# Beginner Scorpion?



## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

I've browsed the net but cant really seem to find much info on scorpions in general, let alone suggestions as to ones suitable for beginners!!

All i can seem to find is info on emperor's. I would rather one of the 'yellowy' (is that even a word?! :lol2 colour ones, as apposed to an all black one...also i would RATHER something small(ish), although this is not high on my list.

I saw some desert hairy scorpions for sale on here recently but have read they are not all that easy to care for, often WC and wont breed in captivity (not that i want to breed them mind).

So, do i have many options and if so could you guys let me know some names so i can do a little research on them.

Ta.


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## Vaughan69 (Nov 22, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> I've browsed the net but cant really seem to find much info on scorpions in general, let alone suggestions as to ones suitable for beginners!!
> 
> All i can seem to find is info on emperor's. I would rather one of the 'yellowy' (is that even a word?! :lol2 colour ones, as apposed to an all black one...also i would RATHER something small(ish), although this is not high on my list.
> 
> ...


The problem is that there are so many scorpions that are illegal to keep in this country unless you have a DWA licence and that is far too much money for the sake of keeping one or two scorions.

All scorpions of the buthidae family are illegal plus a few others. Your best bet are any from the family scorpiones (although i think a few of them are DWA) or from the hetrometrus family such ans emperors etc.

I know how you feel i was in the same boat when i was looking for my first scorpion, i wanted something different but trust me you wont be disapointed with emperors, if you have a big enough tank you can start with 2 or 3 comfortably. Although its not recommended to start with more than one for your first scorpion. 

Desert hairys are good scorpions and from what ive heard not particularly hard to keep, theyre practically the opposite of emperors, they like it very dry. They do have a nasty side to them sometimes but then you can get this in any species given the individual.

Personally id say stick with emperors and work up, at least they will give you a basic understanding of what to do in regards to feeding and moults etc if done right.

Hope ive been of help though


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Yeah thanks for the reply.

My problem is my girlfriend is terrified of them and shes only agreed i can get one on one condition...and the condition is (in her words) 'You can have one as long as its not one of those big, ugly black _things _i saw in the pet shop' :lol2:

Thats why my requirements are like they are. I was kind of guessing my list of options wasn't going to be huge due to the lack on info on the net and the fact ive only EVER seen emperors in shops...was hoping for a few to be able to chose from mind (and i certainly dont want the time/cost/risk of something involving DWA).


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## matto2k (Nov 30, 2006)

to be honest mate. the venom on any yellow scorp is going to be alot higher then that of an emp. realasticly the only golden scorps you'll be able to get in this country are desert hairys and eygptian golds but there harder to look after. neither is what i'd call a beginner scorp but there you go.

If yoru really lucky you might be able to find a pandius Sp. like the smithi that has yellow claws and is a bit different


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## Vaughan69 (Nov 22, 2007)

Haha thats EXACTLY what my other half said as well! But as soon as i got it (it was nt a fully grown adult) she was like awww its actually kinda cute! lol

If your not going to go for an emperor or any of the hetrometrus family i think your best bet is a desert hairy. Theyre not black, can grow relatively large and pretty easy to keep/feed. The only downside is that these cannot be kept communally, they are one of the most inhospitable species when it comes other scorpions lol

Just assure her theyre not bad at all, cant climb glass for starters, ive personally left the top of my tank of before overnight and theres no sign theyve tried to escape. 

If you want add me on msn and ill chat to ya about it on there its [email protected]


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## Vaughan69 (Nov 22, 2007)

matto2k said:


> to be honest mate. the venom on any yellow scorp is going to be alot higher then that of an emp. realasticly the only golden scorps you'll be able to get in this country are desert hairys and eygptian golds but there harder to look after. neither is what i'd call a beginner scorp but there you go.
> 
> If yoru really lucky you might be able to find a pandius Sp. like the smithi that has yellow claws and is a bit different


Tis true. Emps are generally the best starter scorpions for a reason lol


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Thanks again for the replies.

I have also seen mentioned Israeli Gold's, but as with the others not ideal for beginners :censor:

I will add you to msn later, im in work at the moment and no msn here!!

Maybe time to tell the misses straight, we ARE getting an emperor :whip: :lol2:


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## Vaughan69 (Nov 22, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> Thanks again for the replies.
> 
> I have also seen mentioned Israeli Gold's, but as with the others not ideal for beginners :censor:
> 
> ...


