It finally hit me

No, no, I didn't get tagged or anything.

I just came to the realization that I enjoy the scorpion a lot more than the tarantula ! Who'd thought ?

So therefore I'd like to (slowly but surely) focus entirely on scorpions and hopefully breed some harder-to-come-by species for the hobby.

I can already give 3 reasons why I make this choice.

1. They are far easier to contain since most (if not all) cannot climb smooth surfaces.

2. Their hunting/feeding behaviour is a bit more interesting to observe.

3. They have a lot less "kids" to look after, compared to the 150+ tarantula young.

I wouldn't do this for money, just for the good of the hobby.

I still have lots to learn, and have been considering a mini-communal setup. Say just two or three in a medium or large critter keeper with heat mat on the side if necessary.

These are the species I'm looking into, in no particular order.

Centruroides vittatus

Babycurus jacksoni

Uroctonus mordax

Hottentotta judaicus

Rhopalurus junceus

Whichever is the cheapest will come first and I have a feeling it will be C. vittatus. Just waiting on early Jan to get some news from TC depending if anything is available.

Not looking into breeding yet, but just want to experience a communal set-up with just males (prefferable) or unmated females.

So yeah, this just dawned on me. Scorpions are more interesting in pretty much every way.

Hell yeah they are,.
That's what I've been saying since I started.

T's are wack

Who am I kidding ?

The more I look at B. jacksoni, the more I want 'em ! I can't get over how pretty those are, and I see that they are generally reccomended as a first-time buthid species pretty much everywhere I look. They have to be popular for a reason !

So I'm guessing 2 or 3 adults would be fine in a medium critter keeper... or maybe just 2 ? As long as I don't get any gravid females, I'd be pretty happy.

At any case, I wouldn't diss the Ts entirely, I just wouldn't bother to breed them. I know I should at least acquire the hobby favorites like B. smithi, B. albopilosum, C. cyaneopubescens ( Did I get that right ?) and P. murinus.

Now I know the wait for TC to get back in business will be horrendous now that I'm dead set on getting B. jacksoni.

I made a post awhile back looking at harder to come by species.

B. jacksoni are pretty, and CAKE to breed. They are slightly common though, and are often under a piece of bark.

Some south American species I would like to get into, you don't see many of those species.

Mordax are cute, and sometimes are out every day. You must understand how small they actually are though. I don't think I would be prepared to feed their scorplings, I can only imagine.

vittatus would be fun. I would like to buy some, but not rely on wild caught collections.

Rhopalurus junceus would be fun if you can find them. Kind of like a B. jacksoni?

Gigas aren't that common. I wonder if their sting is a 4?

You could also mess with a larger common but not often bred species like P. militarus or however you spell it. However, the other projects might be more fun. Mine has very interesting nervous behaviors. That = won't eat while watching.

They're also easier to perform tank maintenance on and transport/pack

Nice selection of species. It is also great advantage that most adult scorpions can be kept in comunal setups or in pairs.

Cowin8579

There are no such thing as a P.militaris if that what you meant.. its a old name for P.cavimanus

Really? lol I just have the red leg/red claw vs the red claw? Looks more brown than red. Thank you.

Hey Shin, I've got 2 Rhopalurus Junceus, not 100% sure the sex yet though. Pretty sure one is a male, just waiting for other to molt to find out what it is, if it turns out to be the same sex I could send you one if you happen to come by one of the opposite sex. Living in Saskatchewan right now so would have to wait a while for things to warm up beforehand.

Chrome sexing them is easy.. the females chela fingers will be like this || and the males will be like this () the males cant close the fingers fully.. its like he has bendt them or something

Chrome wrote:

Hey Shin, I've got 2 Rhopalurus Junceus, not 100% sure the sex yet though. Pretty sure one is a male, just waiting for other to molt to find out what it is, if it turns out to be the same sex I could send you one if you happen to come by one of the opposite sex. Living in Saskatchewan right now so would have to wait a while for things to warm up beforehand.

Chrome,

that is incredibly generous and tempting, but I must decline since I think it would go to waste since I don't plan to breed scorps yet. I'd rather obtain B. jacksoni, which is alot more plentiful as of now. Unless things have changed considerably over the past few years, R. junceus is fairly rare in the hobby and anyone obtaining them is encouraged to breed them to keep the numbers in check since imports from Cuba are quite likely banned.

If I'm wrong, I have a few months to consider one since they are as beautiful as B. jacksoni.

Time will tell.

Yea, the tarantulacanada from montreal usually carries B. Jacks, if you wanna go for a bit of a roadtrip i'm sure you could probably get them now. And hopefully the unmolted Junceus of mine turns out to be the opposite sex, then would be able to have colonies of them in the future ^_^.

And yea kejser, was lookin at that for a while, but looking at it now the molted one looks more like a female, looks like it can close it's chela all the way. The unmolted one's chela are still that small size so I can't 100% ID it yet but it should be molting any day now.

As some may have heard me say before, the convenience of keeping scorps over ts is something that has kept me leaning towards the 'darkside' for the longest time since started.

Nonetheless, I have made a significant move in the opposite direction, only to firmly reside closer towards the central balance.

I've managed to up my t collection in tandem with my scorps; a recent development I find refreshing and exciting. I will say that I have come to see t's for their sinister predatory cunning in contrast to the generally straight-up primeval savagery of scorpions; both I equally admire with deep regards.

Though Scorpions will always be my first and foremost passion, I would truly like to see more hobbyist and breeders explore the outer-limits of the Arachnid order such as amblypygids, uropygids, solifuges and even true spiders. Less mentioned are the select few who delve into the obscure world of acari .... muahahhahahhaa

Ok guys.

small dillemna...

Part of me believes Centruroides vittatus or hentzi would be a bit easier to care for.

Yet Tabor mentions in one of his Youtube vids that B. jacksoni will do great at room temp.

From my understanding, the centruroides are smaller than babycurus.

It's definite I'll be keeping 3 specimens in a medium critter keeper. Will 3 B. jacksoni have enough room in there to avoid cannibalism ?

Let me know.

Ok.... seems B. jacksoni will take a while to be available from TC.

So I've got a Buthid-free wishlist which should be easy to complete.... for the most part.

So aside my P. imperator... I think the following species will provide more than enough experience for a while.

Either Hadogenes troglodytes or paucidens.

Either Hadrurus arizonensis or spadix.

Either Opistophthalmus walberghi or boehmi.

Either Vaejovis spinigerus or carolinianus.

Ok.... so for Opistophthalmus species, how often do these show up in the pet trade ?

And anyone knows their typical longevity ?


For tarantulas.... I've decided to stick with New World terrestrials.

Aside my G. rosea, these are some considerations.

Either Brachypelma smithi/emilia/boehmi depending on availability and price.

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens is a must due to coloration.

Acanthoscurria geniculata is one for beauty and size.

Lasiodora parahybana mostly for size.

I'll do my best to acquire one T and one scorp by the end of spring hopefully.