I’m looking at getting a pet scorpion since I like having something to look after and a scorpion is something different to most other pets. Are they difficult creatures to look after? I’ve been reading a few online sites (www.petbugs.com and www.easyexotics.co.uk) but I would prefer a book as a reference source, can anyone reccomend one?
What type of scorpion should I get?
Any other tips?
Cheers,
Tuco.
My two younger brothers had Emperor Scorpions (that’s what the pet store called them anyway) when they were a new idea for pets. We really knew nothing at all about them. The guy at the pet store said they came from the desert, and to keep them in an aquarium on sand. We did. We found out later that they should be kept in a damp environment…after they died.
Give them as much space as you can, a place to hide, and keep their home damp. It’s a real kick watching them eat crickets.
Can’t recommend a book, but as for species, I’d go with either an Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator) or a Forest Scorpion(Heterometrus spinifer/ Heterometrus longimanus). They’re nearly indistinguishable, and are often sold under each others’ common name because most pet stores don’t know the first thing about the animals they sell. They’re both easy to care for and very docile, although the Forest Scorpions are a bit more aggressive than the Emperors. One neat bit about them is that they glow under a blacklight. Very neat for Halloween parties ;).
As noted by Kid, all three species need high humidity, and a moderately damp substrate, such as moss, peat moss, or vermiculite. A basic care sheet should give you most of the information you need.
I had a scorpion for a short while; but I got hungary and there was nothing else in the house to eat so . . .
I only know of one book, and the title escapes me at the moment. The above posts are good, but I can also add that you do not want to over feed them. If they get fat, and they do, they will most likely die. I had one a few years ago that I feed too much, like once a week, and it got fat pretty quick. It ended up dying a few months later.
I kept an Emperor Scorpion in my classroom for a year. They like warmth and high humidity. They are interesting to watch as they feed, though my scorpion never used his sting. All in all, the Emperor is easy to keep, docile (as scorpions go) and grows to a good size. You must be aware, though, that they will feed only on live food. Overfeeding is a no-no, too, as the excess food will putrefy in the gut before they can digest it.
Come over to our house and get as many of the damn things as you want.
We found one in a ceiling lamp, another in the sink, another in a hall closet, one was on the dashboard of my car on the way to work and I couldn’t find it after I got to work.
I personally couldn’t think of a more boring pet…and I am including pet rocks on that list.
If anyone, during the course of their research, finds a way to get rid of scorpions, let me know ASAP. Thanks.
Thanks for the responses, and I’ve got another question:
has anyone had any experience of buying pets online? www.easyinsects.co.uk sells scorpions online, but I’m a bit wary of doing this, I don’t mind buying equipment over the 'net, but live creatures seems a bit odd (and £40 postage).
I had two Emperors for a while. They have to be misted frequently in order to molt. You can pick them up, they’re fairly docile, but don’t do what one guy I read about did: give it a goodnight kiss every night. Eventually it stung him on the tongue and he nearly choked.
Yikes, kissing a scorpion? Gutsy… imo.
I’ve been looking to get a small pet type creature to look after as well. Are these good pets? I imagine, as on person said, watching them hunt would be fun. However, do they require lots of cleaning / maintenance?
Then again, I would imagine that most apartments wouldn’t allow me to have it, now would they?
I’m not sure you could even really call them pets. Specimens, perhaps, would be a better word. You don’t really interact with them in the way you can with something even as intelligent as a hamster. They aren’t hard to care for, if you have a terrarium, a heat rock, and a source of live food. Their feeding behavior isn’t even really “hunting.” You put a cricket or two in the terrarium. Eventually one of them bluders close enough to the scorpion for the scorpion to notice it. The scorpion siezes the cricket in its chelicerae and devours it.
Scorpions need humidity?? What the hell are they doing in Tucson then??
Buying live animals online is a big mistake, IMO. Most of these animals die pretty horrible deaths in trasnport, and there are plenty of unscrupulous people out there who will send you anything lying around. I’d suggest trying to find a local pet shop that sells them, or attending a meeting of invertebrate enthusiasts- these people often breed and sell various species.
Scorpions are relatively easy to keep. They do require humidity, which can be something of a challenge. In the wild they live in burrows to stay out of the sun and prevent dehydration. But too humid an environment will promote the growth of mold and fungus. I have an Emperor scorpion in a 30 gallon tank on a sand/potting soil mix substrate. He gets misted once a day in the morning and he’s now about 3 years old and doing very well. Scorpions are also primarily nocturnal, and you absolutely cannot put their tank in direct sunlight, it will kill them very quickly. Hot rocks can also cause overheating, so I use an undertank heating pad. Don’t put them on Astroturf, their claws can catch in the fibres and rip a leg off.
They don’t eat as much as you might think. Mine lives very well on 5 or 6 crickets a month. They need plenty of hiding spots- those little wooden half-tubes are perfect for them. You can also give them some bark chips (no cedar or any other aromatic wood) to burrow in.
Tank cleaning should be done periodically, say a full clean-out maybe once every 3 months. Use a 1/3 bleach solution to wash the tank and replace the substrate. Every day you should remove any half-eaten crickets or excreta, which you can do with a small slotted spoon. Water should be offered in a small, shallow dish and replaced ever day. Do not give the scorpions wet cotton to drink from like some misinformed pet stores do.
Only feed your scorpion crickets, and gut-load the crickets beforehand by feeding them vegetables, fruit, and dry dogfood so that your scorpion gets the proper nutrients.
You really shouldn’t handle your scorpion. Emperors rarely sting, and their venom is rather weak, but they can pinch hard with their huge front claws, and they are very delicate animals because of their size. A fall from more than a few inches can kill them. Only keep one scorpion to a tank, they are cannibals. To clean the cage, use a piece of paper to sort of scoot your scorpion into a smaller holding tank (those plastic ones with the vented lids are ideal for this) while you clean.
Scorpions are for most people extremely boring. They rarely move, save to eat or drink, and they don’t do that very much. They mainly hide, and will only come out when the room is dark. You can set up a black light near the tank to watch your scorpion at night.
They live surprisingly long for inverts. I know someone who has a female that is coming up on 10 years old, although the males don’t live as long. They will shed their exoskeleton periodically- you can’t feed them while they are molting, and you must keep them slightly moister than usual. But if you can remove the exo skeleton after it’s been shed, you can carefully mount it on toothpicks or small pins to make an interesting display and chart your pet’s growth.
Finally, there are many websites out there with information- do some research, talk to pet store people and scorpion keepers before you decide, and make sure you have the resources and responsibilty to care for this animal. Best of luck.