Thats not a bad scorpion to be honest as far as ive heard, Scorpio maurus palmatus i think is the scientific name. Without the obvious small details it looks like a yellow emperor of sorts to a begginer  Might be tricky getting hold of though. Try Pawel (animalsmarket) in the inverts classifieds section on here, he might have some adults.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Yeah ive seen some for sale buy him recently, always seem to be WC adults and sell pretty quick mind. I'd rather one from young i think to be honest so have to see how it goes, although from what ive read they are very difficult to breed...hence all the WC adults i suppose!!

Looking to get one next month some time i think so ill have to get scouting the net and see whats about, also maybe PM him and see what he can get.

Am open to any more suggestions mind...if there are any other options for me that is.


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## Vaughan69 (Nov 22, 2007)

Pretty much all of pawels stock is WC, its his supplier i guess.


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

You will be EXTREMELY lucky to find genuine CB S.Maurus Fuscus or Palmatus.

My first scorp was a Desert Hairy and never had any problems with it.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

I've seen some desery hairy scorps for sale recently on here. I've been looking up a few care sheets for them this afternoon and, as with anything i seem to look up lately, have got some conflicting advice!!

Does anyone have any care sheets they can reccommend as being accurate for the desert hairy's?

At the moment (as far as humidity goes anyway) ive seen pages suggesting everything from light daily misting up to no misting and no water bowl...plus everything in between :banghead:


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> I've seen some desery hairy scorps for sale recently on here. I've been looking up a few care sheets for them this afternoon and, as with anything i seem to look up lately, have got some conflicting advice!!
> 
> Does anyone have any care sheets they can reccommend as being accurate for the desert hairy's?
> 
> At the moment (as far as humidity goes anyway) ive seen pages suggesting everything from light daily misting up to no misting and no water bowl...plus everything in between :banghead:


Desert Hairy Scorpion Care Sheet

I keep mine at 85f and give them a slight mist once a week.


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## monitorfan666 (Feb 15, 2007)

Depends on the personallity of each scorp

so in all honesty you could pretty much get any species and it could be puppy dog tame and not need a massive amount of care and then you could find the same species and find it to be a viscious little sh!t lol

sorry if this has already been said cba to look doen in the thread:whistling2:

personally i reccommend a flat rock scorpion: victory:


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## Incubuss (Dec 19, 2006)

The 'yelloey' scorps are usually more aggressive and have nastier venom. A good beginer is the emp or a flat rock. If you insist on a yellow one go for the tri color.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Thanks for all the options guys.

Think im going to go with either the Israeli Gold or Desert Hairy.

Had a quick read on the tri-colour but it says they spend most of their time in hiding and are rarely seen.

I appreciate the yellow ones are going to be more aggressive and have a nastier sting but i never plan on handling it and have respect for the animal...i think i am responsible enough to not make any silly mistakes therefore i am not going to let this side of it put me off.

The main thing i was after when starting this post was some ideas of a scorpion that was relatively easy to keep in regards to care requirements...i dont want something which would need a complex set up and do want something that is relatively easy to keep in captivity.

Have got plenty of care sheets to get reading through me thinks (this may change my decision again)...will keep you all posted.


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## matto2k (Nov 30, 2006)

with my experience of desert hairys and eygptian golds. there always out and about. flat rocks, emps and tri colours prefer to hide.

also i though an israeli gold was one of the common names for a death stalker so be carefull

ans S.Maurus is an Eygptian Gold. and has been known to be mixed up with yellow fat tails in W/C deliveries.


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## corpselight (Jan 10, 2008)

Gaz, i keep a good number of scorps. i started with Emperors, and to this day they're still among my favourites.

for docility, ease of care and size...i'd suggest a Tanzanian Long Claw (Iomachus politicus). 
now, they are black, but have yellow legs. i know it's not exactly what you want, but mine is great. though i will caution that it's kinda fast when it wants to be!

another option, though they get a bit larger, is a flatrock scorpion (Hadogenes spp). the typical one, troglodytes, is brown, i believe, whereas the one i have, apparently called "amber banded flatrock" (bicolor, though it was sold to me as troglodytes) is a lovely blue-black with yellow bands in horizontal stripes across its back. again, very docile, and quite a cool looking scorp.

i've managed to find a few yellow species, though all are feisty (actually i've not met a scorpion that ISN'T feisty to some degree! including emps).
i have Vaejovis spinigerus (stripetail) scorplings, a possible Hadrurus arizonensis (desert hairy), who is more scared of me than me of it
...i only say possible because there's a chance it's a H spadix.
there's also the Smeringus mesaensis (Dune scorpion), which i didn't buy at the time, maybe later.

