Help ID Surrendered Species

I was hoping I could get a hand on IDing this scorp. I was in a local pet store tonight for rats and more crickets and wanted to just look at the T's as they have only had emp's for scorps. To my surprise this little guy was there labeled 'Poisonous'. I talked to the guys there and I guess someone had surrendered it today or recently and didn't know anything about it other than it was hot. Looks like some sort of bark scorpion and there are no native species around here so no one knows where he got it from. If anyone has any ideas and feels like adding in it would definitely be appreciated.

BTW my guess is C. Vittatus, I definitely wouldn't rely on my judgment alone but that is my guess

I'm gonna go with C. vittatus "mesic" male.

C.hentzi, Male

Can't tell, need to see the telson, could be a number of buthids. I can think of about 6 species it could be off the top of my head without seeing it.

Scott Land wrote:

C.hentzi, Male

I second that

Cool thanks all! I'll try to get some better pics of the telson in the next day or two. I was torn between vittatus and hentzi myself but thought vittatus. I can at least narrow it down for the shop and get some better pix while I'm at it.

iitomodachi1 wrote:

Cool thanks all! I'll try to get some better pics of the telson in the next day or two. I was torn between vittatus and hentzi myself but thought vittatus. I can at least narrow it down for the shop and get some better pix while I'm at it.

Looking at it again it could be C.vitattus but I'm pretty sure it is Centruioides(spelling) if it has a double stinger(aculeus) then it is definitely a Cent..

have you or are you going to purchase it? i have no idea what is is....*such a noob* but it is a very nice looking scorp....why oh why do we live in the uk

231Bex wrote:

have you or are you going to purchase it? i have no idea what is is....*such a noob* but it is a very nice looking scorp....why oh why do we live in the uk Crying or Very sad

I don't know if I'm going to purchase it, leaning towards no. But from what I read of both C. Vittatus and C. Hentzi they are hardy as all get up and easy to take care of. They guy that owns the place tried to scam me on shipping charges for my first scorps which is why I started going with KenTheBugGuy.com but as it turns out the assistant manager lives next door to me and they also carry medium and large rats where the other stores only have small and are 30 cents cheaper on the dozen of crickets. He's asking $30 for it which I feel less inclined to pay at the moment. I'd also rather buy a few of these if I did as I believe they are communal. So far no, but a maybe is not entirely out of the question. There are also come good write ups on this forum about C. Vittatus.

Scott Land wrote:

Looking at it again it could be C.vitattus but I'm pretty sure it is Centruioides(spelling) if it has a double stinger(aculeus) then it is definitely a Cent..

I'm looking at pics and descriptions of both Hentzi and Vittatus and I'm still leaning towards Vittatus. They both look so close, but Hentzi is supposed to be smaller at around 2" and the Vittatus is supposed to be around 3" correct? I think this guy was more than 2", he was still a bit small but I'd guess a little over that mark. I'll have to take a tape measure in with me tonight when I stop in. Also just the coloring on the carrapace and stuff looks a little more like a Vittatus but I'm not sure if that is a great way to tell. The segments on the tail seem longer but it seems to be possible for both species to have that. Still going to get more pics and definitely appreciate the help. At least narrowing it down to a couple species will still help with how to care for them.

You should send a pm to TELOW
He's the centruroides king (says so in his signature)

H. laoticus wrote:

You should send a pm to TELOW
He's the centruroides king (says so in his signature)

Will do, thanks

this one is surely a centruroides vittatus and a male it looks like.

c. hentzi tends to be more or a tan to brownins color with the markings being darker brown
and are smaller than c. vittatus also the the chela (claws) are darkened on c.vittatus
and c. hentzi are pretty much uniform color with the chela
also on c. vittatus the last tail segment before the telson (stinger) will be darkened as well
the tail itself on c.vittatus has that dark line that runs down the back of it
then c.hentzi has no line its more of a mottled pattern down the tail

but before i ramble about centruroides all day haha yes its a c. vittatus

TELOW wrote:

this one is surely a centruroides vittatus and a male it looks like.

c. hentzi tends to be more or a tan to brownins color with the markings being darker brown
and are smaller than c. vittatus also the the chela (claws) are darkened on c.vittatus
and c. hentzi are pretty much uniform color with the chela
also on c. vittatus the last tail segment before the telson (stinger) will be darkened as well
the tail itself on c.vittatus has that dark line that runs down the back of it
then c.hentzi has no line its more of a mottled pattern down the tail

but before i ramble about centruroides all day haha yes its a c. vittatus

I was hoping you would chime in!


These,actually both species do well in colonys! I had a colony of C.vittatus ,from Mo, a couple years ago .

Awesome, thank you all! I'm not sure if I would purchase this from them, just got curious as they had no info other than someone brought it in and said it was hot. But from what I read they ranked a 2 on the toxicity scale so that is no more than the V/H Spinigerus! I can also tell the kids at the shop a little bit on care. I tried to match the price the shop was asking for it but nobody seems to have any for sale at the moment. Is 30 ridiculously high for this species? They also said that the person that surrendered it may have more which would increase the likelihood of me picking it up, I would want to have a colony rather than individual. Any insight into this would greatly appreciate and again definitely thank you for helping with the ID everyone. And the quick response to the PM was awesome - thanks Telow

iitomodachi1 wrote:

Awesome, thank you all! I'm not sure if I would purchase this from them, just got curious as they had no info other than someone brought it in and said it was hot. But from what I read they ranked a 2 on the toxicity scale so that is no more than the V/H Spinigerus! I can also tell the kids at the shop a little bit on care. I tried to match the price the shop was asking for it but nobody seems to have any for sale at the moment. Is 30 ridiculously high for this species? They also said that the person that surrendered it may have more which would increase the likelihood of me picking it up, I would want to have a colony rather than individual. Any insight into this would greatly appreciate and again definitely thank you for helping with the ID everyone. And the quick response to the PM was awesome - thanks Telow

You are welcome! It is fun IDing these beastys!

