Prevention from getting stung?

[Brendan]

I've been reading all the sting reports (typically from an Pandinus Imperator) and how painful they sound, and it gives me the shivers up my spines.

Now I'm paranoid of getting stung.

I know it sounds stupid, but whenever I make contact with the scorpion or whenever I put my hang in the terrarium or whenever I do anything that involves the scorpion I will be wearing a silicone glove.

Just a question, how do scorpions react to gloves? Do they think its threatening and attack it as much as they can?

 

[thedude]

idk but as long as you use tongs you never have to worry about it

 

[Brendan]

Slilcone gloves AND tongs will be the ultime combo!!!!

 

[K3jser]

Silicone gloves? why mate? no flaming just asking why? hehe well i was stung by a heterometrus longimanus, it made my finger tip hurt and feel warm and go numb.. that was all.. it disapeered after 3 hours.. you cant say how you will react to the sting, because every person reacts differntly.. you might even be alletic to scorpions and go into anaphylactic shock wich is a bad thing i know most of my scorps and know how they react when i put my hand inside they "cage" even when i touch them and stuff.. normaly i dont touch my scorps that i know will react agresive.. but sometimes i have to for moving and stuff.. its a emp so the sting wont be that bad, unless you react badly but it chould be worse like a b.jacksoni

 

[Brendan]

It'll make me feel more secure and safe if I put my hand into the terrarium.

 

[cacoseraph]

if you are that worried just order a pair of these
http://www.bioquip.com/search/DispProduct.asp?itemnum=4728

 

[Brendan]

if you are that worried just order a pair of these
http://www.bioquip.com/search/DispProduct.asp?itemnum=4728

!!!!! O_O

Wow! 20 inches long!!!

 

[Thaedion]

Slilcone gloves AND tongs will be the ultime combo!!!!

I did a quick Google and with the info I read before I'm pretty sure a scorpion can pierce the silicon/latex gloves you are mentioning. Try leather gloves if you need them.

 

[K3jser]

24$ for a pair of does?

i whent down to my local household store, you know.. they sell forks and pans and stuff like that.. stuff you use for cooking, you can buy a pair of barbaque thongs same size for like 10$.. same thing

 

[tyrant963]

a dude at the some petstore told me, as long as your not allergic to a bee sting, then you dont have to worry about a emperor scorps sting. Not sure if thats true

 

[lucanidae]

Put a cup over your animal anytime you work with it. If you are really scared put something small on top of the cup to weight it down. Really...as long as you use common sense you don't need gloves. Common sense does include tongs or forceps for more dangerous species.....it seems I lack common sense completely but I haven't been stung in years.

 

[skinheaddave]

I assume by silicone gloves you mean the thick oven-mitt kinds rather than something thin like a latex examination glove? If so, I wouldn't bother when it comes to manipulating scorpions. You lose all your manual dexterity and that means you open up the posibility of injuring your scorpion. If you mean the thin kinds then the sting will pass right through anyhow. In fact, depending on the thickness, a large scorpion like an emp or asian forest may get a lucky shot through the thick kind too.

So what can you do? As has already been mentioned tongs/forceps are the way to go. You can even put some foam or rubber padding on the end of forceps. My wife made me up some tweezers with foam padding on them which I quite like. I have also known some people to use plasti-dip or some other rubberizing paints as well as just taking some plastic or rubber tubing and slipping it over the ends (making sure it fits snuggly, of course). Just get tongs big enough that you don't put your hand within sting range -- these things can't jump and they can't telport so if you don't put your hand in there, you won't get stung.

If you are not happy with that, then there is one remaining solution -- get rid of them. If you are THAT paranoid about them stinging then you are going to either get stung, injure yourself or someone else or, most likely of all, kill your scorpion. It is okay to be a bit nervous and it is great if you are cautious -- but if the only thing you can do when you are near them is worry and sweat bullets then you are not going to be rational enough to maintain them. They may have a nice hard shell, but they do not take kindly to being flung, having things dropped on them etc. because you are scared and have jerky, instinctual reactions.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[gambite]

I have found that if you just take some time to get to know your scorps and how they react, then you will be fine by just using common sense. When I first got mine, I was the same way. After a few months of occasional handling and 'playing' with them, I found what makes them get mad and aggressive and what they will tolerate long enough for me to do what I need.

