New Emperor Arrives with Problems

There was a local show this weekend that a couple of invert-oriented friends were attending. When asked if I wanted anything, I requested a female Pandinus imperator if they could find one for less than $10. I have three subadult males (one of which is looking very close to molting) and wanted to try breeding this species. I'm probably the only person in this hobby who's first emperor DIDN'T arrive already gravid.

I think sending my friends good sexing photos paid off, because they brought me this huge $7 beauty.


She was moving around too much to get a good measurement, but I estimate her to be between five and six inches (chelicerae to telson). Watching her "glass-dance," I was able to tell that she's definitely a female.


Now, for those of you experienced in this hobby: do you notice anything unusual about the next photo?


Yep, she's got grain mites. This is actually the first time I've encountered them personally. The usual advice is to put the scorpion in a dry ICU tank (with a water dish, at least) to dehydrate and kill the mites. The other advice is to find predatory mites from other tanks to feed on the grain mites.

I'm sticking to the latter method, because the LAST thing I want is for a forest scorpion to give birth in a dry environment. Odds are in favor of this female being gravid. So, for the time being, I've added as many predatory mites as I could find in my other tanks and I'm keeping her quarantined. Hopefully it pays off.

Daring First Instar

The first instar U. mordax that left mom's back early made it to 2I successfully. (S)he just took a day longer than the rest of the brood. I've named this one Dr. Livingstone.

I have a few pics of the molting, but the camera I was using just isn't up to the old DSLR's abilities. So here's a picture of one of the other broods molting to second instar. Some have molted, some haven't, and a couple are in the process of molting.

All Those Babies . . .

. . . sure take a long time to feed.


My original estimate of 160 was actually spot-on. 70 Vaejovis spinigerus and 90 Uroctonus mordax, although two U. mordax died shortly after molting to second instar. I've given a few away and I'm open to selling all of the V. spinigerus and up to half of the U. mordax, but no one's responded to my ads.

I'd like to track the growth and development of the ones I plan on keeping -- that's why some have labels indicating which female they came from.

I have two remaining U. mordax females that look suspiciously pudgy. Hmmm . . .