What's a nice scorp to have?

[Dragoon]

I am mainly looking for a visible species... one that I can watch at least occasionally... (Are there any?)..
I don't care if I can't handle it...not that important... I've held emps, red claws and asian forest, they're very cuddly.
D.

[JeffT]

I have emps and asian forest scorps. Really though I must say the emperors are the best. Mine are very active at night and very cool to watch. Id say go with the big guys.

[skinheaddave]

If you are looking for visible, you can't beat "arboreal" species. Centruroides sp. are probably the classics -- communal and prone to wander around if you give them vertical surfaces. That being said, some species of Centruroides can have quite potent venom. C.exilicauda can be considered medically significant, though moreso in the more southern part of its range. A lot of the central and south american species are quite toxic, but very hard to get up here anyhow. Centruroides sp. in general also tend to be smaller, though the large CA and SA species can be quite impressive. If you can get C.gracilis, they are large and prone to be out and about. They are also really easy to breed and I know a few people who have started with a couple and ended up with huge colonies before genetic problems started a decline.

There are other bark scorpions as well. Opisthacanthus is from the Liochelidae (formerly Ischnuridae) family and has incredibly mild venom. I find them to be docile and very easy to handle. They are also a bark-loving scorpion and if provided with vertical surfaces will usualy be quite visible. They don't get nearly the size of Hadogenes (same family), but do get to a respectable size. You can see me and one of my O.rugiceps here. (http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3722)

Cheers,
Dave

[Dragoon]

Wow! Very nice!
(And you do have nice eyes!)
That rugiceps sounds like an awesome display animal, just what I want. With its small size, you can accomodate MORE in a tank. Neat. More individuals = more behaviors to observe.
Thanks, I have written that name down on my must-get list.

The other scorp I must get is the emps, of course. They're a staple.
I had a male and female pair last year, I bought her already gravid. She gave birth to 17 babies, and one day ate all but six of them. I fought her with a spoon to take away the six, three got trampled, three survived... until their next molt, when I lost two... the one I gave to a friend, and its doing well today.
The mama killed the father, who was the sweetest, nicest invert! I adored him. I gave each a pinky, on opposite sides of the tank, and when I came back, he was convulsing in the corner, and she had two pinkies in front of her.
She later died herself. I was glad. Bad tempered emp.

As you can see, I have a ton to learn about keeping inverts....
Thanks to all that help!
D.

[skinheaddave]

Dragoon,

Unlike Centruroides sp., Pandinus sp., Heterometrus sp. etc., Opisthacanthus sp. may not do so well communally. Granted, I have had cohabitating mating pairs, but the species does not have an established track record of being good in groups.

Cheers,
Dave

[Dragoon]

Bummer... so Centruoides is the only communal one?
I can't really tell by your use of commas above, which are and aren't.
hehe
D.

[reverendsterlin]

Mesobuthus martinsi (chinses golden among other common names) are usually kept communally and I have heard good things about Babycurus jacksoni being kept in groups as well. Neither of these are really to be handled but both have sucessfully been kept in colonies.

[skinheaddave]

Dragoon,

Yeah, my use of commas was pretty ridiculous. Anyhow, Centruroides (bark scorpions), Pandinus (emperor scorpions, redclaws), Heterometrus (asian forest) are all communal, as are M.martensii and B.jacksoni, as Rev stated.

Opisthacanthus is not.

Of course it is all a matter of degrees. People have kept Hadogenes troglodytes together for periods of times, though it almost inevitably ends with canabalism. Conversely, people have lost Pandinus sp. to canabalism, though the species is known for its communality, both in captivity and in the wild.

Cheers,
Dave

[Emily-Fisher]

Frank has got a bunch of kick-a$$ scorpions that I personally think you would flip out on. Unfortunately, I forget the name of the species... I'll ask him if he can post it here :)

[Emily-Fisher]

Okay well Frank wont post the species since he's very busy talking to a bunch of girls and he says that you can't spend 5 minutes doing something else when there are 3 girls chatting in the background blah blah blah... so he told me the name of the species so that I could post it :p It's called the Centruroides vittatus :)

[FrankQC]

Hello

I have three Centruroides vittatus which are for now, my favorite communal scorpions. One of my three has orangeish stripes, she's very good looking!


Anyways, here are the pics:

http://www.reptilic.com/pics/ssnakess/3.jpg
http://www.reptilic.com/pics/ssnakess/dcp01718_resized.jpg
http://www.reptilic.com/pics/ssnakess/dcp01673_resized.jpg

[ranmasatome]

Ahhh...communal Scorps....what can i say....very painful?? lol...Brings back memories of my section being attacked by some of them during our night topography training as soldiers while in Asia. i think 3-4 of them got sent to the hospital that night with "burning sensations" running down their neck.
These guys kinda fell out from a thick tree branch which we were going under and had to move out of the way, near the end of our "mission". NOT FUN!! Do what ever you want but don't get stung..lol.

[skinheaddave]

What species, do you know? If you don't know, could you give me a description and precise geographical location -- might be able to narrow it down.

Cheers,
Dave

P.S. Definitely wasn't Centruroides sp., as these are found only in the Americas.

[Dragoon]

Oh wow! Those vittatus are smoking! They've kept great color at all sizes! Thanks Frank, for tearing yourself away from the chicks long enough to post that! hahahahaha
So the vittatus are both communal, and being a bark scorp, are more visible. I like those stripes!
I will, of course, do a heck of a lot more searching for info before deciding on a species or two. But thanks much for the clues as to where to start!
There sure are a lot of species of scorpion....its gonna cut into my tarantula-reading time....tsk, tsk, it sucks wanting to know everything you can, and only having so many hours in the day...
D.

[Dragoon]

OK, B. jacksonii it is...
I just did some searching, and they're really, really nice. Colorful, communal, and like to climb bark. I can get CB babies from the one and only Tarcan! (-thanks for the heads up, doll!) I also read the sting report from a baby, and, well,... my flesh will be nowheres NEAR the critters!

Now I just need to find some of those vittatus...;)
D.

[skinheaddave]

'goon,

While B.jacksoni are a lovely species and are sometimes called "bark scorpions," they are not as "arboreal" as the Centruroides. Thus, don't be surprised if they spend a fair bit of time hiding under things. That being said, if you lean a piece of bark against a corner, they may very well take refuge under it, so you can turn the enclosure and see them.

Cheers,
Dave

[ranmasatome]

Hey Dave,
i did a bit of asking around and found out about the scorpions in that region. i narrowed it down to five...

1) Wood scorpion Liocheles (Hormurus) australasiae
2) Asian forest scorpion or black scorpion (Heterometrus longimanus)
3) Asian forest scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer)
4) Striped scorpion (Isometrus maculatus)
5) Bark scorpion (Lychas sp)

maybe some of these are not aboreal? not sure i don't keep them..lol. tell me what you think...the ones that stung us were babies though...and the victims got sent to the hospital and received antivenom within 2-3hrs.

[skinheaddave]

Are you sure they were babies? The only two Buthidae in your list are the Isometrus and Lychas -- both of which have relativley small adult sizes.

Cheers,
Dave