 

[K3jser]

a dude at the some petstore told me, as long as your not allergic to a bee sting, then you dont have to worry about a emperor scorps sting. Not sure if thats true

A friend of mine who got alot of scorps have been stung plenty of times by his scorps and no reaction at all.. well pain and stuff like that.. but then this summer a bee stung him and he had to go to the hospital, had a serious reaction to the bee sting cause he was allergic to bees, he has afterwards been stung with out no bad reaction.. i belive that the bee venom and scorpion venom aint the same thing.. so you can be allergic to bees and still have no reaction from a scorpion sting

 

[~Abyss~]

I would be carefull with any scorp period. But sometimes I admit when I have a low level scorpion that scares me I get stung on purpose to shake it off. Like my H.arizonensis scared the crap out of me when I first got them. I got stung on purpose and it wasn't so bad.

 

[Vietnamese510]

A friend of mine who got alot of scorps have been stung plenty of times by his scorps and no reaction at all.. well pain and stuff like that.. but then this summer a bee stung him and he had to go to the hospital, had a serious reaction to the bee sting cause he was allergic to bees, he has afterwards been stung with out no bad reaction.. i belive that the bee venom and scorpion venom aint the same thing.. so you can be allergic to bees and still have no reaction from a scorpion sting

lmao you make it sound like we should all get stung plenty of times


and i still use tongs or leather gloves for rehousing and ect.

i still just want to be safe no matter what.

so brendan just be safe ise the tongs or leather gloves it doesnt matter how weak there venom is its still not "cool" to get stung by a scorpion

 

[K3jser]

How do i make it sound like that? i dont premote handling of scorps, much better to use thongs for yourself and the scorp. All i wanted to say was that you can be allergic to bees without being allergic to scorps.. dont know if it works the orther way allso

 

[Xaranx]

I have had a few scorps for about 4 months now, not been stung yet. I'm getting more lax lately, don't always run to get the tongs just to move a piece of bark. That's how it starts I'd imagine.

 

[K3jser]

i dont use thongs for everything, normaly when i have to pick them up i use a plastic box and just push them into it with the lid of the box.. normaly they just run in.. i rember when i had my first scorp, when i opened the lid for its home and it started to home near i closed it fast, used thongs for everything back then, Now iam abit more careless because i know my scorps and know they dont jump out of they hiding and start chewing on my hand. Just have to get abit used to them and know what they are like, had a H.spadix i chould go near without him trying to sting me thouge the glass, had to use thongs for everything around him, agressive little one where one of my longimanus doesnt care what i do in her home as long as i dont disturbed her too much..

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I know it sounds stupid, but whenever I make contact with the scorpion or whenever I put my hang in the terrarium or whenever I do anything that involves the scorpion I will be wearing a silicone glove.

Just a question, how do scorpions react to gloves? Do they think its threatening and attack it as much as they can?

They won't react any differently to gloves than they will to your hands or to some large predator. If they have the option they'll skitter off to their burrow; if they're cornered, they'll get defensive. Most of mine sit in their burrow with their claws sticking out if I'm in there for tank maintainance.

As Skinheaddave mentioned earlier, most gloves won't even help you (and may be dangerous to the scorpion).

I've been in this hobby only about a year and a half, but I've handled several scorpions (different species too) and never been stung. The best idea is to simply avoid handling the really dangerous species. If all you have are emperors I wouldn't worry about being stung.

I wouldn't worry about anaphylaxis, either -- I've only heard of one or two cases of alergic reactions from scorpion venom.

Since you're relatively new to the hobby, it's perfectly understandable to be apprehensive about handling. I was really nervous for the first four months of scorp-owning until I got up the nerve to hold them.

ANYWHO! At the end of my long-winded post, I'll say this: if you don't want to get stung, don't poke at your scorpions, reach into a burrow you can't see in, or otherwise corner them.