 1.5 weeks the babies will moult, a further week will see them start coming off her back (this is the point where its OK to separate them)

Any disturbance/feeding/etc will increase the chance of her eating the babies! This includes taking photos sadly

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

Yeah, as long as you keep a careful eye on when the babies get off her back and NOT disturb her, it should be smooth sailing. Collect them from her tank and either sell or keep them. I'm sure people would jump on them right away if sold For care, there are many caresheets of baby scorps on this forum. Awesome you got a gravid scorp!

 

[Amimia]

Another question regarding the scorplings... When I separate them and give them their individual enclosures, would something with the dimensions 4" across and 1.5" deep work? Is that too big or too small?

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

That seems really big for one. Communally, it could work, but communal is risky. What works well for a lot of people are either fish/tackle boxes (with compartments that have movable borders on each box) or just plain old deli cups. These scorpions will be tiny, probably about .5", so you'd probably want to save space and go with a container at max 2" by 2".

 

[Dovey]

What wee cuties! How lucky you are.

 

[gromgrom]

I've done communal Heterometrus, and it's worked out fairly well. I only did it once in the past with 6 specimen. I think I may have lost one to cannibalism at one point, but they were 5i by that time. If you do, realize the risks involved, provide many hides, and ample food. I would dump dubia in the tank and they'd disappear!

 

[Amimia]

So update! One fell of mothers back and I put it in an "icu" of sorts. Well today I came back and he's molted into 2i! Also noticed some on mothers back have molted, not all, but 2 or 3.
Here's my next question: I'm leaving town tomorrow, I will be back Sunday night. Will the babies be fine with mother? I don't want to try to pull them off her back but I'm worried about them coming off of her and her eating them. I guess I don't have much of a choice but leave them but I wanted to hear others insight or opinion.
Also, is the icu baby ready to go into an enclosure with substrate? Or should he stay where he is for the weekend?

 

[Amimia]

So possibly final update! I ended up not going out of town and I am currently hanging out with the scorpions and pulling babies as they come off her back. So far have six very lively little fellers. Mother is being very cooperative.

Also, pretty sure they're H. spinifers.... After some further research

 

[tetracerus]

Oh wow that's awesome! Congrats on the scorplings

A while ago I was talking to a PetSmart employee and they got a gravid female too. Unfortunately they didn't do their research and moved her and she ate all her babies.

 

[gromgrom]

congrats man! I'm glad they all made it ok

 

[Collin Clary]

@Amimia If you can get pictures of the mother, I could probably ID her for you. Clear pictures of the carapace, 5th metasomal segment, patella of pedipalps, and the chela would be needed.

I suspect that she's a H. petersii, simply because that's the most commonly available species.