On October 11, 2007 I acquired 1.2.6
Centruroides hentzi. One female had recently had a brood, and the other was described as "potentially gravid" by the dealer. The adults were put into a communal enclosure that same day.
On December 17, 2007 I separated all the adults as the females were beginning to look gravid.
I would like to note here that, as I was at the time inexperienced with temperate species, none of my
C. hentzi were given a wintering period. Brian S. suggested I observe what happened, as he described it as "uncharted waters" and a good opportunity to learn about scorpion husbandry.
On February 2, 2008 one of the females was found dead. It's possible that she dehydrated.
The surviving female on February 8, 2008:
On or about April 10, 2008 I reintroduced the female to the male, as I was beginning to doubt that she was gravid.
On April 17, 2008 the female was found to have approximately 10 first instars on her back.
(Photo to be added when memory card is brought back from Portland)
On April 22, 2008 the young had not yet molted, and there were only six or seven visible on the female.
On April 24, 2008 there were no young on the female's back, and there was what appeared to be one dead second instar on the substrate. Dehydration was blamed (I misted regularly, but apparently not regularly enough) and the female was assumed to have eaten the young. The tank was misted heavily in a last-ditch effort to save any young that may have survived.
On April 26, 2008 one healthy second instar was found on the female's back. (click for zoom)
On April 28. 2008 the second instar left the female's back and was separated the next morning.
Currently the female appears as large as when she was gravid, if not larger. Redknee (Mark) has suggested the possibility of double-clutching based on his own experience with this species. The female will remain separate from the male for several weeks for observational purposes, and if a second brood emerges before the length of a normal gestation, I will report it here.
Update edit: the surviving 2I was observed consuming its first meal on May 3 2008.
