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Common name: Emperor scorpion
Maximum size: around 8", including the tail.
Original habitat: Ghana, West Africa. Often found in or around termite mounds.
Suggested cage size: a 2.5 or 5 gallon aquarium with screen lids work well for single specimens, two or three can be kept in a 10.
Substrate: peat, bark, sphagnum, or a mix. Must hold moisture. Do not keep on sand.
Temperature: 75-90°F. Very sensitive to cold.
Humidity: 75%, mist daily.
Diet: appropriately sized crickets. Two or so a week will suffice. Earthworms are also good.
Breeding: Females give live birth to twenty or so small, white young (they look like scorpion-shaped blobs of white rice) who cling to her back for a couple months until they are ready to leave. If you are keeping them communally, remove all the other animals to prevent cannibalism. Pregnant females are frequently imported, look for fat ones.
To breed them, place one male and one female in a cage containing a large, flat stone. They lock claws and "dance" for a while until the male drops his spermatophore. The female maneuvers herself over the spermatophore and empties it, fertilizing her. Remove the male immediately afterwards to prevent cannibalism. The female can store sperm and a single mating provides sufficient material for several broods.
Sexing:Females have larger fan-like appendages on their belly. The males have them as well but they are much smaller. I cannot for the life of me recall what they are called.
Notes:
Has a comparatively mild sting, about as bad as a bee's. Still, don't do anything stupid. Those with allergies to insect bites or stings should not keep these animals.
Shows up frequently in movies and television, probably due to its impressive size and relative harmlessness.
My pic:
-PK
This post has been edited by BoomerSub: 01 August 2004 - 08:48 PM
