OK, I am a fairly new resident to Arizona. Going in I knew it was inevitable that I was going to see the occasional scorpion. In all I have had at least 20 visitations in the last three months and those are the ones I am aware of. Normally I would just flush them down the toilet. Today however as I type this message I have one caged in front of me . It is about 3 inches long and a light brown in color. Now I have some questions.
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[li]What do I feed it?[/li][li]Does it need water?[/li][li]Is there something in nature that intentionally makes them fluoresce under a black light?[/li][li]And finally if I cut of its last section of tail will that make it harmless and by doing so will I kill it?[/li][/ul]
I live in Phoenix and we get the occasional scorpion…usually the cats take car if it but if not I just smush them and throw it away. Once the kids start coming though we’ll use an exterminator.
Personally, I’d not keep one. But they would need water and food should you want to. Food I think is crickets and such…and just a little water for them…As for cutting off the tip of the tail…I’d advise against that. I think it’d kill’em. But I don’t know for sure.
Perhaps you could fasten a little cork or a rubber stopper over the stinger. It’s a little cruel, but I’d probably be amused at letting the scorpion crawl around on my desk and softly poke at me with his tail.
When I was a kid in Texas, the damn things were as common as dirt. I was stung by a (different) scorpion on three different occassions; I would cheerfully kill the very last one on earth and then celebrate their extinction.
I had a scorpion for awhil a few years ago. Yes they need water just like everything else, the best thing to do is get a shallow dish from a pet store and then put a rock in the dish so it can crawl in and out of the water and not drown. The will eat most any insect, but crickets would probably be the best, or maybe some mealworms. Do not however give them too much, they will eat it, grow fat and then die. That’s what happened to mine, they don’t lose the fat very well and you can see if it’s getting fat when the sides seperate.
I wouldn’t try to do anything with the stinger, just don’t go playing with it and you should be fine. You should get it something to hide under, like a rock or something they make for reptiles. I’d also say that you’re best off using just dirt from outside as some of the things they use for other animals has been know to kill scorpions. They also like a heat rock, but put it under the cage so it doesn’t get too hot.
They don’t tend to do much of anything so don’t be expecting the world’s greatest pet. They are pretty cool if you happen to catch them eatting.
I’m glad that this question has been asked. I’ve caught 3 in the last couple of months and was considering getting a small terrarium for the next one. I also find the occaisional large spider. If I get the chance I’ll stage gladatorial combat between different members of the arachnids.
As has been written by another poster, crickets are a problem here, not only because they attract the scorpions, but also because the noise drives some people nuts. The only thing worse than stepping and squishing a cricket barefoot at night is stepping on a scorpion!
Somebody mentioned cats, and they really are effective (many, at least) in killing scorpions, and most are immune to the venom. Our two cats eat an occasional one, leaving just the little legs. :eek: Maybe they use them for toothpicks.
Anyhow, we have the outside of the house sprayed monthly by a pest control outfit, and for years have had no more crickets or other critters inside. I understand some places in the Valley are much worse for scorpions than others.
First - the only ones that glow are the Emporor scorpions you find at any pet shop. They have an unknown chemical that reacts by glowing under a darl light.
Second - crickets are ideal. But just about any insect smaller than it will do. Depending on the size, pinkie mice would do if you want to see it use its stinger. The pincers are sufficient to kill the crickets.
Third - Don’t cut the stinger. It would be no different than tearing out the fangs of a snake. Cruel and pointless. Depending on the species, the venom is usually little more than a bee sting. And temperment plays a part as well. Emporors, to my knowledge, are the tamest of them. I’ve often held mine with no stings. It won’t waste the venom on such a large target if it doesn’t feel severly threatened. But holy shit those pincers can leave a mark!
If you want to keep one, use a substrate made of its native habitat, give it a very shallow dish of water, an under-tank heat mat and a hiding place at both ends of the tank. (One in the warm area, one in the cool)
Let us know what happens if you decide to try raising them!
