The one thing that will make a scorp mad is...

Touching its telson. Let me tell you a story. Last night, I was trying to gently coral my Emperor scorpion, Knuckles into the palm of my hand so I can just hold him for a few seconds. He was hanging out in a corner of the tank, and I layed my hand down flat so he could walk onto it. He didnt want to, so I nudged his tail, near the top around his telson and he jumped and actually hissed at me. Well youd think I would have gotten the message the first time, but apparently I am quite dumb. So I tried just one more time, and gently nudged his tail again. Good thing I have great reflexes because this time he tried to sting me, twice. And you could actually see the venom on the side of the tank.

The moral of this story is:
1. NEVER touch their tail
and
2. Im not gonna try and pick him up again.

I never tried to stress him out, by the way. I really love my Emp, and was just curious how he would handle it. Wont be doing that again.

All emps are different and some are more aggressive than others. I often nudge my emp's telson in order to get him to move if he is backed up against a wall. I had to move him today to clean out his tank (cricket laid eggs in the substrate so I had to change it all) and he wouldn't go unless I coaxed him into a critter keeper.

It also depends on other factors as well. For example, letting the scorpion know you're there as opposed to just sticking your hand in and going for him. Not saying you did that but some people do.

I handle mine, but rarely. If you do not feel confident that you can handle yours then you are wise to decide not to try it anymore. I applaud you for playing it smart.

+1 975

I find that most are just dolls when you get them out of the enclosure. Even the most defensive.

shining wrote:

+1 975

I find that most are just dolls when you get them out of the enclosure. Even the most defensive.

By "dolls" do you mean they just sit around, or do you mean they dont freak out?

Yeah, scorps are very aggresive when it comes to their tails. They are this way because the first thing predators do that prey on scorps is to disable the stinger.

I guess all emps are different, but I have a male and a female emp that I regularly handle. I agree if you want to handle an emp you should let it know you are there. I, VERY SLOWLY, try to pick them up from the side. My female is very calm and my male can be a tiny bit pinchy (not to the point of hurting). I handle my female almost every day and I think she has gotten accustomed to it.

I find a good way to get an emp used to handling (if you want to try) is to first get it out of the cage by nudging him into a plastic container. Then, gently "pour" him out into you hand. I agree that most seem very calm after you get them out of their cage. Both of mine usually just sit around in my hand after I get them out, or at most, just crawl around a bit. Neither have stung me.

My female is like that. I won't even try to handle her as she's pretty much completely psychotic.
She attacks the tongs aggressively before even realizing there's a cricket there, and she even stung her bark hide while I was moving it. One angry critter, she is.
Of my two males, one is pretty skittish even in hand - I'm afraid I'll drop him from all his running around, so I don't anymore, and the other is completely calm and docile. That one can even be held by the kids with no problem (under close supervision of course).
So all three have completely different temperaments. It's pretty interesting to me that even inverts seem to have individual personalities.

I have never had a problem handling any of my past emps even my Pandinus Cavimanus I can handle once in awhile and she can be pretty aggressive. I sometimes mist her enclosure and she relaxes. I then slowly scoop her up from behind once she knows i am there.

most animals seem to be more aggressive when in there tanks, its there space and they are going to defend it and them selves, this is the same for T's once you get them outside of there territory they are fine and dont feel so threatened, best to sccop them up in a cup or similar vessel and gentley tip on your hand much less chance of aggressive behaivour that way

Not to troll but also scorpions aren't the petting kind of pet. If you want cuddly buy a dog or cat.

I don't handle any of my guys and galls just because I don't ever want to have to post in the "got tagged" forum. I love just watching them behave and go about their scorpion life style. Speaking of crazy pictures I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of GS with his Lq on his hand. Now that's crazy!