Some populations of C.vittatus are very hot and from first hand knowledge the sting is very painful(first scorp sting at 6 in Tx)
here is a pic of my colony and a pair

30 does seem a bit pricey but if you compare it to online deals with the added shipping, it's actually not that bad. However if it were me, I'd definitely want a mating pair, but seeing as how you already have babies popping out everywhere, it might be best to hold. This might be hard considering we're all addicts

thats a high price for c.vittatus but its a normal pet shop price they are normaly high
but thats retail prices in those places

they are a 2 on the 1-5 scale they are not realy a danger its like getting stung by a big bee
but thats about it realy it will hurt for a while and itch and go away but if your alergic
then thats a problem but other than that its just a pain to get stung
depending where it comes from it can hurt a bit more or less
just like c. gracilis from central america can put you in the hospital and hurt like hell
and c. gracilis from florida will hurt like hell but no hospital haha odd right


but realy i would make an offer to them and see if they take it
just say i got $15 cash right now if its a surrender then they should do it
just ask for the owner or manager

Will do, I was thinking along those lines and they said that who ever brought it in said they had more, so I would inquire about more. Let's see what kind of tank space I have, communal set ups I don't mind because you can always reintroduce any offspring back to the colony when mature. The V/H Spinigerus was unexpected and are sketchy to try communal. So those are going That is the only excess I have, so I'd consider these. I do though have some Parabuthus Transvaalicus on the way though and had wanted to bread those as I have ordered 3 and hope I have at least 1 male and at least 1 female *fingers crossed*
I'd like the Hottentotta Trilineatus colony to grow, I'd eventually like to get a 40 gal setup for them I had thought about B. Jacksoni but this could replace that idea if they are readily available and I can get at least a mating pair.

H. laoticus wrote:

it might be best to hold. This might be hard considering we're all addicts Smile

Yes we are

c. vittatus have babies left and right a colony can become a swarm hahaha
i had a time a few years back where i had 7 females pop out all in the same week
c. vittatus is realy realy easy to get they are always around just like emps haha

but the parabuthus they have a long gestation period so if you get lucky
and get a pair out of it you can expect big broods they have a TON of babies

TELOW wrote:

c. vittatus have babies left and right a colony can become a swarm hahaha
i had a time a few years back where i had 7 females pop out all in the same week
c. vittatus is realy realy easy to get they are always around just like emps haha

but the parabuthus they have a long gestation period so if you get lucky
and get a pair out of it you can expect big broods they have a TON of babies

That is awesome news on both pieces! I want to eventually have my H. Trilineatus in 40g as a booming communal and maybe I'll do the same with the C. Vittatus, was thinking of B. Jacksoni for that, or maybe I'll look for another Hottentotta species. But the C. Vittatus I may now be picking up for free. As they can get more and I offered a bunch of the baby V. Spinigerus for trade on 3 of the of the C. Vittaus or a mating pair. We'll see, definitely seems more likely with a trade though. I really like the fact that they are pretty hardy. Is this write up pretty accurate? https://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/caresheets-f29/centruroides-vittatus-t1132.htm?highlight=centruroides+vitatus

I may keep some of the V. Spinigerus though to breed later, I think those as well as these sound like great beginner scorps!

Yeah, C. vittatus are pretty common, but the stores around me don't sell them. I have to look for private sellers and such.

I'd definitely bargain with them and try to get discounts on bulk order if that's possible. 30 is too much for me, but 15 isn't bad.

Telow wrote:

but the parabuthus they have a long gestation period so if you get lucky
and get a pair out of it you can expect big broods they have a TON of babies

Forgot to mention how exciting large broods for the Parabuthus sounds!! I love the look of those and can't wait to get them. Just paranoid with my son, but really what is the difference between that and keeping a gun in the house? Gotta keep education up and responsibility up.

H. laoticus wrote:

Yeah, C. vittatus are pretty common, but the stores around me don't sell them. I have to look for private sellers and such.

I'd definitely bargain with them and try to get discounts on bulk order if that's possible. 30 is too much for me, but 15 isn't bad.

Yeah there is nothing for sale here other than emps either. I can find more if I go down to Milwaukee but the only place there charges more then what it costs me to order something from an online dealer.

As for price, 30 is too much for me too, actually right now I couldn't chalk up 45 for 3 either but if they are still interested in trade for a 1/2 dozen baby H. Spinigerus then game on

Thanks again everyone for the help, it most definitely is fun to do the ID thing and I think just opened a door for me to offload some excessive babies from time to time!! Can't forget, thanks for sharing the pix Scott

that sounds about right for them they are realy easy and adapt to alot of enviroments so you cant go wrong realy haha they are tough little scorps for sure.

the parabuthus is a bad one just be sure to keep it out of reach and above eye level
they do spray so thats always a must to watch out with it but haha guns and scorps
my two favorite things in the world haha besides my wife and kids ahaha
but yeah man just use caution and be safe.



if they will trade you i would take it thats free scorps haha

good luck

I'm gonna chime in here...only a few weeks late ha.

I just can't see anyone really paying for Centruroides vittatus. I live in Texas, and in one day I found about 30 of these by driving two hours away. Contact someone on any arachnid forum from Texas and talk to them about shipping you a large group of them. You could fit at least 100 in a 40 gallon tank. Centruroides colonies are really fun, especially at feeding time as it just becomes a huge massacre of feeders haha

What ever you decide to do, have fun with em