Scorpion problem in my house...

[Darth Cruel]

Oh, you got an Emperor? Or are you talking about your uhh...whatever we decided it was? Silvestri something.

That's how Grimm was though for the first half a year. It would take him a few hours to burrow to the bottom and he'd never come out other than for water.

I was originally going to (maybe) purchase a female and put them both in the 3-foot long enclosure that my boa is outgrowing, but since his death I guess I have two empty enclosures to fill...wonder what I should get next.

Oddly, I kind of like those tailess whip scorpions..not sure I could sleep in the same house as one though.

Or maybe something other than an arachnid...

No...I only have the Silvestri. But some of the behaviors can be similar.

I do think I want to get an Emperor, now, as well, though. It would be cool to have two Scorpions.

That whiptail you are talking about is sometimes called a vinegaroon. The myth is that when you get stung by them, you taste vinegar.

The truth is that they have no stinger. They kill their prey by spraying an 85% concentration of acetic acid on them from somewhere in their front. I believe it is the "mouth".

They are supposedly very, very common around my wife's house. And every person in the county has seen about a million of them...except me. In 20 years...I have never seen a single one.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

They spray acid? Lovely

I meant this kind though:

 

[Darth Cruel]

They spray acid? Lovely

I meant this kind though:

That is the one. Sort of looks like the bug from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban, doesn't it?

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Oh, well I think this is a vinegaroon or 'whip-tail scorpion':

The other one is the 'tailless whip scorpion' or 'cave spider'.

Huh, yeah that's the one in Harry Potter. Although apparently it was in Goblet of Fire.

But yeah you should get an emp. They're obviously the most popular pet scorpion, but for good reasons. I would still look over at mine and be impressed with his size. Sometimes when I'd fork a cricket and hand it to him, he'd grab the fork out of my hand.

 

[Darth Cruel]

I see the difference, now. My bad.


Between that and the Harry Potter reference, I had all of my info all ****ed up, didn't I?

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Speaking of praying mantises earlier in the thread, found this one two days ago:

It was so cute. He would turn his head in whichever direction I moved.

 

[Darth Cruel]

I laid my scorpion to rest this evening. I believe it's death was from natural causes. Judging by its size, I think it was pretty old. My 8-year-old daughter cried quite a bit. I was a little surprised. I did not realize that she was that attached to it.

I was finally able to get a good shot of how big it was.

Nearly 4 inches from tail to chelicerae...very respectable as they go.

 

[Centurion]

Speaking of praying mantises earlier in the thread, found this one two days ago:

It was so cute. He would turn his head in whichever direction I moved.

I've got green ones in my neighborhood. They are cute actually.

No scorpions, though, and that's OK. Black widows and rattle snakes are enough.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

I think that's the first and only mantis I've seen in person that wasn't green actually.

@Darth Cruel

Beautiful scorpion and a very nice size. May it rest in peace.

My three Vittatus are still alive and well. This May it will have been about a year since I caught the two males. I've had the female since August/September 2011. Really didn't expect them to live this long.

I caught a Black Widow back in October/November and she lived with the scorpions until last month when she mysteriously died. I originally put her in with the scorpions thinking they'd eat her, but they showed no interest and she stayed up in her web almost the entire time. I got to watch her molt up in her web, it was very interesting.

I took a plastic knife and wrapped all of her webbing up with it a few days ago and I was amazed at how strong it was even a month after she had spun it. It was so powerful that it could bend the knife, and lifted the entire enclosure up a bit as I was removing it.

 

[Centurion]

Yeah, agreed about the webbing.
There's suppose to be scientists constantly studying this.

Relatively speaking, for their size, the amount of tension and force that their webs can withstand is truly amazing. I can't remember what show it was on TV that said not even steel is the same. If it was produced at the same size, it might be stronger but it's way too heavy comparatively speaking.

Fascinating stuff, in my opinion.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Yeah I remember hearing that steel comparison as well on some PBS nature show I think. It's really interesting.

Makes Spiderman a bit more believable.

 

[Darth Cruel]

Yeah...spider silk has been shown to be comprable in strength to both steel and kevlar. But it is not as tough (combination of tensile strength and ductility) as kevlar. It is tougher than steel, though. There is a school that believes that spider silk can be used as armor over Kevlar, but this is not true because in armor, the toughness is critical.

Personally, though, I would have to see the test to believe it. I am thinking about times that I have pulled Black Widow silk apart and how I feel it would compare to an equall sized strand of steel (I work with steel a lot and I have performed hundreds of tensile tests on it) and I just have a hard time accepting that the silk would win.

 

[devilof76]

It's always been a hard concept for me to fathom, but I think you have to keep in mind how fine spider silk is.

That's adorable about your daughter crying over the scorpion. My condolences to you both.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Just went to check on my 3 C. Vittatus and noticed none of them were moving...they're all dead.

I swear I saw them moving around just a day or two ago. It's odd that they all died at the same time..

I found the female in my house on October 23rd 2011. She was already full grown. I never imagined her living this long, but it's been incredibly fun keeping her. The two males I kept with her I found in May 2012.

Gonna build them a funeral pyre out of matches tomorrow.


I love you my sweet, little girl. May you and your two mating buddies rest in peace.

(photo I took of her when I found her a year and 5 and a half months ago)

So within a year I've lost a dog, frog and four scorpions.

 

[Darth Cruel]

Sorry to hear this. It is all too soon. I find it interesting that all of these scorpions (your 3 and my 1) all died so close together. I wonder if there was some event that was necessary and was not accomodated for by either of us.


Or if it was just as simple as they were all old. I do suspect that judging by the size of mine.


I just had a buddy email me about a new species that was found in Arizona. I haven't had time to research it, yet. But apparently, it is unusual because it shares a habitat with a close relative, and this family of scorpions is not known for that.

Anyway...I am certainly on the lookout for a new scorpion. LOL...but if it doesn't start to warm up soon, I may have to wait until next season.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Sorry to hear this. It is all too soon. I find it interesting that all of these scorpions (your 3 and my 1) all died so close together. I wonder if there was some event that was necessary and was not accomodated for by either of us.

Yeah it's very odd. Perhaps there was.

I expected any of them to drop at anytime because from what I've read, C. Vittatus only live 3-5 years. But for them to all die at practically the exact same time is just...really strange.

I just had a buddy email me about a new species that was found in Arizona. I haven't had time to research it, yet. But apparently, it is unusual because it shares a habitat with a close relative, and this family of scorpions is not known for that.

Interesting, I'll have to look that up as well.

Anyway...I am certainly on the lookout for a new scorpion. LOL...but if it doesn't start to warm up soon, I may have to wait until next season.

Same. I'm sure in a month or two I'll find hundreds running around my house like I have for the past two years.

You're lucky you have a variety of scorpion species to choose from though. The only kind we have here are the C. Vittatus apparently. Not that I don't love C. Vittatus, but I would like to raise a different species.

As for pets in general, I've been really considering getting a hedgehog or pair of sugar gliders lately.



Anyway, the funeral:


"Why? Why are the innocent punished? Why the sacrifice? Why the pain?"

"There aren't any promises. Nothing certain. Only that some get called, some get saved."

"They won't ever know the hardship and grief for those of us left behind."

"We commit these bodies to the void, with a glad heart."

"For within each seed, there is a promise of a flower, and within each death, no matter how small, there's always a new life. A new beginning."

"Amen."

 

[CriterionCollector]

Once German musicians invade your house they never leave

 

[Darth Cruel]

LT - The funeral pyre was awesome!

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Awesome indeed. Until the table caught on fire.

 

[Darth Cruel]

LOL...oops! I hate it when that happens!