Scorpion Babies. unprepared. Advice please.

[Mordecai]

I am very new to keeping insects as pets. 2 days ago caught a scorpion in a local state park. I just got home to find her covered in tiny white Babies! I am completely unprepared for taking care of them. They are all in a horrible container (it was temporary) and want to transfer her but the container is deeper then comfortable to retrieve her and her young.

anyway. I just need advice on scorpion care please or a care sheet of some kind. even the mother is very small at one centimeter long (not including her tail) I was having trouble finding food that small. What shall I feed them? Should i put a small water dish in the container or mist one side occasionally?

I was having a difficult time identifying species so i am not yet sure what exact species.
Pictures can be put up at request.

i am new here so any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

---------- Post added 07-27-2012 at 04:30 PM ----------

They have all congregated onto her back. except one has strayed and is clinging a bit away clinging to the side of the container. Shall i even try to transfer her to another container? or would that stress her out and make her eat her babies? i guess my biggest problem is a food source. Mother is one centimeter and the babies are even smaller.

 

[Danimal]

Leave the mother and the babies alone for the next few days. If you stress the mom out too much she can eat the young. When the babies molt and start coming off her back on their own, then you can separate them into different containers. As far as care goes, it really depends on the species. Where are you located?

 

[Mordecai]

Appearantly I cannot submit pictures on my phone. Shame. I live in Northerm California just an hour north of San Francisco. It looks extremely generic to me. Dark brown with a lighter brown between plated segments, small, one centimeter, small claws. If you want any info please ask. I really just want to know what to feed them and how to hydrate them.

 

[Danimal]

You do not need to worry about feeding them until they come off of the mother's back (generally 6-10 days after birth). When this happens, scoop each one up individually and put them in individual deli cups or something similar. Once that happens, give the mother crickets that are adequate to it's size. For the babies, give them pre killed pinhead crickets. Feed them babies once/twice a week and the adult once a week. Remove all cricket parts after 24 hours.

Since I do not know the species, I would generically reccommend to put them on a sand/coco fiber mix. lightly mist once a week to keep humidity average. Keep a small water dish (bottle cap size) for the adult. Temp wise I would keep them around 75 degrees F on the low side, 85 degrees F on the high side.

Scorpions are very low maintenance and don't need much. Keep them warm, keep them fed, and do not mess with them too much (stresses them out) and you should be fine.
I would lookup species native to your area and compare to the one you have for better care instructions.

 

[Mordecai]

Why thank you very much sir, that helps.
i really did try looking up native species and got no where. this Scorpion kind of just fell into my lap. i usually do extensive research before i start any projects.
But this helps thank you. I'll keep you updated in a few days as to what is going on with them.

 

[Danimal]

No problem man. When you get your post count up, put up some pictures so we can verify the species.

 

[awesome17]

I live in Fairfield, Ca. and the only scorpions I find in Northern California are Uroctonus mordax.

 

[Mordecai]

i'm back

Here are a few pictures, not very decent but she is difficult to phograph.

 

[ScorpDude]

I always say in this instance that its not too much of a problem if you're not prepared because mum sure is! Scorpions (usually) make great parents.

 

[2nscorpx]

It is a Vaejovis or Serradigitus spp., definitely, maybe S. subtilimanus, S. wupatkiensis, V. cashi, etc. Check out The Scorpion Files.

 

[Mordecai]

It is a Vaejovis or Serradigitus spp., definitely, maybe S. subtilimanus, S. wupatkiensis, V. cashi, etc. Check out The Scorpion Files.

Thank you!

Yes i do finally believe that i have obtained vaejovis carolinianus.

please do tell me if i am mistaken.

thank you.

 

[Mordecai]

damn. it can't be a carolinianus. Their range is more south east and i am in California. any help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[2nscorpx]

damn. it can't be a carolinianus. Their range is more south east and i am in California. any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Yep, I was going to say! It looks like Vaejovis cashi, although there are some many species that look similar this identification is very tentative and 'it looks like...' does not have any evidence to back it up besides "general morphology".