Question for all Smeringurus Mesaensis owners: Are Dune Scorpions good pets

[signinsimple]

If it's aggression you're looking for, your next stop should be a desert hairy scorp.

 

[KDiiX]

A loose, sandy soil is probably best for the substrate, rather deep too...

That makes no sense to me at all. If you use a loose sand why should it be deep? The scorpion can not use the deepens of the soil if it's loose sand!
I'm surprised that Germans know better about keeping us native skorpion then some US-guys do.
For soil you have two alternatives in keeping them. 1. You choose a loose sand(S.mesaensis are pretty well adapted to loose sand), then they only dig small borrows under rock, wood etc 2. You choose a sand/clay mixture which should be at least 10 cm deep. In this substrate they may dig own tunnels which could be about 15 cm long. (I prefer this variation)
You don't need anything for watersupply. They can stand month without food or water. It's absolutely sufficient if you spray once a month in one corner a bit. If they need to get water they drink than the drops from rock's etc also they could suck water out of the wet sand!
For temperature I would suggest a temperature of at least 32 degree celsius better 35-37 at the hottest spot (In nature they have a soil temperature up to 50 degree celsius ( which should not be imitated in captivity because in a enclosure they can't dig that deep like in captivity)
Btw S.mesaensis are NOT an aggressive species at all! May that some inexperience keeper think so but they absolutely from a defensive nature. They are lightning fast, nervous and run away if they disturbed.
You also can keep them in small groups, if you have a big enclosure.Only gravid females get pretty aggressive against other specimen.
They sting their prey but the hunt almost only very small prey in comparison to other species.
I hope this could help you a bit. I keep my over 15 specimen this way and done well job with this.

 

[Deftones90]

I really enjoy keeping mesas. Like the above said, they're fast and nervous. That zoo med excavator works great. I used it for Androctonus sp. as well.

 

[2nscorpx]

That makes no sense to me at all. If you use a loose sand why should it be deep? The scorpion can not use the deepens of the soil if it's loose sand!
I'm surprised that Germans know better about keeping us native skorpion then some US-guys do.
For soil you have two alternatives in keeping them. 1. You choose a loose sand(S.mesaensis are pretty well adapted to loose sand), then they only dig small borrows under rock, wood etc 2. You choose a sand/clay mixture which should be at least 10 cm deep. In this substrate they may dig own tunnels which could be about 15 cm long. (I prefer this variation)
You don't need anything for watersupply. They can stand month without food or water. It's absolutely sufficient if you spray once a month in one corner a bit. If they need to get water they drink than the drops from rock's etc also they could suck water out of the wet sand!
For temperature I would suggest a temperature of at least 32 degree celsius better 35-37 at the hottest spot (In nature they have a soil temperature up to 50 degree celsius ( which should not be imitated in captivity because in a enclosure they can't dig that deep like in captivity)
Btw S.mesaensis are NOT an aggressive species at all! May that some inexperience keeper think so but they absolutely from a defensive nature. They are lightning fast, nervous and run away if they disturbed.
You also can keep them in small groups, if you have a big enclosure.Only gravid females get pretty aggressive against other specimen.
They sting their prey but the hunt almost only very small prey in comparison to other species.
I hope this could help you a bit. I keep my over 15 specimen this way and done well job with this.

I guess in retrospect that doesn't make too much sense. I meant that a clayey mix is best to use as it is good for burrowing, but with the fact that they are generally found on loose sand (at least this is what I have read in literature) I assumed...I have never kept the species, sorry, I should have noted that, it was foolish to answer without a knowledgeable, definitive answer...I will say that I do know about keeping U.S. native species, as I have kept several, so your comment about that was a bit too much of a generalization and an absolute. I do appreciate you pointing that out though....

 

[KDiiX]

Sorry I get that point that the generalization was wrong but just forgot a single letter. In fact I meant " I'm surprised that a German knows more about keeping A US-native species then US guys"
How much a single letter can change the sense of a sentence ;-)
The only fact what I meant to be senseless at all is a deep loose sandsoil, because it's just wasted space, because the scorpion can't dig any tunnel.
Btw lliterature is not every time free of wrong information. I also seen pictures where mesaensis were collected in rockydesert(forgive me if this is no correct English I think it's anyway not too bad ;-) ) or at places with hard, clayy soil. So in captivity it's your choice which habitat you want to imitate, but if you decide to take loose sand it's not necessary to take a deep layer of sand.
With temperature I really recommend a high temperature. Roomtemperatur may be possible but far away from natural and also the scorpion does not take constantly food. And isn't feeding our scorpions one of the most interesting at keeping scorpions.

 

[2nscorpx]

How much a single letter can change the sense of a sentence ;-)

True, very true...I guess I got thrown off by 'Germans'. Sorry OP for being off-topic.

