Possible to be gravid or not...

The guy at my local reptile house seems to think that he has a gravid emperor female. Its only a sub-adult if not only a juvenile... Is it possible for a female emperor to be gravid when she isnt even an adult?

No.

A scorpion must be mature to be gravid. If it doesn't have a red telson ( if it is an emp concerned), then it cannot be gravid.

i figured so but the guy was soooo sure.. i thot he was wrong lol

Nah, he was just trying to get you to buy it.

When I got my emps, the guy at my pet store told me bark chips works really well, but I knew that they didn't enable the scorp to burrow and so I said, no I'll have coco fibre.

It just goes to show, either they have no idea what they're talking about or they are just trying to scam you into buying it.

yea it was an extremely fat female. I just figured she was probably premolt. He didnt want to think that lol.

anemiaffx wrote:

I just figured she was probably premolt

Probably

she was wicked fat

guys, i have a h.spinifer ( i think ) that i just bought last week. after reading some topics and forums here i went to check my scorp. i think mine is gravid because of the visible cord at the back and whitish thingies at her side. can you guys check for me? also im not sure of its age so i'll submit a picture of its telson.


and also if she is gravid, would a burrow this size be enough?

Sinbe, feel free to post your own threads with your questions rather than taking over someone else's.

With that aside, my best guess is gravid -- the telson looks like an adult's, but I could be mistaken. The manner of "fatness," though, makes me think gravid.

The burrow should be OK, but deeper would be better. Is that her new home? The substrate is a big improvement.

Look how yellow the telson is tho...

Can you take another pic of it? Possibly one with its whole body in the picture. I can't say for sure if it's an adult or not, could just be my eyes

i just changed the substrate today after reading the topics. at first when i bought it i wanted to buy the soil but the pet store guy insists on me buying the wood thing cause he said that soil can make the scorpion unhealthy. then after seeing how u guys handle your scorps i changed it. but the substrate is just common garden soil. i cant afford to buy the brick type yet cause im still a student so that makes my budget pretty tight

im pretty excited about her being gravid and all but im also a little bit afraid if my care wont be good enough and i'll end up losing the brood. so do you guys have any suggestions on how can i improve?


sorry for the poor pic quality. i only use a phone camera



that is a comparison of her and a 500ml bottle cap

anemiaffx wrote:

Look how yellow the telson is tho...

ya i noticed that too. maybe she reached puberty early ? lol

She shouldnt of...

I would have guessed at gravid because she certainly does look the part. But, the telson is really putting me off.

So I'm going to go with an immature specimen in pre-molt.

Then again, I am only assuming this species' telson goes red when mature.

Yes, it doesn't look mature to me. Keep us posted Sinbe!

so its pre molt then? i've been jumpy and restless since i suspected it to be gravid. lol
if she's pre molt, then that explains the lack of appetite

what are the symptoms that positively shows a scorp is gravid?

Signs of being gravid are similar to what your scorpion is showing now -- extremely fat, with the dark line down the center (the heart) being plainly visible, a lack of appetite . . .

It's just the telson of yours isn't quite dark enough to make everyone sure she's an adult.

how about some white things thats kinda being visible at her sides? is it a sign that she's popping?

also an increase of humidity can accelerate the process right?

i'm worried if she might pop when i'm moving out of my college cause my semester break is almost here and i need to return home...

i'll post some more telson pictures, i think the bright light that makes it look yellow

A sudden increase in humidity will help to prompt birth, but I don't think it necessarily speeds up the process.

But yeah, some more telson pics would be great Perhaps a couple without flash?

ok i caught a closed up shot its telson

what do u guys think?

Yeah, that doesn't look like a mature telson to me. Do you know the length of your scorpion? "Tail to face."

premolt... Emp telson should be darker... a bit on the reddish side... not like spinifer though but just that much an earthier reddish brown.... that's what I'm thinking... I'm also subject to error... not perfect but if it was a bet... I'd still put my money on premolt... its also the quality of the exoskeleton (should be slightly grainier in adults).... the tergites and the metasoma proportions are similarly not indicative of an adult.... but due to my limited experience with emps... my guess is as good as anyone's....

just thought I put my thoughts down for that one cheers.

LXDNG79 wrote:

premolt... Emp telson should be darker... a bit on the reddish side... not like spinifer though but just that much an earthier reddish brown.... that's what I'm thinking... I'm also subject to error... not perfect but if it was a bet... I'd still put my money on premolt... its also the quality of the exoskeleton (should be slightly grainier in adults).... the tergites and the metasoma proportions are similarly not indicative of an adult.... but due to my limited experience with emps... my guess is as good as anyone's....

just thought I put my thoughts down for that one cheers.

mine is a spinifer.

if she stretches her tail. she measures about 5 to 5.5 inches. i cant get the correct measurement cause she's always moving around when i try to measure her

LXDNG79 wrote:

premolt... Emp telson should be darker... a bit on the reddish side... not like spinifer though but just that much an earthier reddish brown.... that's what I'm thinking... I'm also subject to error... not perfect but if it was a bet... I'd still put my money on premolt... its also the quality of the exoskeleton (should be slightly grainier in adults).... the tergites and the metasoma proportions are similarly not indicative of an adult.... but due to my limited experience with emps... my guess is as good as anyone's....

just thought I put my thoughts down for that one cheers.

I'll agree with this. The exo and proportions are different when compared to an adult that I have. The telson coloration doesn't match up either. I'm going to say it's not an adult.