New males fighting.

I've had an emperor for about 6 months now, he's fully mature. Today I rescued another fully mature male from a pet store that had kept him in a 1 gallon tank for the past 5 months. I bought a larger tank to colonize them but within minutes together the new one started shaking and they started fighting so I broke them up. Is there anything to do to get them to live harmoniously or do I have to keep them separate forever. I picked up an immature female last week and was hoping to add her in once she was mature for breeding, does this show a future of issues?. Thank you for any answers this is my first time posting here after a few months of browsing.


Edit: I had 2 hides, they have plenty of space. I put them in a 66 qt (16.5gal) plastic tub.

Welcome to the forum!

When I first got my scorpions they didn't fight immediately. But occasionally if I disturbed them they would go at it. But they all live in harmony. The key is not to mess with them. If you bought the male form a "Mom and Pop" shop, you might want to check and see if it's actually an Emperor. Mislabeling is more common than you think (and can sometimes make you a very lucky person).

To break up a fight, squirt them with a little water. Just don't blast them with it. Males are not as territorial or aggressive as females, although some people say it's the other way around.

Hope I was a little bit of help. And as always, welcome to the addiction.

Thanks, I hope to learn a great many more things here in the future. I'll try putting them back together and just leaving them alone, but keeping an eye on them and a squirt bottle handy. They look exactly the same, so I assume both are emperors or at least the same species.

The reason why I say that they may not be the same is because it might possibly be a Heterometrus (Asian forest scorpion), which again is quite rare but not an uncommon mistake.

Try putting it in right now and see what happens, then let me know.

I put them back together, the new male is still shaking and jerking while moving but there is no stinging happening though they both ran into the same hide. My biggest concern is if the older male kills the younger one later on after a bit while I'm asleep. $20 is a lot to throw away if the pet store doesn't want to refund if he is killed by another scorpion.

Edit: From what I've read Asian Forests have smooth chaela while emperors have bumps. These 2 gents have bumps. I'll see what I can do for pics if they ever come out of the hide.

H. spinifer are smooth, yes. But not all of the Heterometrus species.

Also, one of them may be a Pandinus, just not a Pandinus imperator. Also a common mistake in pet stores. That's how Shakudo got his P. cavimanus Yoda, It was mislabeled as an emperor.

Wouldn't most P. coexist fairly well? I noticed this newer male was much thinner than my old one, I attributed that to being malnourished in a 1 gallon container but I suppose it could be different species.

I wouldn't know.

No, not all pandinus are communal. Cavimanus is best kept individually as far as I'm aware.

Correct Cavimanus are not as communal as emps. However fighting emps is not really uncommon. I would have males fight when I first introuduced them sometimes and then after about a week later they'll be haning out like best buds. Now are you sure these are two males? Yes sometimes they "shake" defensive but often it's when attpemting to mate. Maybe you have adult male/female? Anyways I would just seperate them if you see them fighting you can move around your set up so that the original male won't try to asert domiance.

When I put my male in with a female for the first time she went after him like pit bull. He did lots of stinging and blocking and backing up. I wasn't going to do anything until and only if she flipped him over and was going to try eating him. These rough play reactions are perfectly normal and once they get used to each other it stops pretty much altogether. Now they share hides and attack my tweezers in unison.

On a side note I added my full grown male. I would be scared to add an immature scorpion to her enclosure. Does anyone know how they react to much smaller emps being added? I would be very scared based on how she treated the male. Do they inherently understand immature emps aren't threats or food?

Usually you'll get the same reaction. Some initial fighting and then the'll get along like your other ones. I've kept them all different sized never had an actual cannibalization.

(sitting like a nerd with my glasses and taking much appreciated notes)

Thanks everyone for your help, they seem to be getting along quite well now. I'm pretty sure they are both males. I was looking for a female for my first male and have done a lot of research on sexing them, but I'll try and get pics when they are out of their hide just so you more experienced owners can let me know if I may have been wrong. I'm also 90% certain the immature scorp my sister bought me last week is a female (she is in her own enclosure until mature), but pics of her will come too.