Questions about handling...

Hello fellow emp lovers!! I have a couple of questions I was hoping someone could answer me on...

What's the deal with handling your emp? Should you never do it...should you do it sometimes?
Will my emp become more familiar with me if I handle her more or does it even matter. Many of you have pictures up of you handling your emps so it must be ok generally, but is it recommended? I've read the FAQ but have found conflicting opinons elswhere.

What do you folks think? :HeathJoker:

Ok well ill try start. Rated best species to handle, but completly depends on how coinfident you are with handling to start off with, How old is yours?

Aslong as you know what your doing you should be fine, no quick movements and dont panic so easily, the one thing i learnt is to steady my breathing, any wind movement on your scorpion makes them jolt, like a car that stalled, first time i did it scared the hell out of me lol

handling is not recommended. however, i hold my flat rock occasionally (now he tries to swing at me. his claws btw). i got one scorp at a show that is alright being held. but if its okay being held, dont overdue it. it really stresses them out

i love handling my scorps. i guess i should stop

Well there aren't any studies to show what handling does to scorpions that I'm aware of, but then again they're not like dogs either lol. In the end it's your decision and your scorpion. I don't handle, but that's just my preference to leave my scorpions alone. I know I wouldn't want to be yanked out of my home all the time.

I should think it'd be quite stressful if they were handled a lot.

I handle my emp or my flat rock roughly every 6 months or so just to show people that they are actually beautiful and not vicious little monsters... of course there are some exceptions

1) They don't get used to it or become tame
2) Handling can be considered stressful to the scorp

That being said, it's useful to get over the initial nervousness and learn how in case of
A) Tank maintenance / rehousing
B) Public demos / outreaches

I don't plan on handling her on a regular basis. In fact, one of the things that I love about my emp is that she values her personal space greatly...just like me..lol. I have absolutely no desire to overstress her as I want her to live as long as possible. But you do bring up a good point about knowing how to handle emps in case the need arises...

So, how do I go about doing it with the least amount of stress given to her and also the least amount of pain given to me? Are there any tricks to it or do I just pick her up and hope for the best? :HeathJoker:

Try placing a cup/mug down on the substrate and try to get her to walk backwards into the cup and then carefully pour onto your hand.

Don't let the scorp go past your elbow. What I do is I put my hand completely flat a couple inches in front of the scorp when I want to reposition it. If you need any examples, I have tons of them on my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/brandonjaeger

binksyboy3 wrote:

Try placing a cup/mug down on the substrate and try to get her to walk backwards into the cup and then carefully pour onto your hand.

I would say

Try placing a cup/mug your hand down on the substrate and try to get her to walk backwards inonto the cup it and then carefully pour onto your hand

Some vivariums aren't low enough or large enough for you to stick your hand in and have good control, so a mug makes it much easier in those situations.