Thinking about getting a scorpion.

[CornSnakeMan]

Its just that I dont know if they are interesting. I was heading for a emperor scorpion but something tells me to wait. Whats does a scorpion do to be so interesting? I have tarantulas that build webs and sneak attack on their prey. What do scorpions do?

[doenoe]

Well Emperors are nocturnal, see you wont see them alot during the day. THey arent real hunters neither. They just sit and wait till some cricket takes the wrong turn. But.......they are very nice creatures to just look at. I can look at them for an hour and not be bored. I love the way they shuf a cricket in their mouths like its a hotdog :) Some people handle them, but i dont. Can cause stress on the scorpion, which can kill it. So i just sit an watch.
Anyway, im glad i bought my 2 scorps, but thats just me :)
Well thats it for my 0.02 $
Greetz Daan

[Colonel SB]

Scorpions are facinating creatures, if you get emperors get 2 at least to watch them interact now it's not like mamals but they do interact.

[reverendsterlin]

and the occasional blacklight to watch them glow lol, for non-emporors keep them single

[FrankQC]

If you want a first scorpion to watch (and not touch) take a desert hairy (hardrurus arizonensis (normal top, arizona) or hardrurus spadix (blacktop, nevada)).

They are very very active, are nocturnal, but they sometimes get out at daylight! They almost always sting their preys (sometimes 1, but I seen mine sting one cricket 3 times), are pretty, aggressive, always ready to sting. Some people say that their desert hairy are more aggressive than their truely hot scorps (androctonus, etc), because hot scorps prefer to hide, and desert hairy wants to fight instead of hiding :) But their venom isnt that's hot, painful only (if you're not allergic to)

H. arizonensis was my first scorpion, as I'm a observer kind of person, I really loved them, they are awesome, nothing else to say!

If you want to handle one, go with emperor or flatrock, those are real nice beginner-want-to-touch species, but it may happen that they get angry, but you'll easily see when they don't want to be handled. But they're not that active.. sometimes get out at night, that's it. If you give them the chance to have a burrow, you'll rarely see them, they'll wait for crickets to come in their burrow.. h. arizonensis doesn't wait, it go outside and hunt! I seen mine running after crickets, very funny lol H. arizonensis dig alot, they can move alot of sand in one nights! (I'm talking about arizonensis as a personnal but spadix should act the same).


Frank

[Darlene]

I've been thinking of one , too & was wondering ..... do all scorps glow in black light or just the emperor ?

[serpenteye]

Scorps are a really cool pet to have. They are so much fun to watch eat and drink water. I say go for it!

[FrankQC]

Almost all scorps glow under UV light, some species doesn't (doesn't remember the name - they aren't in the common scorp trading). If you put a blacklight too long over a scorp, it'll loose its ability to fluorescence, and it'll hurt its eyes too.

Scorps glow under sun light, because of the UV, but they glow more under blacklight, because there's no "white light" with the blacklight, so the fluorescence light is more intense.

Desert hairy glows flashing yellow, and emp glows flashing green. I don't know but looks like yellow=flashing yellow and black=flashing green.



Frank

[Darlene]

Tks, FrankQC. That brings up another ques.....how much black light is too much? Would a 15watt bulb for occasional short night views be okay (no more then 1/2 hour) ?

[FrankQC]

Hello fellow canadian (heheh..)

I use a 75watts bulb, and it does the work, but I don't know if 15watts would be enough, the 75watts does light more than the scorpion, so I can see a bit more (of substrate).

For occasionnal short views (1hour and under) blacklight **watts is fine, it isn't when it is kept all night long (not all day long, because scorps are supposed to have somewhere to hide from the light as arachnids HATE light! So they aren't in contact with the UV from the blacklight.)


Frank

[geckoguy157]

i thought emeperor scorpians glowed blue not green i mite be wrong though

[Darlene]

Tks.FrankQC.

[FrankQC]

They glow blue under a certain type of light (which I don't remember which one it is) but under UV light (sun, blacklight) it glows green.


Frank