False. ALL scorpions phosphoresce under black light to a greater or lesser extent. I’ve collected scorpions by the hundreds ( under permit where required, like the Kelso dunes ) of a dozen or more different species in California by just such methods. It’s standard.
Agreed. However…
There is exactly one “bad” scorpion in North America, Centruroides exilicauda, and it occurs in Arizona. See it here:
If that’s what you have, don’t fuck around with it. It isn’t likely to kill you, but the two second-hand reports I’ve heard of being stung by one described it as: “Like setting your hand on a gas stove burner, turning the burner to high and leaving your hand there.” and “Like hitting your hand as hard as you can with a hammer.”
Not pleasant.
Otherwise American scorpions are pretty harmless and relatively easy to keep.
I can only conclude by reading this thread that scorpions are a threat to the human mind. The merest proximity to scorpions poisons the human brain, resulting in numerous minor spelling errors. You poor dears! You never knew what hit you.
Is there an easy way to tell if that is the species? The ones I have found are about that colour, with the darker stripe down the middle. The ones I have seen also have the long skinny pinchers rather than the stubby more lobster like ones. I do live in central Texas which isn’t in their range, but now I am a little nervous.
WHA----? Does that mean you’ve also held it while it stung you? That would be the end of my pet relationship, lemme tell you.
When I was in Huatulco, Mexico, I found one crawling on the towel I was using to dry off. It was black and yellow and about the size of playing card. After changing my soiled shorts, I threw it in the pool, and sat there cackling maniacally watching it…float around without drowning. <!> Finally I had a crisis of conscience and used the 40 foot long pool net thingie to scoop it out and throw it down the mountain side.
Two days later another smaller one stung me. He was dispatched with extreme prejudice. (Garbage disposal). I like to think it was one of the other guy’s minions, sent to teach me a lesson.
Why, sure - just check to see if the bottom of the patella on their pedipalps has any trichobothria ( sensory hairs ) or not. If not, might be the critter ( or some other buthid, perhaps - I got that off a Ca key and that is the only buthid in CA ).
Oh, wait - you said easy way ;). Umm…hmmm. You can try this description:
2-2 3/4" (50-70 mm). Dark brown to tan, often striped with greenish yellow along midline above. Some individuals have greenish-yellow parallel stripe on each side of cephalothorax. Abdomen slender, constricted at each segment, pale or dark according to locality. Tooth at base of the stinger.
But I’m not sure how specific that will get you. They’re known to be rather variable in color.
Never have had one in hand ( never looked for scorpions when I was in the southwest and they only occur in the extreme south of California ) and I’m no expert ( at one time I knew a few of them by sight, but mostly limited to Ca fauna ). But in general I’d be just a little cautious with any slender-clawed, slender-tailed scorpion unless you have a solid idea what it is ( i.e. some harmless Serradigitus might fit this profile, but they have little terminal hooked teeth on the tips of their claws that I can usually pick up on ).
In Texas it would more likely be Centruroides vittatus, which reading up can also apparently give a nastily painful sting as well ( hadn’t heard that before, actually ). Description:
The striped scorpion seldom attains lengths greater than 3 inches, averaging 2 3/8 inches. The tail of the scorpion is longer in males than in females. Body color varies from yellowish to tan for adults. Younger scorpions may be overall lighter in color, and the last segment of the body and the bases of the pedipalps are dark brown to black. Two distinguishing characteristics are two broad blackish stripes on the upper surface of the abdomen, and a dark triangular mark on the front portion of the head region in the area over the median and lateral eyes. This species has slender pedipalps and a long slender tail. (Ellis 1975, Drees & Jackman 1998)
My wife told me that she saw a scorpion in our new (under construction) house in Georgia. I had no idea they have these things in Georgia.
[sub]I’m thinking I need a moat to keep the damn things out…[/sub]
Little bastards can’t be dead enough to suit me. The most painful sting I’ve ever had was from a scorpion.
We live in Central phoenix and the exterminators do a good job of keeping typical desert bugs away apart from roaches that will come out of the drains on occasion.