the fact is, you aren't going to get stung or hurt if you don't antagonise the animal. scorpions can't climb vertical glass or even plastic...so escaping is unlikely.
there are loads of choices, from the black Asian varieties and Imperators to the yellow desert species. i even have some reddish and brown scorps!
the brown ones are proper cute, though pet holes.
all of them have attitude, all can pinch or sting...and all are slightly unpredictable, compared to other arachnids (excepting Tailless whipscorpions who are way more unpredictable!!!)

have a look at Supplier and breeder of insects and arachnids in the UK for some unusual species, and also check TheSpiderShop:- - Suppliers of Arachnids and other quality Invertebrates and Tarantula-shop.com as they sometimes have some species as well.


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## corpselight (Jan 10, 2008)

GazEmm said:


> Thanks for all the options guys.
> 
> Think im going to go with either the Israeli Gold or Desert Hairy.
> 
> ...


most scorps hide, including my desert hairy, who is always under it's cork bark. in the wild, they dig deep burrows to get away from the heat, so don't expect to see it.
Israeli golds are usually wild-caught adults with only a few months left to live, so don't expect any sort of life-span!

desert hairy is VERY easy to care for. it just likes it dry and a cricket tossed in every week or so
nice species, nice looking too.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

matto2k said:


> also i though an israeli gold was one of the common names for a death stalker so be carefull


I did read this on one site and got me a little worried. I dont think this is the case mind, according to all other sites i've looked at the Israeli Gold is just the common name for Scorpio maurus palmatus.

I believe the confusion comes in as the Deathstalker (Ive read the scientific name is Leiurus quinquestriatus) does have the common name of Israeli Desert Scorpion. So very similar :lol2:

Thanks for those links Corpselight, top one was good...saw a couple of nice 'uns on there. Havn't had chance to do any research on any of them yet mind so something to keep me busy this weekend!! Did see he was able to get jumping spider as well...i know NOTHING about these but got me interested as i was fascinated by them on a TV programme i saw recently :mf_dribble:


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## corpselight (Jan 10, 2008)

GazEmm said:


> I did read this on one site and got me a little worried. I dont think this is the case mind, according to all other sites i've looked at the Israeli Gold is just the common name for Scorpio maurus palmatus.
> 
> I believe the confusion comes in as the Deathstalker (Ive read the scientific name is Leiurus quinquestriatus) does have the common name of Israeli Desert Scorpion. So very similar :lol2:
> 
> Thanks for those links Corpselight, top one was good...saw a couple of nice 'uns on there. Havn't had chance to do any research on any of them yet mind so something to keep me busy this weekend!! Did see he was able to get jumping spider as well...i know NOTHING about these but got me interested as i was fascinated by them on a TV programme i saw recently :mf_dribble:


no worries mate! 
no idea about jumping spiders, sorry. if you email him to ask, though, he may have some leads. he gets some crazy inverts in!
his stall is one of my faves at the shows.
we do have some native jumping spiders in the UK, though...you may be lucky enough to catch one if you keep an eye out!

as for the deathstalker reference...this is yet another example of the problem of using common names! scientific names would eliminate any possible ambiguity here.
pretty sure the Deathstalker (Leiurus quinquestriatus) has a much fatter tail then Scorpio maurus, but there are probably loads of other differences as well.
Also, Androctonus australis, apparently the scorpion that causes the most deaths per year, is occasionally mis-labelled as a "Desert Hairy" (H. arizonensis). so be aware...mistakes can happen 
the best thing is to not get stung EVER haha


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

Nobody could confuse a LQ for a Maurus after ever seeing a picture of either of them or actually owning both.

Ask sellers for the latin name before buying, but if you pay Maurus prices and end up with an LQ then be happy


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## matto2k (Nov 30, 2006)

i know of places that have had shipments of s. maurus's in and theres been yellow fat tails in there A.Austrualis.

the claws are the give away that its a s.maurus as no gold scorps from that region have that sized claws.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Young_Gun said:


> Ask sellers for the latin name before buying, but if you pay Maurus prices and end up with an LQ then be happy


...and a little worried at the same time :lol2:

I do like the maurus palmatus and like that they stay reasonably small. Although i understand they are not always the easiest to get hold of and often wc adults...ideally i would rather have one from a younger age.

