Heterometrus Mysorensis Strange behaviour

Hey guys not sure if this is the wrong part of the forum to post this but:

I recently added a 2nd scorpling (heterometrus mysorensis) to my scorpling enclosure and they seem to get on REALLY well, they follow each other around and share mealworms with each other; I have literally observed the new one darting off to grab a meal worm bringing it back and placing it on the floor in front of the original specimen. Another strange behavior I have noticed, is that the two of them seem to gather the bug gel I put in a dish for them and horde it under their hiding spot, to test whether they would continue to do this I placed cricket gel in all four corners of the enclosure and they proceeded without any hesitation to continue gathering the gel from all four corners

Is this strange behavior? And could the collecting and sharing of food be male offering food up to a female? Otherwise this species (if labelled correct) appear to be a very social species.

Many thanks,

George

My guess is that they're trying to increase the humidity in their hide.

What instar are they? Most Heterometrus are quite social.

They're both about 3.5cm so fairly early instars?

Yeah, they're really young then. I'm guessing third instar.

I got them from the same guy so who knows maybe they're reunited from the same brood Never known any species of animal I've kept to openly gather and gift food to another, and I bred reptiles for ages, perhaps they were more secretive about it though. Also for some reason even though the breeder insisted they're fed microcrickets they absolutely love mealworms, I've had them dashing across the enclosure for them and now both are quite plump!

Yeah, young scorpions of communal species will often share food, especially if the prey item is fairly large.

Any chance you could get pics? Hets are my favorite scorps.

Right now my phone has been dead for days and I don't have a digital camera, I should be receiving a charger within the next few days but until then; one picture of the original specimen would be:



Lots has changed in the enclosure since then, and I'm only saying het mysorensis based on the sellers labeling.

Nice man. Yup, it looks to be around third instar.

Unfortunately, without seeing pictures of the parents, it's virtually impossible to distinguish Heterometrus species at that age.

Either way I'm enjoying the species so far, I'm really looking forward to the arrival of my:

1 x Het longimanus
2 x Het laoticus
1 x H paucidens

the 3 other hets who are still delayed due to weather i believe are sub adult so I will have to post pictures when they arrive for ID's, Ideally i'd like to get what I paid for however at the end of the day I'll still enjoy keeping them, and who knows could get lucky with a rarer species than that which I thought I had.

I'm really undecided about a desert species however, I had an arrangement to buy a dune scorpion and the seller cancelled last minute so now I have an empty desert setup waiting for a scorpion, however I feel like if I were to buy a desert hairy it will more than likely die as I hear they're kind of rubbish in captivity and the fact that I don't feel I can give it enough digging space for it to be happy enough, are there any other decent desert species that would be worth looking into (Not on UK DWA)? Otherwise I may just change the enclosure to tropical and try a Tanzanian red claw

Hadrurus do fine in captivity....the only trouble is younger instars molting. Adults and juveniles do great though.

Is Scorpio maurus available to you?

I cannot find any information other than a post from 2003 stating it was removed from the UK DWA list, I'm not sure if someone with greater understanding from the forum knows whether they are available ? If this is the species I think it is, which appears glossy, then it is a very beautiful species however as an amateur with scorpions I'm not sure whether I could meet it's needs, i mean i'm not stupid when it comes to keeping animals and research long and hard to ensure they're kept well and would love to jump into something like this, however regarding DWA I'm uncertain.

I see places in the UK selling "Ophisthophthalmus Glabrifrons" - which seem like a nice scorpion but I'm uncertain as to their perfect habitat.

The URL I've found selling the Ophistophthalmus Glabrifons is Here

I know that Scorpio maurus are available in the UK (it's not a buthid and several people on here from the UK keep them), however I've no idea who the reputable dealers are over there. Here's a caresheet: http://www.schorpioenenforum.nl/index.php?topic=151.0

O. glabrifrons is a nice species as well.

Says that Scorpio maurus have quite a low survival rate in captivity what with most of them being wild caught, also god knows where I'd buy one from, they look like an awesome species however I don't know how much they'd cost or whether I'd keep them alive :/..

I'm not sure what to do coz I really do like the look of scorpio maurus, no recent posts of people selling them though and neither Spidershop.co.uk or virginiacheeseman.co.uk have any available, nor does the shop I've recently discovered. Problem is though the likes of O. Glabrifons is nice; it also doesn't really seem to be on sandy substrate but more a mixture of earth and excavator clay.

Congratulations on the new scorpling! S. Maurus is a good desert species and the O. Glabrifons does look cool, great colors. I know they burrow, but don't think they need it near as humid as emps. I think you are hooked mate! Get 'em all!

Something I found

Perhaps you could inform here, they are awaiting a stock of Dune scorpions.

I believe I am hooked too I've gone and got a pair of Vaejovis spingerus for now as I've seen communal setups of this species working quite well together. I think for now I may leave it til the weather in this god awful country (UK) improves and seasons change to see some other species available from breeders, I think that S. Maurus and O. Glabrifons are on the "to buy" list for now though haha!

Only issue I had is for some reason the O.Glabrifons I found for sale by a store wanted to charge £82 postage from Manchester - Bedford (where I live) which is like 100 miles. Pretty certain I could order from the other side of the world for cheaper than that lol, so that's gonna have to wait.

Shakudo wrote:

Something I found

Perhaps you could inform here, they are awaiting a stock of Dune scorpions.

Thanks for the Link! I've bookmarked it and shall look religiously til they have some in, the prices seem pretty reasonable too!

I thought so, the prices did not seem that high.
Good luck!

One thing I have noticed is the varying price on what the sellers are calling "Giant Asian Forest Scorpion" - I've seen adults for as little as £14.99 and juveniles for as much as £84.99, is there some particular reason the price on this particular species is so different across the board? To me it just seems like some places are attempting to make huge profit on the lesser informed general public

Scorpion19981000 wrote:

Yeah, young scorpions of communal species will often share food, especially if the prey item is fairly large.

Any chance you could get pics? Hets are my favorite scorps.

Managed to get my phone back to life:

Wattsy wrote:

One thing I have noticed is the varying price on what the sellers are calling "Giant Asian Forest Scorpion" - I've seen adults for as little as £14.99 and juveniles for as much as £84.99, is there some particular reason the price on this particular species is so different across the board? To me it just seems like some places are attempting to make huge profit on the lesser informed general public

Are they just labeling them "Giant Asian Forest Scorpions" without any scientific name? If so, they're almost certainly trying to rip you off.

On the other hand, if it's a very rare species of Heterometrus, the price might be more justifiable. However, I was under the impression that the UK has access to far more Heterometrus species than in the U.S. and therefore they're less expensive.


Nice pic by the way.

Might be they have a very high profit margin to count for shipping when the animals are WC or otherwise imported.

Very nice cute sausages indeed!

I believe the bottom one is in pre molt:)

Wattsy wrote:

Vaejovis Hoffmannius spingerus

V. spinigerus was moved to the genus Hoffmannius a while ago.


http://www.ntnu.no/ub/scorpion-files/vaejovidae_updates.pdf

Scorpion19981000 wrote:

Wattsy wrote:

Vaejovis Hoffmannius spingerus

V. spinigerus was moved to the genus Hoffmannius a while ago.


http://www.ntnu.no/ub/scorpion-files/vaejovidae_updates.pdf

+1^
I was wondering about that;)