BABIES!!!!! I ALMOST CAN'T STAND THE CUTENESS!

The babies are doing absolutely fine! They just got off their mom's back and are moving around a lot, they're really fast! I had some issues with my camera order, but I should have it resolved in about a week so I'll post pics as soon as I get it.

That's great news on the babies
Look forward to your pics!

Watching them grow up is alot of fun, especially if they're raised communally, you'll see alot of funny behaviour. The runts risk getting eaten but it's still worth it imo, especially when they start burrowing and stuff.

Yay! I got my camera! Here are some pics I took with it today:

Cage setup:


Elizabeta guarding the babies:



Babies!!!



The mom:

Some more photos:

Wow! Vlad, my scorpion whom I thought was a male turns out to be a female and had babies right after I separated the first liter from, Elizabeta, the first scorpion who had babies. And now, Elizabeta's starting to take care of one of Vlad's babies. Is this normal scorpion behavior?

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my scorpion whom I thought was a male turns out to be a female

If you brought your emps from a shop then that would answer that. Shop owners are notorious for both not knowing much about their livestock together with telling a customer anything to make a sale....I've heard of a shop owner randomly picking up emps from a large container full of emps and arbitrarily assigning them a sex and age based on what he needed...When buying emps from a shop your 1.1 P.imperator could just as easily be 0.0.2, 2.0 or 0.2.

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Elizabeta's starting to take care of one of Vlad's babies. Is this normal scorpion behavior?

My guess would be that she's still in mother mode and has mistaken them as being hers or the babies are just crawling on the back of the other scorpion not realising it's not their mother and because the other scorp is still in mother mode she's not refusing them.

One thing i would like to say though is that your set up looks just fine, apart from in my opinion it would be better with just one water dish with some small pebbles in it so that your scorps could drink from the gaps in water coverage (and diminish the risk of any of them accidentally drowning) and a few more pieces of bark/wood instead...Your growing babies would be better suited with more hiding places, both for cutting down the risk of cannibalism as well as giving them as more varied environment.

Unfortunately, Vlad(ette) died yesterday and I put the babies in their own hide, they seem to be ok for now but they weren't ready to come off her back yet. Also, Shortly after the babies came off Elizabeta's back, I saw a bump on the right side of her last segment. I monitored it closely and now it has seemed to have gotten bigger so I'm thinking that it's an unborn baby stuck inside her. Here are some pics of that bump. Will she be able to live?



I also got Elizabeta a male companion and they started doing their mating dance right away and I saw a spermapod when they were finished. If she becomes gravid again, will that push out the unborn baby if it is one?

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I'm thinking that it's an unborn baby stuck inside her. Here are some pics of that bump. Will she be able to live?

I don't really have an experience with that kind of thing so i can't give you an honest answer although someone did mention to me once that some scorpions have the ability to re-absorb unborn young or abort them. So you could try leaving her alone for a period, i.e no lifting her hide to check her out, no pictures and no other disturbances. Disturbances stress scorpions out and if it's continual you can risk all sorts of problems for your scorpion.
We can't really do anything to aid a scorpion anyway so the best thing is to leave them alone and hope they can sort any problems out themselves.

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If she becomes gravid again, will that push out the unborn baby if it is one?

The gestation period for emps is anything from 8 months to a year so it's unlikely.......An unborn baby in her stomach would either be gone or caused her death through septicaemia before that time.....

But don't go thinking worst case scenario's .. My advice would be, let her be in peace for a period and see how things turn out.

Maybe someone else has another approach or can offer other advice.

I think her cyst ruptured, there is some leakage from it. Does this mean that she'll die?

When you discover Elizabeta with her "bump on the right side of her last segment" was she housed with other adults?

Ruptured abdomen not necessarily = death, it's dependent on the severity.

House her alone now and allow her to have a good rest under the right moisture/humidity and temperature.

Keep her conditions monitored at the time being.

She was housed with other adults. But I only noticed it after she became thinner after giving birth. I'll separate her for now though.

For gravid females or females with a fresh brood, it is always a good idea to house them alone from any other adults.

If you are not using tanks with backdrops that facilitates climbing, it is unlikely that the rupture is due to a fall.

Most likely, it could have been caused by scuffling/ territorial fights (e.g. pinches/stings) with other adults.

A sting from fellow species may not kill her with venom but it may cause ruptures that may be further infected by germs/virus.

During this time, she is especially weak and requires isolation.

Hope she gets better soon