my scorpion is an escape artist

So the other night I started hearing a bunch of noise coming from the area of my emperor tank. It was pretty loud and not the normal noise from them trying to climb up glass, so I sat up to see what was going on. I looked over to see one of them in the top corner of the tank hitting the screen. The only way he could have pulled this off is pulling himself up on the cord for the temp probe I had in there. I attached a picture, though the pic is from a few weeks ago before plants were added and moved around. The plant to the left is one the right side of the tank now so he couldn't have climbed that. I took the probe out and am still amazed he managed to get up there like that haha

wow, impressive for a heavy-set scorpion

Nice looking setup, by the way

ya I wish I had actually seen him climbing,. Even seeing him up there its hard to believe he pulled it off. And thanks, its slightly different now, there are three plants on the right and the substrate is higher now, covering the rock in the middle, I was too lazy to take a new pic though haha

I love that I came on to the forums to create an identical post. But I managed to catch some of the tarzan action. Enjoy!

Sorry for the photo quality. They were taken on my phone in pitch black. so the glare is pretty intense.

I've added all 3, so you can see the height he managed to obtain (look at the desk section near the back... he climbed up a good 8 inches.

Oh. And just as I was creating this, I look over and lo and behold...

haha thats awesome. I really never thought they could pull that off. I'm glad mine didn't attempt it while I had the lid off and I was in the other room to get water for them or something. You got me curious about the height climbed so I measured and its a foot on the nose from substrate to lid, which he didn't enjoy on the way back down.

Haha yeah. This became a new habit for my scorp. The past two nights, his only objective seems to be to climb. I'm very surprised it took him this long to realize he could use the cord...

Who says scorpions can't learn things?

Last night (as soon as the lights went off) he was out, does a lap of his tank, climbs to the roof, does a lap of the tank upside down, falls (10 1/2 inches. Yours takes a bigger tumble), repeats.

My lady got so paranoid (she loves to watch, but is terrified of any inverts) she asked that I remove the temp cord from the tank while we were sleeping.

All in all, very cool. I plan on picking up something natural for my scorpion to get his "climb on" on, like some cork bark or bambo plant.

are you sure thats an emp?
i dont see the granulation on the pincher that most emps display, it could just be my eyes, but it definitely looks like an asian forest scorp

the lycan mikey wrote:

are you sure thats an emp?
i dont see the granulation on the pincher that most emps display, it could just be my eyes, but it definitely looks like an asian forest scorp

+1 pinchers look slightly elongated too

ah hang on is was andrew saken that said his emp not kerrby who posted the latter pics... lolz

231bex wrote:

ah hang on is was andrew saken that said his emp not kerrby who posted the latter pics... lolz

holy crap, i didnt notice that...
lol im sorry

Aye.

My emp is still in her 2i.

Those photos I added to show the climbing action as the OP said he wished he could see it.

The scorp in the photos was my "emp" until joining this site and realizing (after a long while of calling it an emp) that the store I purchased him from likely duped me and I was too much of a novice to notice.

I've had him for a long time (year), and I still have no idea if it is a Asian forest or an emp. I wanted the emp for the size, but when I realized his pinchers were only about 1/2 of the size that emp photos come with I began to question.

The debate is up in the air. We could take a vote (I could also try to provide some photos)

To add, the moment you said "asian bark" my mind is basically made up, and I'm sure that's why the little guy is super aggressive, all the time. Really, really, aggressive... attacks water droplets from the leaves of the plant aggressive.

Doesn't sound like an emp, doesn't have claws like an emp, isn't docile.

Either way, any input would be good.

Kerrby wrote:

Aye.

My emp is still in her 2i.

The scorp in the photos was my "emp" until joining this site and realizing (after a long while of calling it an emp) that the store I purchased him from likely duped me and I was too much of a novice to notice.

I've had him for a long time (year), and I still have no idea if it is a Asian forest or an emp. I wanted the emp for the size, but when I realized his pinchers were only about 1/2 of the size that emp photos come with I began to question.

The debate is up in the air. We could take a vote (I could also try to provide some photos)

ok...there is no way that emp in your pics is a 2i...it is way too big lol
also it doesnt have the emperors granulation all over the pinchers...
not to mention as bex pointed out, the elongated pinchers too....
even on your avatar, it doesnt look anthing like an emperor, but thats going by pinchers alone
=)

a closer up and clearer picture would help...
but im ALMOST willing to bet 2 adult female emps that you have a Asian forest scorpion...

lol too bad alex isnt on right now, he'd sort out the problem fast =)
also if you were looking for something in a big size, anything pandinus or heterometrus will be the size you are aiming for...
unless you want a flat rock, theyre bigger than asian and african forest species...

Thanks mate.

Yeah, my poor little emp has her own tank.

This fella doesn't behave like her at all, so I am not going to disagree with you at all.

Like I said, I agree with all of your obeservations, and have been having suspicions for a long time now. For me, it wsa the pinchers not being the correct emp size. They are tiny, while my 2i emp already has the showings of some fat claws (that this fellow never did).

As it stands, I have my big scorp (well, in the future she'll be big), and I have my first scorp (apparently, with suspicions confirms, an Asian forest).

I guess I now have multiple species. Which is cool because without even knowing I slightly feel more experiences and more like a novice all at once.


Thanks guys!

I love this forum.

Kerrby wrote:

My lady got so paranoid (she loves to watch, but is terrified of any inverts) she asked that I remove the temp cord from the tank while we were sleeping.

