Pandinus imperator

[MizM]

Emporer scorpion, approximately 4". My husband and I were getting her out of her enclosure and I accidentally dropped her. He stuck his arm out to catch her and received a sting on the back of his right forearm. When I took her from him, I received a sting on the back or my right hand.

My sting resulted in a 1/4" red mark with a stinging sensation of 7 on a scale of 1-10. My symptoms dissapeared within 1 hour.

My husband got a black 1/4" raised nodule within one hour. His stinging pain was a 10 on the 1-10 scale. The nodule gradually dissapeared, but layers of skin peeled off of the sting site for several weeks, as if the poison was emerging. The lump lasted 3-4 weeks, with moderate soreness.

Neither of us sought out medical attention, as doctors in our area know absolutely NOTHING about this sort of thing.

Note: I have no bee sting allergies, HE does. After this experience, I tend to belive the experts when they say a bite or sting from MOST scorpions/tarantulas is much like that of a bee or wasp sting.

 

[Telson]

Coworker at pet store

My coworker (when I worked at one of the local pet stores a couple years back) got nailed by an emperor he said, but IMO it is very possible that it was a redclaw and not an emperor, because the reptile dept mngr was keeping both in the same container from time to time. I was probably the "specialist" in regard to arachnids at the time and I couldn't tell a red claw from an emporer if the two were side by side! They all looked alike to me with the exception that upon CLOSE inspection there was a slight redishness to the pincers on the redclaws that was not noticed on the emperors.

Anyhow... He said it stung and burned quite a bit, and the swelling wound up going all the way to his elbow after a few hours, but the sting was on his finger. He said he felt "woozie" and left work early that day, and added to the reported results on his return the next day that his tongue had gone numb as well, which was the wierdest part of the whole experience. I never asked about lingering effects but he never mentioned any either so I assume if there were any they were extremely minor.

 

[deepspace]

My female emperor got me on the top of my hand and it felt a bit like a wasp sting with similar symptoms it was about a 6 on the scale and I had some light swelling and residual soreness for a couple days. However, my cat had a much worse experience. I had left the top off the enclosure while I was rinsing the dust off of it and returned a minute later to find her gone. I looked around the area trying to figure out what happened when I heard my cat scream from the downstairs bathroom. The scorpion was unharmed after her trip downstairs but the cat's lips were very swollen, as if impersonating Angelina Jolie. The cat was taken to the vet, where it was deterimined she would be ok, but the swelling lasted for at least a week.

 

[Silver.x]

I got stung in the thumb, it hurt for 10 mins and I was good for the day.

 

[ORION_DV8]

well stupid me last night during christmas prep i went to go and look at my little baby emps and having recently had an escape decide to check the tank to see that all were there and accounted for in goes my hand and up comes the telson almost meeting in a sort of pain inducing hand shake i got tagged on the thumb, the pain was sharp but as quick as it arrived it was gone not 30 seconds did the pain last, afterglow though tingling sensation in the affected area, no systemic effects observed, after about an hour the tingling was gon andtoday i cant even see where it happened, oh well for the fist im glad it was an emp i should hate to be stung by my Rhopalurus sp.
ORION

 

[Sheldy]

On the posion pain scale of 1 to 4 (4 being a black widow), an Imperial Sting is only 1, Suposedly. The pain really depends on where it is and who the person is.
A guy I know put one on his face when he was drunk and pissed it off. His official statement was "it hurt quite alot more than a bee sting"

< the reports forums are for reports, not conversation, keep that to the informational forums - CM >

 

[Nixy]

Time for me to make one.... I should have posted it earlier.. It happened about a week ago. But I've been busy.

I was cleaning out our 4" imperator's enclosier, I accidently bumped her hide and knocked it off kilter a bit. While righting it. I was stupid enough to allow a thumb to slide under the front lip. She must not have been happy with this move and nailed me on the tip of my thumb. My thumb swelled, then my hand. I had some bleeding and a good bit of clearish fluid came out of the puncture as well. I am assuming this was venom. She got me pretty deep, because when I pull my thumb back, I dragged her a few inches before the stinger pulled free from me.

On a scale of one to ten, I would say it was a seven, much like a bree sting. I got that sick zapping thumping sensation. Then swelling. Then throat tightening and some wooziness. But it didn't progress further then that. After a few hours, the swelling started to leave and I noticed a bruised blackish lump. I gave that a poke and drained out what looked like a mixture of old lood and puss. And then treated it with an antiboitic cream to care for any secondary infection.
The wooziness lasted a good hour after that. Mostly when I bent over or made any other quick move. But it disipated as well. I was nausus for about an hour more, but only slightly. Itching set in and lasted a few days.

I AM, severly alergic to wasp stings. A wasp sting usualy results in Anaphylaxis and calls for epinephrin within minuts after the sting and hospitalization until I am stable again.

Bee stings usualy result in massive swelling and nausia, some dizziness and A great deal of itching lasting a few days.

