Pet store find

[jwb121377]

While at the pet store I found a gravid Emperor scorpion! Fat as mud! Now the trick is to get her happy so there will be no cannibalism when the young are born. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Wade]

I've found that as long as the substrate was deep and moist for burrowing, the mothers rarely cannibalize. I kept a batch together with the mom until thew were 3" long with no problems. They probably would have been fine all the way to adulthood, but it was getting cramped.

Wade

 

[jwb121377]

Cool Wade I'm glad to hear it! How long does it take before they give birth?

 

[Wade]

The average "gestation" (not sure if that's a correct word to use for scorpions) is around 9 months, according to Dave Galban, and that is pretty consistant with my experience. Of course, yours is probably farther along than that! Scorpions appear to have some ability to postphone giving birth until conditions are right...many newly puchased emps, when taken from improper (dry) conditions in a pet store and brought home and set up in a good, moist and warm habitat, give birth soon after! I have picked up a few suggestions for encourageing scorps to give birth, including frequent mistings, and and increase in temperature. The impression I've gotten from participating in various mailing lists and online forums is that emps do best at more elevated temperatures than do, say, tarantulas. If you get the temp and humidiy right, she may drop very soon!

Wade

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Wade
I've found that as long as the substrate was deep and moist for burrowing, the mothers rarely cannibalize. I kept a batch together with the mom until thew were 3" long with no problems. They probably would have been fine all the way to adulthood, but it was getting cramped.

Wade

my gravid emp gave birth and I left the babies in with her until they got about 1.5". I did not bother with deep substrate, just gave her a hide (a small plastic lasagna dish with an entrance hole). keep the humidity high for the babies to molt though. just my .02 worth.
Ed

 

[jwb121377]

Thanks for the help Everyone! I will raise temp to 90 degrees or so.