[Discussion] Parabuthus spp.

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Cool thanks.

Having installed Lillith (my DIL named her such) in her new enclosure, new substrate with heating lamps (running between 26 and 31 deg C) she certainly seems a lot happier. Obviously her metabolic rate has increased due to the more controlled heat and she is not only wide awake but very frisky. Damn she is strong, when I moved here over I could feel on the tweezers how powerful she is.

She is really a joy to have around.

Still fat as anything.

I was reading last night (can't find the damn page) that scorpions have two basic gestation methods, the one being shorter than the other due to how it happens. Can anyone point me to a resource that explains this?

Lilith this morning in resplendent glory.

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She is actually extremely agressive and if you bring anything close to her she forcefull will hit it away with her tail. She is extremely strong and wild.

Very nice specimen. Expect a molt in the future because she is still a juvenile.

Juvenile, that's great I though she was adult. So pregnancy is out and the fatness is a sign rather of an impending moult. You mean she get's bigger?

What instar would you think she is?

What is the normal ratio of body length to total length? 40:60 / 50:50?

Cheers

Definitely juv and yes, if she gets overly fat and refuses to eat it would mean an incoming molt. She might be 5 or 6 instar but I can't say for sure. 50/50 ratio is good enough for me with Parabuthus.

First of two gravid females.



Pretty exciting as I've had two liosoma broods previously, now I finally got these guys going!

Welcome to the forum and well done on the brood. Good sized brood as well!

Sub adult female P villosus

Here is Lillith some 6 months after having caught her. Her girth has grown significantly.

very nice. love it

Nice looking scorp!

A friend of mine has this Parabuthus species. I think it could be planicauda but maybe you guys can identify better than I can

It's about 3cm at the moment and was found in the WC

]Now THAT's a telson!!

Andrew Leigh wrote:

Juvenile, that's great I though she was adult. So pregnancy is out and the fatness is a sign rather of an impending moult. You mean she get's bigger?

What instar would you think she is?

What is the normal ratio of body length to total length? 40:60 / 50:50?

Cheers

Well tonight Lilith had babies Yeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaa.

Will post in the appropriate forum tomorrow, don't want to disturb her now. Much have just hatched as some are just starting to move.

Cheers

Wow, congrats. Guess she is just a small individual.

Have posted in the popped forum with pic.

I thought she was an adult already! I guess she is going to pop again  

P villosus "Typical Morph" having a drink a short while ago

Still has not popped

I posted this to all of the Facebook groups, and I waited until the brood hit 2i to share this with the rest of the world.

My first of two Parabuthus villosus orange morph specimen gave birth almost two weeks ago. The brood looks to be a healthy 60++. At least four layers of scorplings. Scorpions on scorpions on scorpions on scorpions. This was my final holy grail species, as well as the FIRST brood of this species stateside (as far as I know), and I hope the brood does exceptional.

Aw lookie lookie look

Congrats!

Great news grom! I dread to think how much they will sell for in the US. They're still quite expensive here in the EU.

Callum B wrote:

Great news grom! I dread to think how much they will sell for in the US. They're still quite expensive here in the EU.

Heh, well I dunno about the EU, but here, unless you're a dedicated hobbyist, it's tough to move any specimen over $20 each. People are cheap. I personally have never felt angry about paying over $20 for a specimen of a species I really want to culture, even if I need 10 of them. It's about priorities and budgeting your money for what you really want, not a flavor of the month impulse. Trust me, I've received many emails about how I charge too much money for my specimens. Dont get me started on that.

Despite H. jayakari being incredibly popular in the US for years, and people clamoring for them, my friend, who had the US first (Not counting the H. salei years ago) broods, still had plenty of issues moving them at 25$ each (Started them at 35-40). These were how many folk's holy grail species? And they cant chug up $25 per specimen? These people say one thing, and mean another, because you'll see them the next week with the week's newest video game, or how they went to Ken the Bug Guy and just got $120 in tarantulas.

So in essence, I will try to sell them for a premium since I took the effort to establish them, but I doubt I will see a return on investment. People dont understand it. God forbid they see the money snake and T hobbyists put into establishing a new species But I do it for a love of these animals, and if I dont see a return, meh, I wont complain. I'm just happy to be the first to produce them! And to watch them grow.

The second female is well under way, and I'm expecting a similar experience with her. I will adjust my methods for their second broods to hopefully get a bigger clutch. One really cool thing my friend pointed out about the young: They have an intense amount of bristles of hair on their metasoma already at 2i! They really do look like miniature adult specimen!

Setting up a new habitat in an existing enclosure.

The existing enclosure, small aquarium, has a floor plan of 45X22cm. The basic substrate is fine desert type sand which does facilitate burrowing as it collapses. I collected some "slasto" (thins flat sandstone like rock) with which to fashion ledges. I have a couple of questions regarding the proposed setup;

If I provide enough cover in the form of rock ledges would my heavily gravid Pt share with a 4th instar Pt?

Would the 4th instar predate on the slings?

Would the Pt's prefer to bed on the rock or on sand? I can set up for a rock base or a sand base.

Currently the 4th instar is in the smaller tank within the main tank this looks unsightly.