What Is This?

Xomb13

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 18, 2021
Messages
38
So lightning has struck three times! Since I have last posted here, my collection has grown considerably! Mostly due to THREE PREGNANT FEMALES! I had one pregnant Asian Forest female. I had 6 babies make it to second molt, and they are currently in their newest sized enclosures. I started with 9, lost 2 to cannibalism, and one to gnats! I didn't even know that was possible.

Now about a week ago I had TWO Arizona Bark Scorpions have babies! 20210715_204806.jpg
So my question to anyone who has read this far: what the heck is that white stuff?? The last time I seen anything like that my Asian Forest babies had melted on their mothers back? It looks like their first molt, but I thought they would climb down after that and try to hunt for themselves?

As always, any reply is appreciated. Please refrain from being uptight or salty, but if you must be negative at least impart some knowledge.
 

Xomb13

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 18, 2021
Messages
38
Why haven't these guys climbed down yet? I suppose each type of scorpion is different. But around this time I had to start finding and separating out the babies from the Asian Forest scorpion.

Also, I read later that it would have been ok to leave the babies in the same tank with the mother, is this the case with the Arizona Bark scorpion? Or should I be concerned about cannibalism?
 

Joey Spijkers

Arachnoprince
Active Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
1,054
They don’t come down directly after molting. They will in a few days though. With Centruroides spp., there will be cannibalism in early instars, both from each other and the mom. They should only really be kept together when they’re adult. When they come off mother’s back, you can separate them.
With Heterometrus, you can leave them with mom for a while, or with each other.
 

Thane1616

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 1, 2021
Messages
81
Best bet for feeding the slings and mom is crushing the head of your feeder of choice because she is going to be reluctant to hunt with babies on her back and the prey may fight back or struggle and the slings cant really do much. I separated my C. Hentzi from the mother the first molt after they were born, I didnt want to risk the potato shaped babies being crushed or otherwise injured by me being a clumsy giant. The sooner you separate them the less cannibalism you will have but on the other hand I have seen some research saying they have better overall health if you let them leave naturally. I dont think it matters either way because some will either die of cannibalism or other factors no matter what you do.

Edit to say feeding is important because mom will eat less of them if she is being fed other things.
 

Xomb13

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 18, 2021
Messages
38
I usually cripple the crickets for my mother scorpions, and then when I separate them I crush the heads of crickets for the babies until after they get a little size then they start hunting small crickets on their own. Or, at least, that is how I did it for my Asian Forest Scorpion.

When I separate the young, should the small containers I put them in have substrate and such? I have been making small habitats in my deli cups for my Asian forest scorpions. I put a base layer of a little coco coir, and then I rip up a few sprigs of moss for them because they like to hide. Should I do something like this with the wood chips and a piece of bark maybe? Or just some smaller wood chips? Idk, maybe it is better for them to be without any substrate and in plain plastic because they are so small...
 

Joey Spijkers

Arachnoprince
Active Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
1,054
Best to just keep them on proper substrate. Doesn’t dry out as fast, hydration is important.
Coco fiber and moss sounds good.
 
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