I am sharing That personal information because I believe I would not have had as severe a reaction as I did, if I wasn't as alergic as I am to wasps and bees.

On a scale of one to ten. 1 being nothing and ten being a bout with a real wasp... it was about a five. Not pleasant, but not nightmarish.

 

[Stagger-Lee]

overview of 300+ stings

-ive been stung over 300 times by Pandinus imperator up to 4", never an adult . my effects from the stings did seem to get slightly worse as i racked up these #s.
-most stings occured because i usually got too relaxed with working with adults and forget the young can be frightned easily.
-initial pain usually lasts 3-7 min and i would rate it anywhere from 4-7 on a scale of 1-10 (bumble bee being 5). as the initial pain faded it was replaced with a duller throbbing pain with sencetivity at the sting location, swelling of the finger occures anywhere within the next hour and a deep looking bruising started appearing around the 130th sting -on me-. the swelling lasts anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks and the bruise turns into a gosh awful itchy bump/callous twards the end of the swelling then peels slowly off (IMO this is the worse part of the experiance ).
SIDE NOTE:
U.mordax mordax effects me in the same way but in a lesser area probely due to the size difference.

 

[TheRedDragon]

I was stung by my baby Emporer last month. I had taken him out to change him, and I had reflexively closed my hand around him because he almost fell. I then felt a sharp sting in the palm of my hand.

I was feeling alright afterwards, with nothing but a swollen red palm, and the pain had dulled to a low throb. So, I went straight to bed. But, when I woke the next day, I found that I could not talk, because my tounge was swollen and my throat hurt like crazy.

I figured that this was most likely an allergic reaction and I was finding out the hard way. After I had taken some anti-histamines and pain killers, I was feeling a bit better. It took about 48 hours for the swelling to go down completely.

 

[whoami?]

Given my experience with emperor scorpions, I've become a little careless with them. It's gotten to the point where I just haphazardly grab them whenever they need a cleaning. Because, you know, it's not like they're going to sting me.

Well, I finally did get stung by a big old 6+ incher. Same old routine. Grabbed it when it was time for a cleaning, grabbed it to put it back in its cage. This time though, I was just lowering it back into its cage when I felt this fiery prick in the palm of my hand.

So i was like, "ouch", and I dropped the scorpion, then grabbed my hand and muttered obscenities for a few minutes.

Hurt fairly badly. Not really excruciating, I think what affected me most was the surprise that my gentle emperor scorpion actually stung me. But it was a pretty strong, intense pain. It was really only intense for about three minutes, then the pain quickly subsided. I looked at my hand, and there was a circular white "blister" about a quarter inch in diameter. After the initial pain subsided, the site of the sting still felt a little sore, but that's about it.

I went to sleep a little while later. When i woke up, the "blister" was gone, and I couldn't SEE that I had been stung. The pain had also completely disappeared, except for two things: it still hurt a little bit whenever I grabbed something (pressing against the site of the sting), and a very mild aching feeling had extended about an inch to my middle finger. Moving my middle finger made my joints feel sort of sore.

About 18 hours later, and there is no pain even when I press against the stung site. And the aching in my middle finger is gone. However, the site of the sting does itch just a little bit.

All in all, not really a pleasant experience, but nothing too bad. I once got stung by a wasp, and I think this scorpion's sting is about the same as far as severity. A bit longer in duration, it seems, but it was only the first 3 to five minutes that were really painful.

 

[Kid Dragon]

I got the telson of an emperor scorpion in my hand, but I can't call it a sting, because although I felt it go in, it didn't hurt and it never hurt later. On a scale of 1-10 it was a zero. Can they stick their telson into you without injecting venom? I think so. Either that or their venom is so mild, some people have ZERO reaction.

 

[Goanna]

I got hit by a young emperor, right on the pinkie. It felt like I hit my finger with a hammer for a few minutes, then after that the pain was gone. I have never been bit or stung by any other insect or arachnid, so I dont really have much to compare it to. That is why I used the hammer analogy, lol.

 

[Bayushi]

Used to work at a pet store in seattle and a couple of us (guys in the creepy crawly department) got a little careless with the Emps.... especially with cleaning the tanks out. I was taking care of the adult tank and my buddy was taking care of the youngsters. I apparently miscounted when i was taking them out of the tank and didn't notice as i started removing some of the hiding spots. i got tagged on my right wrist by a large female with babies and let out a yelp. Being alergic to honey bee stings i was kinda worried. the initial pain was like a 9 on a scale of 1 - 10 but quickly faded to a numbness thru my wirst and hand. My entire wrist immediately swelled up to twice it's size and a fairly nice bruise was forming. I wrapped it in an ice pack and finished cleaning the tank using only my left hand. My buddy had finished with the "kiddy" tank and was replacing the scorpions when he got stung by one around 3 inches in length. He went into anaphlactic shock from the sting and had to be rushed to the hospital. he was hospitalized for a week and kept under watch the entire time.

