New guy with first Pandinus.

Hello! After what seems an eternity I`ve finally got into the hobby with a pair of P. Imperators! I have what appear to be 4i or 5i emps in a ten gallon setup and they seem to have settled down fine (escape attempts aside heh). They seem to have all the bits and pieces intact as far as I have seen so no problems to report. I would say they are about 5 inches or so in length, I would post pics but I only have web access on my mobile and I`ve never tried that before. I guess thats it for now, cheers! Oh, and I apologize if this looks funny, I am on a mobile phone ya know!

Hey, welcome, and congrats on the start of your addiction

Thanks! I already have thoughts and plans for a P. cavimanus (militaris) and a H. spinifer/Laoticus lol

What's your tank setup like?

Nothing fancy, 10 gallon tank with 2inches coconut husk on bottom and about 4 or 5 inches eco earth and potting soil mix on top of that. A wide shallow dish for water and two hides. I am currently using an infrared bulb for heat until I get a suitable heating pad for the side.

Ok, cool, just making sure you had a good substrate. The most common mistake newcomers to the hobby make is using bark chips or sand.

Hehe, yea I noticed that even pet stores tend to do bad things like that. Not naming any names here *cough petco cough* lol. I like to research things like this before I get into them, good business and all that . My emps seem to have made themselves at home, they`re drinking and burrowing together! Strangely enough, I have noticed that the larger one is active and agressive for a P. Imperator though. Maybe he ate his spinach haha

I see, thanks for the info. I was hoping for a matching set, maybe I got lucky ! I will try to sex them soon but I may not be able to tell before they molt. Still not sure on the instar, I want to say 5i based on size but I don`t want to disturb them to try and confirm it tonight. At what instar can you sex P. Imperator? Still learning some stuff hehe.

The Petco around here isn't TOO bad . . . they use cocofiber, but only enough to cover the bottom of the tank.

You can sex them fairly early on, you just have to get a good look at the pectines and operculum (keep in mind, an immature male's pectines may seem small so you may have to judge by the operculum).

I can never remember what instar emps mature at (regardless of how often people on here remind me ), but if their telsons are cream-colored or light brown, they're subadults. White = juvenile, dark brown = adult.

Oh, and my male was a spitfire. Just to keep things weird.

They are certainly sub-adults, as the telsons are a nice creamy brown. If I am not mistaken they are ready to start eating now. I believe I have seen the "feed me seymour" posture lol. I am not to worried about positive id on sex or instar just yet, as I don`t want to stress them out too much. They`ve had an eventful 24 hours and probly just want a feed and a good lurk right now.

I was right! I offered the larger of the pair a superworm as a treat and it was instantly gobbled up. The smaller of the two didn`t want a worm but did however suck down a cricket. The way it was captured was strange though. I believe he/she was pretending to be a T, as the cricket was taken with the mouth parts and not the pincers or the tail. Oh well, they seem happy at least

Update: I have positively identified the smaller/more slender of my pair as a female. Now if the the fat one will just try to climb the corner as well....

Edit: I have a positive id on both emps now. The smaller of the two is a 4i female and the larger is a 5i female. I will be getting a 3rd P. imperator tuesday or wedensday. I Hope I get a male.

Sex it in the shop if its an adult, or ask for the sex.

I wanted to get out of petco quick so I didn`t take the time to id them in store. This particular petco isn`t that great, improper id on animals. less than ideal enclosures and worst of all, the employees don`t know/care. I found a closer ps that not only knows about what they are doing but also genuinely cares. I will most certainly take the time this go around hehe

Thats fantastic. Ive had experience with unknowledgeable pet stores and its a real bum to buy from them, spesh if the scorps are over priced.

Congrats on sourcing a new one

Thanks, this ps also trying to expand on their arachnids which means more scorps for me!

Haha, lucky you, id was lucky to find a ps round here that even sells scorps, i payed 30 quid, like 25 dollars i think for my pandinus

2xw wrote:

Sex it in the shop if its an adult, or ask for the sex.

I have yet to find a petstore that I could trust with accurately sexing anything other than a hamster.

hey sexing a hamster isnt all that easy......






maybe a petstore should let a customer sex a scorp before he buys.

Are you kidding? Males are seriously packin'

The stores around here will let me sex scorps before I buy 'em if I sound like I know what I'm talking about.

Anyone can sound like they know what theyre talking about just by spending an hour on here, haha. And i wouldnt know ive never sexed a male hamster before!!

Are you serious? 25 for a P. Imperator?! And I though 17 was expensive . I have no doubt these guys will let me sex their scorps for them. It`s a ps run by people who are into what they sell, so no worries. These guys are cool enough that the few who know what they`re talking about at pet smart actually send business they`re way haha. That`s how I found this new source for inverts