So How Did You Get Introduced To This Hobby?

Thaedion

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
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Nov 20, 2006
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894
I was just wondering how all of 'you' first got involved in scorpion keeping?

For me it was thrust upon me...

There was this 16yr old I was friends with, and his parents said no way he was going to get a T, so he brings home an emperor instead. His mom and dad freaked, his dad took the tank and put it outside (no lid, crushed walnut shell sub, no hide, no water, late August mid 0°C/30°F that night) and was going to shoot it next day. This kid called me and asked if I wanted it, I never planned to own one and new nothing about keeping them, so I said sure. :p

A year and a half later I own 8 scorpions and plan on getting more... :D

So how about you, what possessed you to own scorpions? {D

PS: That original one is still alive and possibly gravid.
 
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Brian S

ArachnoGod
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May 29, 2004
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Growing up in rural Missouri I kept a variety of bugs. Mostly spiders, I had several Jumping Spiders and a few Latrodectus by the time I was just 8 years old. Naturally living in C vittatus country I had a few of those as well. I had other interests during my teen years (mostly fast cars and fast women). Finally in 1998 I went back to my roots and got back into bugs again by getting 5 Emperor scorpions. I later discovered the internet and with all the info I really got into this and now have around 300 scorps, most of which I am breeding.
 

Snake_Eyes

Arachnoknight
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Jul 22, 2004
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I kept tarantula's on and off for a few years. One day I went in to the LPS and the resident "bug" guy brought a scorpion in from his personal collection to sell. After seeing it I just had to have it, the problem however was that the owner of it had no idea on what it actually was so after buying it I had some pics taken and put on here for identification. Turned out to be a Parabuthus transvaalicus...nice first scorpion huh. :)
 

Arachnophilist

Arachnoprince
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Sep 12, 2006
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I met a guy when I was in my teens who had a house filled with every rare exotic imaginable and I went over and one day started with a free OBT and it has all gone from there :)
 

edie

Arachnoknight
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Dec 20, 2006
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225
i only have one scorpion at the moment (h. hottentotta) but i've kept over 20 arizona bark scorpions since i was in 4th grade, and i'm a freshman in college now.

i've always been into insects. some of my first memories were catching matids, centipedes, and ants when i lived in idaho. when i came to arizona there wasn't a lot for me to find, but there were a lot of bark scorpions. so everytime i would see them i would catch them and keep them for about 3-4 days so i could watch them and then i would let them go across the street so my mom wouldn't kill them. thats how i got into them, no one really showed me, i was just the creepy kid that wouldn't let anyone step on bugs.
 

Selenops

Arachnoangel
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Dec 13, 2006
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Catching bugs my entire life and caught my first scorpion in a short stint in Arizona. But didn't really get into captive care until I bought my first Emperor and Asian Forest from a mom and pop petstore along with Peruvian Pink-toes.

Didn't get heavy into it. Then years later picked up a monstrosity of book, full of misinformation written by Jerry G Walls. Loved the pic of the Androctonus.

Then discovered Arachnocentric and couple of other online dealers through Reptiles magazine. And officially kicked off being a hobbyist with a H. arizonensis and M. gigantea purchase from Bryant Capiz.
 

Vixvy

Arachnobaron
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Aug 14, 2005
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For me. it started with fascination and passion to have something not common.
 

dazbuzz

Arachnosquire
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Jan 14, 2007
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i have not been "scorpion keeping" very long(1 month 3 days ago{D ) but it started when i was younger i love to keep insects like house spiders. even made a ant farm out of a empty coke bottle but they didn't last long(about 4 months).
 

Vermis

Arachnoknight
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Dec 11, 2005
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214
Branching off from the herptile hobby into inverts. I got a few stick insects, then tarantulas, and scorpions weren't long in following. These days I think about diverting more attention to scorpions: as of today I have eight, but that's not enough... ;)
 

mostasteless

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
40
Ever since I was a kid I was always fascinated with scorpions then at 15 I went to the pet store with a friend who was getting some fish and I saw an emp for sale. Not knowing anything beyond what I learned from the Discovery Channel I took the pet shop owners advice and bought the emp (dropped in a brown bag with the top stapled shut), repti sand, a shallow water dish and a tank. At the time I still didn't have the internet so he stayed in that setup until I was able to get to my girlfriends house and do some research. Now I'm 26 and have so many I may have to sell a few because its getting too expensive and time consuming to care for them all.
 

pandinus

Arachnoking
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May 14, 2004
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All my life i've been a little rock flipper. For as long as i can think back i've had an interest in wildlife, particularly the non-mamals. During my sophmore year of highschool we were assigned a biology project that had to involve living things (we weren't allowed to use mice, reptiles, higher lifeforms, etc.) Every other group was doing more or less the same thing, some experiment like the effect of temp change on the development of tadpoles or mealworms, or do crickets eat canned or fresh vegetables more rappidly. That sort of thing. Our group wanted to do something different, something cool that would make us stand out from the other groups. so we decided to do a behavioral experiment with emperor scorpions. We were researching if the size of the environment affects the aggression level of scorpions towards eachother. We kept two emps in a 10gal, and two in a medium KK. after the project was finally completed, i convinced my parents to let me keep a pair of them. And from that simple start i havent looked back.