My only lasting effect from the sting is a lump on my wrist , kinda like a callous, sadly my buddy suffered alot worse. not including muscle atrophy in his hand and lower arm but the complete loss of use to his hand.

 

[Goanna]

Used to work at a pet store in seattle and a couple of us (guys in the creepy crawly department) got a little careless with the Emps.... especially with cleaning the tanks out. I was taking care of the adult tank and my buddy was taking care of the youngsters. I apparently miscounted when i was taking them out of the tank and didn't notice as i started removing some of the hiding spots. i got tagged on my right wrist by a large female with babies and let out a yelp. Being alergic to honey bee stings i was kinda worried. the initial pain was like a 9 on a scale of 1 - 10 but quickly faded to a numbness thru my wirst and hand. My entire wrist immediately swelled up to twice it's size and a fairly nice bruise was forming. I wrapped it in an ice pack and finished cleaning the tank using only my left hand. My buddy had finished with the "kiddy" tank and was replacing the scorpions when he got stung by one around 3 inches in length. He went into anaphlactic shock from the sting and had to be rushed to the hospital. he was hospitalized for a week and kept under watch the entire time.

My only lasting effect from the sting is a lump on my wrist , kinda like a callous, sadly my buddy suffered alot worse. not including muscle atrophy in his hand and lower arm but the complete loss of use to his hand.

I was always thought to be allergic to bee stings when I was younger. I always carried an epipen around with me, until I was maybe 16. So, when I got stung by an emperor I was pretty woried that I would have a reaction, but as said, all I experianced was pain, and that subsided fairly quickly. I guess I am lucky. When I was stung, I was working in a pet store as well. I always made sure I had benadryl there just in case I ever got a reaction, but lukily, I didnt need it.

I am sad to hear what happened to your friend.

 

[Bayushi]

well it had to happen with all the people who live in the house here. Flatmate got stung by "pooky". He wanted to see her move and apparently she felt the need to show him why you shouldn't get her upset. He has swelling and a redness to his finger. Said on a scale of 1 - 10 it was a 13 but he has never been stung by anything before so I'd have to say he's over exagerating

 

[whoami?]

It's a bit late, but I have one last thing to add to my sting report. About 24 hours (I'm guessing) after I typed my initial sting report, my hand swelled up a bit, and started itching. It didn't itch like hell, but it itched enough to be a little bit uncomfortable. To the best of my recollection, that lasted about 48 hours.

Still, i suppose that I can still say that the worst part of it was the 3-5 minutes after being stung. The effects lasted for several days, but the first 3-5 minutes were still the only times when I felt particularly bad.

 

[KLiK]

i was in a pet store and asked to see one of the emperor scorpions. i reached in and took out a 3" one and i guess i didnt grab it correctly because the employee told me i got stung. since i didnt feel anything, i thought he was joking. a little less then a minute later my hand felt like it was on fire and continued to feel this was for and hour, then it died out. when i was younger i was stung by 2 bees and needed to be rushed to the hospital on both occassions. on a scale of 1 to 10 i give it a 10

 

[pitbulllady]

I got stung by a large gravid female Emp at a reptile show yesterday. She got me between my index finger and middle finger on the palm side of my hand as the dealer grabbed her to remove her from my hand(I don't know if he was worried I was gonna steal her or what, but he was the one who placed her there). I've been pinched by this species every time I've ever handled one, and their pinch is worse than their sting.

After an initial burning pain that lasted about 10 seconds, I experienced a slight puffy, reddened area around the sting, with a white raised spot right where the telson went in. Overally, it was more itchy and tingly than painful, more like a mosquito bite than a bee sting, with the worst effects lasting about 15 minutes. It's been a long time since I've been stung by a bee(and we have 75 honey bee hives on our property), but I've been stung by paper wasps, yellow jackets, fire ants and those big black "oak ants", as well as a Saddleback caterpillar, and it was nowhere near as bad as a wasp or fire ant, and could not even come close to the Saddleback, which is right up there with a Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish on the pain scale, like a 12 on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the worst! After half-an-hour, I could not even tell where I'd been stung by the scorpion.

pitbulllady

 

[recluse]

Well I have two 3" imperator's that I don't handle much at all. Last night I was feeding the two which I just placed together to save on space. I lifted up the hide which they were both under and I got tagged. Twice in the past the same scorp has penetrated my skin with it's telson but never injected venom. It has also done the same thing to my 5 year old daughter. When it stung me last night it injected venom. It stung/burned for maybe ten seconds then got a little numb and that was it. IMO it hurts much worse to be stung by an ant or a bee.

 

[king7]

my first sting

got stung by my 1" emperor scorpion the other day.i was filling the water dish and it must have p****d it off a little...lol

it hurt for a few minutes but nothing major.maybe if it was bigger i would of felt it more.