unexpected brood

sorry but i realized this is probably a more appropriated spot for this thread, this is my first post so go easy! i bought my h.spinifer (scrambles lol) about 3 months and as it turns out, its a she! and she was gravid! so i will post pics as soon as i learn how to post them to the forums but i need some help with the babies. they are still on her back in the original cage but when they are all off i was planning on putting her in a slightly smaller temporary case while i move the babies to individual cups inside a lager aquarium to help regulate temp/humid.
anything i should do different or any thing else i should know to help give these little buggers the best chance?
Cheers!

i am also happy to say that the brood consists of about 25+/- and the mother has yet to display any cannibalism! i hope to get all of them to the dixi cup stage. how old do they need to be before i can start putting them in groups?

success!!!

You should hit up LXDNG79. He's the resident Het expert.

In the meantime leave her be. Try not to mess with her cage too much as it could be stressful. When they come off the back you can move them to deli cups, but it sounds like that was already your plan.

Congrats! Let us know if you need anything in the meantime.

Congrats on the brood.

And welcome to the forum.

yeah she seems pretty agro right now. i think she can even tell im walking around in the next room!

ok so couldnt sleep last night so i decided to be productive! a buddy of mine gave me a 15+/-gallon aquarium to use for my scorps.

turned this...



into this!



should be a good place to get them started. i think that putting them all in a tank this way, would be the best way to regulate the temp/humid for all of them. eventually im going to turn it into a permanent home for perhaps 3 of them to live in. the water bottle on the right is an idea for the eventual false bottom. she is still doin good and so are the young btw.

why don't just leave the young ones with the mom until they are around 3i?
it will definitely help out in their growth but just ensure all are properly feed...
anyway, all the best in bringing up the scorplings....

cool stuff! I do think keeping them with their mom ensures good development and less of a hassle to you

thats seems to be the best thing to do. ive spent much of the past three days combing over the wealth of information this site contains. i had no idea how little i knew till i was on here! i wish i found this marvelous place sooner! if i had known she was gravid, well things would be different but im here now . her and the offspring are currently in a 2 gal with a single log hide. theres not enough room, hence the new tank. QUESTION: after they leave mums back, can i move her and the others to the bigger tank? ive decided not to put all my eggs in one basket so i may split up the brood. half with mum, half with out. ok i need off here, my brains buzzing with so much info i cant think straight lol.
-Cheers!

how long will it take them to reach 3i?

Q#2 do they even need the "deli cup" stage? AAAAAAAAAARRRGG, so many questions! back to reading!

jmziesk wrote:

ive decided not to put all my eggs in one basket so i may split up the brood. half with mum, half with out. ok i need off here, my brains buzzing with so much info i cant think straight lol.
-Cheers!

Good thinking there. I did something similar.
Out of a brood of 33 little H.spinifers, i kept 13 with their scorpion mum and 20 communally in a separate setup.
It has been 7 months, none has been cannibalized and sowhon is right. Those housed communally does grow much faster. The following are ranked according to speed of growth and of cos, the risk of cannibalism is reduced to 0 at 3.

1. Housed communally with scorpion mum
2. Housed communally as a group
3. Housed individually

jmziesk wrote:

Q#2 do they even need the "deli cup" stage? AAAAAAAAAARRRGG, so many questions! back to reading!

I will say they do not "need".
Keeping each scorpling in individual container does put your mind at ease (in terms of cannibalism) but the effort in maintenance is going to be high. Imo, your first idea of separating the brood into just 2 groups works fine.
Just keep them well-fed, maintain the necessary humidity and ensure sufficient space/hide.

jmziesk wrote:

how long will it take them to reach 3i?

Some stats are captured at my website:
http://gsscorpions82.multiply.com/photos/album/4/_Heterometrus_spinifer

These are the lifecycles of the 13 scorplings which are housed with their scorpion mum.

Hope it helps,
GS

jmziesk wrote:

how long will it take them to reach 3i?

For mine, just for sharing
1i>2i = 3days
2i>3i = 4-5weeks

mighty fast!

once they're big enough and start leaving her back, can the mother and several of the brood be moved to a larger case? or is she still agitate-able?

She will probably still be defensive but I don't think she'll hit abort on the brood.

ok so long story short... i decided to move momma and a few slings to the new home and everything went alot smother than expected. the official count is 27, and i kept 12 with mom and the rest are in a different enclosure. ive decided at most i can keep 6 of the babies, so if any one wants to trade or buy, let me know! i'll be ready to start selling some in a couple weeks to a month. any ways here is a super close up of a baby and one of good ol lincon at the same zoom on a penny for comparison
enjoy!

Awesome! But were those running around already? Or did you take them off the back of the mom? They seem pretty much still instar 1? I might be wrong, dont have xp with these

yeah they were running around doing scorpion stuff. when i fed the mom she didnt eat to much but all of the other slings piled around the bits of cricket. i became worried after i noticed a few babies missing. i dont know how many were in the original brood. how many died or how many were eatin so its hard to say. they were big enough to wander around and eat. when put in the bigger tank, the had no hesitation looking for shade, finding mom, doing stuff. only 2 remain on her back at the moment but its the 3rd day ive seen some venturing out.

short update, i already see a difference in the two groups of babies. although all of them are running around, burrowing, climbing or stuff, only the ones with the mom seem to have an interest in eating. the ones by themselves run away or stay in a pile in the corner while the ones with mom are running around happily with bits of cricket. right now im feeding them medium chopped and head crushed cricks, tomorrow i'll try pinners. not worried just observing. i may move them in with mom in a week if they dont take to eating. any input?

well when buthid scorplings run around you can take them away, they will run away from pinheads the first two days and then all of a sudden start eating like pigs. I cannot comment on these species, but if they run around they're ready. Give it some time and a nice damp hot place. Not too hot either. Just the same conditions the mom is in, maybe a bit colder.

went back and checked and a couple of them were eating. moms tank is 90t80h and the other tank is at 80t80h. i have high hopes for these little guys.