The only fact what I meant to be senseless at all is a deep loose sandsoil, because it's just wasted space, because the scorpion can't dig any tunnel.
Btw lliterature is not every time free of wrong information. I also seen pictures where mesaensis were collected in rockydesert(forgive me if this is no correct English I think it's anyway not too bad ;-) ) or at places with hard, clayy soil. So in captivity it's your choice which habitat you want to imitate, but if you decide to take loose sand it's not necessary to take a deep layer of sand.
With temperature I really recommend a high temperature. Roomtemperatur may be possible but far away from natural and also the scorpion does not take constantly food. And isn't feeding our scorpions one of the most interesting at keeping scorpions.

I see about the deep, loose sand. Even though it may replicate a natural environment, you are absolutely right that it is not needed. I have also found some inaccurate information in literature, but you can't really deny information about habitats in publications. Your English is no problem. I agree about the higher temperatures as well.

 

[KDiiX]

Yes you are right. It's truly more natural with a deep soil (best endless deep). BUT because can't use this deepness in loose sand I recommend to "save" the space in the high and "reinvest" it into a bigger footprint. Btw for a single mesaensis I recommend at least 10x10 inch and for a couple at least 20x15 inch footprint. If you give them more space they will use this also. They are very active at night.

I would never say that every publications are wrong. Scientific publications often are very interesting and give us hobbiest new aspects of our hobby. But sometimes it also can be far away from practiced scorpion keeping. For example a scientist collects mesaensis in a radius of for example 5-10 miles. Even if every mesaensis he found was on loose sand soil that don't mean on the other side that they only live on that soil. A simple explanation for this phenomenon could be that choose who lives deep diged into an .sa d/clay soil are harder to find then the other (that's all an example don't know if that exact case ever happened, it's only to show that sometimes it's not enough to scratch a wall to see what behind it)
Nonscientific literature is, sad to say, almost all crap. Often thoose books are writen be keepers/breeders/traiders which not doublecheck the information. Often when a scorpion etc is announced you feel like the writter never kept one of these longer then 2 minutes. Also I often see in books recommended for beginners how a scorpion is holded with the fingers at the .metasoma. I think this is really dangerous, because some stupid beginners might think it's ok with every scorpion. In my opionen every scorpion should be handled wirespect, meaning only handle it when it's really necessary and only handle it with long pincers.
Yesterday I was really wondering who many sting reports were posted to this forum. Especially when I saw which species. For example A.bicolor or A.australis both can lead to death and you should be medical watched at least for 24 hours. But they don't even went to a doctor. They were really lucky that the scorpions did not injected full amount of venom. But if your tarantula or scorpion is well fe eded they may not care about saving venom and inject full amount. Btw I only know to people in Germany stung by a scorpion, just to compare that some of the keepers on this board might could learn a lot about handling scorpions ;-)

 

[2nscorpx]

I would never say that every publications are wrong. Scientific publications often are very interesting and give us hobbiest new aspects of our hobby. But sometimes it also can be far away from practiced scorpion keeping. For example a scientist collects mesaensis in a radius of for example 5-10 miles. Even if every mesaensis he found was on loose sand soil that don't mean on the other side that they only live on that soil. A simple explanation for this phenomenon could be that choose who lives deep diged into an .sa d/clay soil are harder to find then the other (that's all an example don't know if that exact case ever happened, it's only to show that sometimes it's not enough to scratch a wall to see what behind it)

Very good point. It is known that much of the time, a much greater percentage of the specimens are below the surface than above.

Nonscientific literature is, sad to say, almost all crap. Often thoose books are writen be keepers/breeders/traiders which not doublecheck the information. Often when a scorpion etc is announced you feel like the writter never kept one of these longer then 2 minutes. Also I often see in books recommended for beginners how a scorpion is holded with the fingers at the .metasoma. I think this is really dangerous, because some stupid beginners might think it's ok with every scorpion. In my opionen every scorpion should be handled wirespect, meaning only handle it when it's really necessary and only handle it with long pincers.
Yesterday I was really wondering who many sting reports were posted to this forum. Especially when I saw which species. For example A.bicolor or A.australis both can lead to death and you should be medical watched at least for 24 hours. But they don't even went to a doctor. They were really lucky that the scorpions did not injected full amount of venom. But if your tarantula or scorpion is well fe eded they may not care about saving venom and inject full amount. Btw I only know to people in Germany stung by a scorpion, just to compare that some of the keepers on this board might could learn a lot about handling scorpions ;-)

Holding the scorpion at all with bare hands is rediculous and possibly very dangerous, regardless of the species...it's said many times. Also in books it is recommended to hold the scorpion from metasoma segment V, but this is more dangerous...metasoma segment II is preferable and safer (thanks to Michiel). There are unbelievable sting reports. I've read them, and envenomations from A. australis, A. bicolor, L. quinquestriatus, etc. are treated like a joke and disregarded. Damn luck, that's what it is...