Heterometrus madraspatensis breeding attempt (comments accepted)

Started another thread so that i can get useful input from you guys.

Lisa has sent me her male to pair up with my female, so after letting him settle down I decided to give it a go.

Put Lisa's male Heterometrus madraspatensis into a freshy prepared container after putting in my female, for about 15mins they didn't even notice each others presence.

After careful observation i coaxed my female over to the male, instantly he grabbed hold of her metasomas and one of her chela them started juddering and waving his tail around over her. After pulling her around for a bit he got her by both chela and faces touching manouvered her around the tank till he found the flat piece of slate.


After holding her still for a few minutes she jumped up and fiecely chased him of into a corner where he slunked with his tail between his legs.

At that point i interjected and sepatated the pair. This was what was left behind.


Hopefully they have successfully mated but i will try again in a day or so

The spemiphore being left behind is ths normal?

oh wicked, looks like a confirmed hit.

yes it's quite normal for it to be left behind, all the male wants to do is leg it before he gets attacked and the female just wants to go into her burrow.

congrats on a successful mating, glad he has done the job

now you can either watch for the female eating like mad and them going into hiding, or try again one more time. if the female tries to attack him chances are she has caught on.

oh wow I'm well chuffed

Well thanks for sending him down! I'll try once more tomorrow night just for luck! But it is so funny when she pops back to life and dashes after him!

yeah thats what they did for me too.

the male did a bit of jigging, not much and waited for the female to come over.

I would presume he does his jig and the female sizes him up to see if he acceptable. Which, I suppose, is better than the male going straight in and getting mushed by the female if she dont like him!

Keep hold of him for as long as you need him, there's no rush to get him back. I would rather you kept him and sent him back when you see the first behavioural signs of pregnancy.

i.e. female eating like mad for about a month or so (this includes after she has eaten, within days she is outwardly looking for more food!)
Then she should burrow like mad (may be upto a litre of substrate if you have deep substrate) and you should hardly see her. You may see the peds at the entrance but if a cricket goes near she just shoo's it away rather than go for it.

lmfto @ connie!

Keeping an eye on her growth

Blimey she's looking podgey i love these scorpions, oh nice pics

my god, I though my girly was fat!

I think you may have a brood bigger than mine!

Hope so

we'll see, as she was a little fatty, before she met your male and it's been only almost a moth since i paired them up

only a month but already 1/5 into gestation... hopefully

good luck, fingers crox

WTF!!!

Ok off to the BTS show tomorrow, so thought i'd put the pair together again before i bring the male back to Lisa. Honeymoon suite set up and now the decision whether to put the male or female in first?

Ok female first.

What do i see in her box....................................BABIES!!!!!!

That was fast.

I wonder if she was gravid before you mated her . . . but then she probably would have rejected the male.

thats what I thought as well.

Is it possible for a scorpion to mate prior to giving birth and still become pregnant again with the next brood, like some lizards double clutch.

very bizarre, but awesome news nonetheless

I'm confused!!!! And I've been waiting for some excitment in my collection but that is just strange!

This was her when i brought her in december last year

i was going to say, based on the may 12th pics you posted, that she was either obese or already gravid when you mated her. most species, and especially docile species, will not reject a male even if they are already gravid. i guess a little extra sperm never hurt anyone...

for a scorpion that knows she is already gravid the risk is much higher for a female that "fights back". think of it this way, uncooperative or feisty females don't get a sweet little dance and then a spermataphore, they get wrestled around, possibly stung multiple times, and may end up having to exert the energy to kill the male. that is a lot of risk to expose your progeny to. on the other hand, an overly excited male does make for a tasty treat and a quick source of nutrients for a gravid female that hasn't left the house in months

She probably was, well thats what i thought originally.

Her before popping


Here's her small brood

ooooh so thats what they look like when they are born...

fantastic pics leon. it may be a small brood, but it's a brood nonetheless. Well done mate

It's been five days since she gave birth and the scorplings are already moulting into 2nd instar. Substrate looks a bit dry by her burrow so just to keep the humidity up to make it easier for moulting i have poured some water in.

Will check them tomorrow to see if it was a successful moult as some look stuck to her back, one has left her back already though.

They are all fine! Here are some pics, they all run around so fast. It's like they're playing hide and seek!

lol I always think mum looks like she has sunburned peeling skin when the babies shed on her back hahahah!

fantastic pictures Leon. Still waiting on my other female Madras' to pop but I'm going to leave babies with mum a little longer this time. My little 2i's were quite a bit darker than that when we spotted them.

And yeah the babies can move, have you seen my you tube video of my remaining babies....lift moss up... RUN AWAY!!!!!!

All good stuff