John
 

P.jasonius

Arachnobaron
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Nov 19, 2006
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While deployed to the middle east (Kuwait) a I discovered that a 'coworker' of mine had an A. crassicauda (juvenile) pinned to the wall in a ziplock bag. He stated it had been there for about six weeks, no air, food or water.
I asked, quite insistently, that he let me have it, agreeing that once I had successfully nursed it back to life I would invite him over to watch it eat. It was quite emaciated, and wasn't moving well at all. Needless to say my hopes were not high, but I bought a 'tupperware' container and put him on some sand. With q-tips I fed it water, to which it reacted surprisingly well. After it started to show some signs of life, I offered it a killed cricket from the local area, which it also accepted. I let this digest for a couple days, and progress lead to hope for it's survival. The end of the second week I offered him live food, after inviting his former captor in to watch, as well as some friends. The cricket I found was quite large, and was killed by not only being stung, but by a curious behaviour I haven't seen in another scorpion; the scorp literally 'drilled' its telson through the thorax of the cricket, quite a sight. This behaviour was witnessed more than once with large prey.
Feeding continued, gradually, and weight gain was apparent.
When my leave (R&R... ok vacation) came around, I smuggled him home in a plastic container in my pants (through customs), but that's another story. :clap:
Shinobi (the only one I've actually named, aside from Gary) lived for two years after I smuggled him home, molted once, and died a few months ago, presumably due to stress (died right after a move). RIP.
I've had several since his death, Pandinus and Heterometrus species, with no end in sight.
 

JSN

Arachnodemon
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Apr 16, 2006
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born in Phoenix, AZ, my mom showed me the first scorp I ever saw when I was like 5, it all went from there as I used to go around my neighborhood and out in the desert catching them and learning from observation...then later I read books and found out about other species...and last year I found this site and learned that I was not alone in the hobby...
 

Crono

Arachnobaron
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Feb 18, 2006
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I used to keep a zoo of native bugs outside all summer. Moved away for college, developed a love for primeval plants and animals and after a few years I just decided "Why not...?"
 

Alakdan

Arachnoangel
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Jan 24, 2006
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822
I was looking for a pet that I can house in my empty aquariums. I used to keep tropical fishes. After a couple of months researching I got the chance to buy a local scorp, H. longimanus borneensis. Then I joined AB and became active with the discussions. I got hooked and never looked back. I'm glad I made the right choice.
 

EAD063

Arachnoprince
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Oct 3, 2006
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When I Was 14 I knew of a local petshop who carried the biggest variety of exotic animals in the state... the guy himself was a scorpion collector and had many differnt species and after a while of debating I bought one... then my mother started buying me more... Stopped for a while once I started college and picked up again a year later... Unfortunately the pet shop owner took a bad hit from one of his scorps and found out that he is allergic to the venom (compounded with the harsh affects of the venom) and he completly left the hobby.... the store now doesn't carry scorps or T's. But have many many types of snakes and breed giant land tortises... cool people.
 

dazbuzz

Arachnosquire
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Jan 14, 2007
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your mom buys you scorpions! wow your so lucky mine just says "if your touch the scorpions they are out the window".:(
 

EAD063

Arachnoprince
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Oct 3, 2006
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She wasn't a fan either at first... she made me tape the lid to the tank... after a couple weeks I couldn't get her away from them. When I first sent her pictures of a brood (being pandinus of course they were white like maggots) her reply was "ew thats gross, I dont like those anymore". She's a trip.
 

Evil Juggalo

Arachnopeon
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Aug 28, 2006
Messages
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Ive always been amazed by insects since they work so much differently than your typical mammals.. I took Eyntamology classes as part of a College for Kids back in middle school, and ever since, Ive had this facination with insects..

It was hard to figure out wether I wanted to take my chances with a Scorpion or T first, But I choose an Emp because they were cheap, easy to take care of, and kind of a learners exotic pet..

Ive had my ups and downs with them, But im definantly sticking with the hobby.. Scorps are so cool..
 

HackoDis

Arachnosquire
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Oct 12, 2006
Messages
115
I had fish in a 10 gallon tank, they all decided to die a week later. Instead of trying fish again I went on the good ol internet and found Pandinus Impertor. Did my research, ordered my scorpion. Two years later i have two and want more.
 
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