Hottentotta jayakari chronicles

I have opened this thread to keep track of the progress of my new H jayakaris

Currently I have 2 of them at 2i stage

Daily temp 32C and 27C at night

Dry coco fibre with a light misting on small area and the side of the tub once a week

This one ripped a meal worm right off the tweezers yesterday

One more pic from the front. Harmonica playing

Yes!

Very cool that you are documenting these as they grow. I can't wait to read more about them.

Agreed I love when people keep notes.

Very nice photos they are so cute

Cool photos!!

Neat!

Continuing with this chronicle, one of my jayakaris ate the other and she finally moulted last week. Here she is with her first meal

Oh no! Haha. Is cannibalism normal for this species?

I thought they were communal but obviously not!  I fed them very regularly to ensure they would not try to eat each other but even then i failed!

shaneshac wrote:

I thought they were communal but obviously not!  I fed them very regularly to ensure they would not try to eat each other but even then i failed!

Most "communal" species are only truly tolerant of one another when they're adult and will still cannibalize as a juvenile in the form of an opportunistic feeding response when one of their brothers or sisters decide to molt. I raise all of my specimens in solitary conditions, aside from Tityus stigmurus, until adulthood.

As far as adult go; yes, they are "communal". I've been keeping a group of this species for a little while now without any instances of cannibalism.

Thanks for the info. I guess i did not read the small print hahaha

Will keep everything solitary from now on.

cool scorp 

shaneshac wrote:

Thanks for the info. I guess i did not read the small print hahaha

Will keep everything solitary from now on.

It's always good practice to err on the side of caution with species that you're not sure about. Most social scorpions like C. gracilis, that I keep together at all stages, will cannibalize given the chance during a molt. It's an easy meal, and passing it up could mean not seeing another meal. It's just instinct. Feeding heavily can greatly reduce the chances of cannibalism during molts, but will NOT totally prevent it.

Good luck with your remaining specimen.

Thanks for the comments and information. I wont keep any scorps together from now on

Another moult for my remaining jayakari

So pretty!

My jayakari is still going strong. Its rejecting food so assume its getting ready for another moult.

It was trying to tag me and you can see its venom drop on the tip of the stinger!

One of my subadult females under UV