Ya my girl wasn't to thrilled with the idea they could do that either. I tried to assure her they can't get out cause the lid is held on tight, which I went to demonstrate only to realize that corner wasn't on properly and lifted right up haha. So for now the cords out all together.

Kerrby wrote:

Thanks mate.

Yeah, my poor little emp has her own tank.

This fella doesn't behave like her at all, so I am not going to disagree with you at all.

Like I said, I agree with all of your obeservations, and have been having suspicions for a long time now. For me, it wsa the pinchers not being the correct emp size. They are tiny, while my 2i emp already has the showings of some fat claws (that this fellow never did).

As it stands, I have my big scorp (well, in the future she'll be big), and I have my first scorp (apparently, with suspicions confirms, an Asian forest).

I guess I now have multiple species. Which is cool because without even knowing I slightly feel more experiences and more like a novice all at once.


Thanks guys!

I love this forum.

theyll both be around the same size full grown, but either way, your lucky...
i can only find emps in the pet stores when i have the extra cash, id love to see how an adult asian forest scorp differs in observation from say like an emperor...

good luck with it...
oh and about the climbing thing,
scorpions cant climb up anything that has a smooth surface (glass, mirrors,etc)
if there is any kind of indention, or any kind of rough or rugged surface (like the silicone that holds the tank together)
they'll climb straight up and away

just keep something heavy on your tank if you that worried about it crawling out...
if you really wanna run those wires, id cut a small hole in the screen on the lid (dont cut too big), and make sure the little escape artist cant make another disappearance....

the lycan mikey wrote:

just keep something heavy on your tank if you that worried about it crawling out...
if you really wanna run those wires, id cut a small hole in the screen on the lid (dont cut too big), and make sure the little escape artist cant make another disappearance....

Well the lid and tank have a small gap between them, enough to fit the cord through, the only real issue was the lid wasn't pushed down all the way and locked into place. Luckily he didn't manage to get out, just made a lot of noise hitting the lid and then falling back down haha

andrew saken wrote:

the lycan mikey wrote:

just keep something heavy on your tank if you that worried about it crawling out...
if you really wanna run those wires, id cut a small hole in the screen on the lid (dont cut too big), and make sure the little escape artist cant make another disappearance....

Well the lid and tank have a small gap between them, enough to fit the cord through, the only real issue was the lid wasn't pushed down all the way and locked into place. Luckily he didn't manage to get out, just made a lot of noise hitting the lid and then falling back down haha

as long as theres no possibilty of them going through the crack between the lid and tank, i dont see an issue...

the lycan mikey wrote:

andrew saken wrote:

the lycan mikey wrote:

just keep something heavy on your tank if you that worried about it crawling out...
if you really wanna run those wires, id cut a small hole in the screen on the lid (dont cut too big), and make sure the little escape artist cant make another disappearance....

Well the lid and tank have a small gap between them, enough to fit the cord through, the only real issue was the lid wasn't pushed down all the way and locked into place. Luckily he didn't manage to get out, just made a lot of noise hitting the lid and then falling back down haha

as long as theres no possibilty of them going through the crack between the lid and tank, i dont see an issue...

Try telling that to my girlfriend haha

andrew saken wrote:

the lycan mikey wrote:

andrew saken wrote:

the lycan mikey wrote:

just keep something heavy on your tank if you that worried about it crawling out...
if you really wanna run those wires, id cut a small hole in the screen on the lid (dont cut too big), and make sure the little escape artist cant make another disappearance....

Well the lid and tank have a small gap between them, enough to fit the cord through, the only real issue was the lid wasn't pushed down all the way and locked into place. Luckily he didn't manage to get out, just made a lot of noise hitting the lid and then falling back down haha

as long as theres no possibilty of them going through the crack between the lid and tank, i dont see an issue...

Try telling that to my girlfriend haha

can she read?

the lycan mikey wrote:

andrew saken wrote:

the lycan mikey wrote:

andrew saken wrote:

the lycan mikey wrote:

just keep something heavy on your tank if you that worried about it crawling out...
if you really wanna run those wires, id cut a small hole in the screen on the lid (dont cut too big), and make sure the little escape artist cant make another disappearance....

Well the lid and tank have a small gap between them, enough to fit the cord through, the only real issue was the lid wasn't pushed down all the way and locked into place. Luckily he didn't manage to get out, just made a lot of noise hitting the lid and then falling back down haha

as long as theres no possibilty of them going through the crack between the lid and tank, i dont see an issue...

Try telling that to my girlfriend haha

can she read?

I mean I don't think she's going to be very comforted by them not being able to fit through the lid. Them being able to get up there freaks her out in general.

nahh she aint got anything to worry about...

it would be cool to have loads of scorps running around the house! as long as you didnt stand on one in the middle of the night lol

Haha. So true on all accounts.

Andrew, I totally know where you're coming from. I came home today and found my lady having duct-taped the corner of the tank.

I have a fairly loose fitting lid (my custom made tank did not come with a custom lid) so there's always the concern. But I've seen him hanging upside down trying to squeeze through, and he can't get the leverage to push a heavy lid enough to squeeze.

That's still no comfort too her as she now insists I build a lid that fits snugly.

And I had to remove it from the bedroom.

This whole "climbing thing" is mildly inconvientent when dealing with a prissy girl.

Nice set-up mate.