Emperor suddenly died

Hi all,

I need some advice and your thoughts.

Returned home yesterday evening to find my Emperor dead, she was fine in the morning. I have had her 7 months and I believe she was about a year old when I got her.

Humidity was 70 % ish temperature was about 25 ish

I had a read up on line last night and this is where I think I have made a massive error and its my fault. She had about 8 medium to large crickets in there with her, they had been there since Wednesday so so 4 days. I did this because I thought she would happily hunt and feed herself as and when required. The crickets had carrot slices in there to eat but to be fair most had been eaten. I read last night that crickets can become aggressive, gang up and also that live feed should not be left in the habitat for more than 24 hours, a piece of info that I remembered from my original research but to be honest completely forgot about to my detriment.

These things were eating her carcase which in 9 hours had consumed her entire tail and sting, two legs and made a good start on her head.  

I'm gutted as I thought I had got the habitat sorted. Of course she may have just "died" and they were feeding on her.

I am going to set up another habitat sometime this month with two emps or maybe red claws but I'm now very wary of crickets and meal worms and read that cockroaches may be better.  

I would really appreciate advice on the above before I make any further decisions.

That's a shame, sorry for your loss.

We'll never really know what happened but I'd be surprised if crickets took down a healthy scorp, just don't think they could. I've heard of them killing scorps that have just molted and are still soft but a healthy scorp with a hard exo, especially a large one like P. imperator, normally wouldn't just sit there while it was being eaten alive it would either lash out or flee. Maybe too many crickets in a small space stressed it out and they got the better of it but I'd be tempted to say it died before the crix started eating it. Also the crix might happen to try to have a munch at the same time but I doubt their ability to gang up on anything. Just my opinion of course.

I had a strange death also recently but almost the total opposite. One of my H. madraspatensis had died halfway through eating a cricket, died with the crick half way in his mouth. Maybe that crick was contaminated with something bad or just rotten luck, I'll never know. Anyone ever had this before? I wouldn't be worried about using crickets though just feed one at a time and remove if uneaten, try again in a day or so. They can go a long time on a good feed.

If I were you I'd stick with the P. imperator if you plan on keeping them together, P. cavimanus don't seem to do so well together, I'm sure it can be done but they can be pretty aggresssive and brutal to each other. My big male damaged a female when I just put them together to mate. P. imps are getting kind of hard to find over here though, for a reasonable price anyway, I've seen them for ridiculous money in shops, I've been looking for a few more.

Anyway just my thoughts. Sometimes these things can happen and are out of our control.

Thanks for the reply Jay, I agree that a health Emp wouldn't allow its self to be attacked in such a way!

Maybe she did just die of natural causes, as you say we will never know.

I have looked today and yes Emps are very rare in the UK. Will keep looking though as I want to start again. I have enjoyed the last 7 months.

Cheers

No worries, good luck anyway, you could try some other Pandinus or Heterometrus species, easier to come by with the same care and just as interesting if not more so. My favourite so far is Heterometrus madraspatensis, awesome scorps.

Let me know if you find emps for less than a fortune!

So Jay, I have found a place in Eastbourne that has Emperors @ £28.00 and Giant Forest @ £9.95 none of these are living together. I am quite keen to get two but...... if they are not living together is it wise to add two, they are all juveniles and to be honest I don't want scorplings, which I imagine would be impossible to stop unless you can guarantee the sex!!! I'm not going to buy the first thing that comes up as I do like the look of the Indian you have recommended its quite different. What are your thoughts on this.

That's not too bad been seeing them for more and I've paid more than that for scorps in the past. I'm not sure of anywhere selling H. madras at the moment though, I'm working on a breeding project but probably wont have any spare for a while. They're very slow to breed so I wouldn't worry about getting babies, it's also one of the most fun parts of the hobby and as you can see Emp babies are quite sought after.

Anyway you could keep them together while they're juveniles, just keep them well fed. They're easier to sex once they get adult, you could then separate them if need be but by then you might feel differently.

I've had alot of scorps from these guys before, highly recommended TheSpiderShop

Also a few different forest scorps on here BugzUK, they're reliable enough.

Both worth a look if you haven't already.

Hey jester, i offer my condolences

Hi Chaps, I have found a great shop in Sussex, www.tarantulabarngroup.com their web site and forum isn't active and not updated but I went there today and selected a female Pandinus cavimanus (Red Claw) she is much more feisty than Arya was and I have cleared out the old habitat and set it all up for her again. Will post some pics up in a day or so.

The staff at Tarantula Barn were very knowledgeable and helpful and had several choices and habitat accessories to look at.

Congrats glad you've found a replacement, look forward to pics.

Never been to that shop, if I'd have known a couple of weeks ago I could of checked it out as I was down that way. Went down to Emsworth reptiles in Portsmouth to pick up an Ornate Uromastyx. Actually one of the best shops I've been in for a long while.

http://www.scorpion-forum.com/t11272-my-new-pandinus-cavimanus-red-claw in case you haven't seen yet?

Looked at the web site of Emsworth they have an impressive set up there.

Yeah real nice shop, they've got a wall of DWA snakes, cool to see an albino diamond back rattlesnake and vipers in proper nice enclosures, well worth a look.