Scorpion birthing season begins in full swing!

all my scorpion breeding projects are coming to fruition now!
woohooo!!
A few weeks go, my Isometrus maculatus gave birth to her 3rd brood. They're all doing great so far (unlike her previous 2)

Yesterday I noticed my C. gracilis looking like this

Then, with newborn scorplings on her back, the male decides he's not had any in way too long of a time
so
they end up doing this
(sorry, bad pic, i didn't wanna disturb them too much)

this morning i find this (spermataphor)

and the lucky man
father to atleast 45
and just got some last night


and a couple of my gertshi morph Centruroides exilicauda have popped as well

I'm expecting at least 5 more of those to start popping babies here over the next couple months as birthing season continues


Other gravid females i'm waiting on:
-Centruroides vitattus
-Mesobuthus martensii
-Vaejovis spinigerus
-Tityus serrulatus

Wow those photos are simply amazing. Congrats on such a successful breeding season.

~Jeff C.

Cool...but too damned creepy for me. All of those legs! *shudder*

Do they really give birth or do they carry around an egg sac that later hatches?


Reminds me of a spider last year, which I found crossing the driveway. At first sight, I thought it was a drunk spider being tormented by the cats. But upon closer inspection saw this:

Excellent photo Misty!!

Scorpions, unlike spiders, do give live birth. The Scorplings then climb onto mom's back where they live till after their first molt (3-28 days depend on species). Scorplings that don't make the climb up will not live. Fortunately, the female creates a "birthing basket" with a couple of her legs to catch them as they are born which they can easily crawl up and onto her back.

very cool pictures both of you. I learned something new today

Wow great pics.
They just look so cute all clinging to mom like that! But after they quit hitching a ride you must have all these tiny little scorplings running all over the cage - I bet that's the hard part. Are they born with enough poison to sting you?

once they leave her back, they all get collected into individual condiment cups. good thing i have a ton but i'm quickly losing shelf space...

I don't know that they can sting still after their first molt when they leave her back. At that point I know they can sting. I've been stung by a 2nd instar lil baby before. Packs quite a wallup too. Fortunately they're not able to produce as much venom, otherwise i might have been in trouble. I know others that have also been stung by little 2nd instar Leirus quinquestriatus (most venomous scorpion) and still had a very serious reaction.

here's a couple pics of last years lil 2nd instar babies

Is there a big market for the scorpions you breed? I don't know anything about them, but your thread's been really interesting. Do you breed rare kinds? I'll throw in a final question to annoy you with while you try to deal with all your new babies. Do you have anti-venom on hand in case you get a severe sting, or does it not work like it does with venomous snakes? Thanks for the time, and the pictures!

:-offtopic PS Taceas, those are really cool pictures, I'm pretty sure if I saw that outside my house I'd freak out. We've got a tarantula, but it's in a tank so I know it can't hide under my bed in wait for me!

i'm feeling a little woozy looking at these pics of scorpions with their babies, but this is a very interesting thread. i learned a lot today. not enough to get over my fear of things with many legs...but now i have learned something new. thanks for all the info! very cool.

Pumilio said:

Is there a big market for the scorpions you breed?

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Not really. The scorpion hobby, sadly, isn't as big as the tarantula hobby. I have a couple scorpions that likely no one else has and a few others that only about 12 people in the US have. Yet, I couldn't sell them for more than $40 if i was lucky. Tarantulas as uncommon would go for 10 times that.

Pumilio said:

Do you breed rare kinds?

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yep. all the ones pictures are fairly common though, except that these are CBB whereas 90% of what is being sold out there is WC.

Pumilio said:

Do you have anti-venom on hand in case you get a severe sting, or does it not work like it does with venomous snakes?

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I don't, mostly because antivenom is too expensive, some is unavailable to the public, and for the most part not very necessary. Only 5 of the species I keep do have an antivenom that has been created. One of which is no longer in production and had never passed FDA and was only being used experimentally (for 40 years!). The others would have to be sent from Brazil and South Africa, and at $300 a vial, not something I'd be going out to get. Fortunately, antivenoms are rarely necessary. An average healthy adult should be able to live through a serious envenomation without antivenom. Epinephrine has proven to be quite effective with most serious stings. Keep in mind, of the 1600 species, only about 20 could be considered life threatening.

I'm assuming the CBB market is fairly young yet and not that many generations have been produced, but do you see enough color variation or anatomic variation to breed for "morphs" in the various species?

Very interesting thread. They are carnivorous then? (seeing the crickets and knowing they sting) Do you have to supplement them with anything or is it a cricket only diet?

What's the typical setup for scorpions and are they active enough to be interesting pets? The ones in Arizona were pretty nocturnal as far as I could tell.

Keep the pictures coming. I know next to nothing about them, but am always interested in learning.

Depending on the species, there are quite a few color morphs out there. This year I'm working with the Az. Bark Scorpion and its two main morphs: Gertschi and Scuplturatus. The two were once cataloged as separate species, but now they are together. Figured I'd give a go and see if they will breed (as same species should do) and see how the offspring end up.

They are insectivorus, though larger species will occational go for geckos, small lizards and small rodents in the wild. In captivity there isn't a reason to do this, and they live just fine on a diet of insects. I feed crickets and lobster roaches.

Activity and setup depend on the species. One of my more active species are actually AZ natives as well - Devil Scorpions. In captivity they appear quite diurnal, and always on the go.

Care also depends on the species, and just like other animals, enclosure size should be appropriate for the animal. Only larger species like Emperors should have a 10g tank, but others do just find with smaller. Most of my collection can be found in delicups of various sizes as well as small and medium sized kritter keepers.

They look very interesting and I always enjoy having a good look at them at the shows but I don't think I could have one as a pet. I'll stick to the non-legged pets!

very cool. those are great pics! Hopefully there will be more and more people interested in these creatures as time goes by. Do you have any luck selling them at shows, or do you do more 'word of mouth' sales?

I got my first chance at holding some Emperors (I think that's the common name)(Pandinus Imperator) at the reptile show in Anaheim last year. I can see how you could really get into them. There were probably the coolest thing I've ever handled aside from a tarantula and some of those funky hissing cockroaches. Hard to believe, but once you get over the fact that they are scorpions, they are really neat! Absolute works of art. Like walking cloisonne jewelry.

shed'n my skin said:

very cool. those are great pics! Hopefully there will be more and more people interested in these creatures as time goes by. Do you have any luck selling them at shows, or do you do more 'word of mouth' sales?

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Thanks
I've only had a table at a single show. but managed to sell enough to pay for the table and pay for all the other stuff we bought at the show so i guess i did well enough. still came home with more scorpions than i wanted to

Most are online sales through various website classifieds.