The Hadrurus arizonensis seems a little easier to get hold of and a few have said their care is reasonably easy so is always a good thing...havnt founds lods for sale so not sure if the 'wc adults' is the norm for these as well.

Decisions desicions...still plenty of time for reading up mind but im glad i got quite a few choices in the end and there are a few more (not sure of the names now and cant access the site in work) that i wouldnt mind reading up a bit into. Think Dune Scorpion was one of them...

In regards to the Lq's, are these something that should require DWAL?


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> ...and a little worried at the same time :lol2:
> 
> I do like the maurus palmatus and like that they stay reasonably small. Although i understand they are not always the easiest to get hold of and often wc adults...ideally i would rather have one from a younger age.
> 
> ...


S.Maurus Palmatus are hard as anything to breed, I am currently trying and have been for the past 2 years with no success so far, but hoping thats going to change soon, I would say all Maurus you will see for sale will be WC as CB would fetch a noticeably larger price, you can get WC sub adults a lot of the time but I don't see any problem with having WC adults, they in my experience live for between 3 - 5 years which isnt that bad really when they sell for £10 - £30.

H.A's are easy to get hold of and the care is as easy IMO as the Maurus, H.A's for sale will also be WC.

If you can get hold of Smeringus mesaensis(Dune Scorp) then get it, they are one of my all time favourite species.

LQ's are on the DWA but IMO there shouldn't be a need for DWA with scorpions for experienced keepers, a simple consultation could weed out idiots and then you should be no more restricted IMO on keeping a H.A than you should a LQ, a lot of scorpions that are on the DWA are on there purely for being in the same genus as some toxic ones(all of Buthidae etc), for example a good mate of mine is currently breeding a lot of DWA scorps including hard to get hold of Babycurus Jacksoni, he doesn't have a DWAL so he can't sell or advertise them unless its privately to people he trusts or through a friend with a shop, he has more experience with scorpions than 95% of the people I know but still 'by law' is not entitled to have the animals he does, its mental.

Also IMO, anyone who is capable of safely and responsibly owning a H.A or S.Maurus is easy competent enough to own 'DWA' scorps.


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## corpselight (Jan 10, 2008)

i couldn't agree more, Young Gun!!!
most Buthids for example are no more harmful than most other scorps.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Babycurus Jacksoni is the other one i saw on the link posted by Corpselight, cant remember if it was currently available mind or available to order.

The dune scorp was on there as well...but same thing, i cant remember if it was available currently or available to order.

I pretty much fancy owning all the ones mentioned so far, ill just need to do as much research on all of these as i can, understand their care needs and then when the time comes to buy one see what is available. I only intend starting off with one but i will add to this and would like to think i could end up with a few of the ones mentioned by the end of the year.

Im not overly bothered about how 'dangerous' the one i get can be. Ive read up in the past quite a bit about people keeping DWA snakes and have got a few ideas that could be put into practice with scorps (or any dangerous animal really) when it comes to cleaning out time/daily maintenance etc such as partitioning off one half of the tank etc.


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

If the Babycurus were available in the UK send me the link please.

I treat every animal I own as if it is DWA, then it doesn't matter whether they are packing a punch or just a tickle


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

They were on Supplier and breeder of insects and arachnids in the UK

I got it a little wrong, they are not currently available and it does not mention they are available to order. He does have pictures of ones he has kept mind so maybe you could give him an email and he might be able to get some.


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> They were on Supplier and breeder of insects and arachnids in the UK
> 
> I got it a little wrong, they are not currently available and it does not mention they are available to order. He does have pictures of ones he has kept mind so maybe you could give him an email and he might be able to get some.


MG doesn't have any and doesn't get them in as far as I am aware


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## matto2k (Nov 30, 2006)

am i right in thinking Babycurus Jacksoni are bark scorps from america?

now ive scaled down my collection i might get the DWA for a pair of Bi-Colours....

some thing else to think about is desert hairys can live for 25 years and its very rare for one to die naturally before 15. and to be honest i'd rather keep an adult then i would a scorpling again


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## Young_Gun (Jan 6, 2007)

matto2k said:


> am i right in thinking Babycurus Jacksoni are bark scorps from america?
> 
> now ive scaled down my collection i might get the DWA for a pair of Bi-Colours....
> 
> some thing else to think about is desert hairys can live for 25 years and its very rare for one to die naturally before 15. and to be honest i'd rather keep an adult then i would a scorpling again


They are indeed, and they are one of the most stunning scorpions about IMO.


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