Customer support > Care sheet for scorpions

Care sheet for scorpions

These sheets provide due diligence and also provide the means of a sales register.

Care sheets all designed for you to use at the point of sale with your retail customer.

Scorpions

By Kevin Stevens ¡V Herpetologist. Former President and Journal Editor of the International Herpetological Society

The most commonly kept species of scorpions are Emperor Scorpions, this care sheet is intended primarily for this species. Rock scorpions are sometimes offered for sale, and their care is similar, except they tend to do better in a drier environment.

Vivariums can be provided by a plastic or glass unit. Ensure they are escape proof. Heat them by placing the vivarium on top of a heat mat so that half the vivarium is warm and half is cooler. Leave the beat mat switched on 24 hours per day.

Substrates within the vivarium should be orchid bark or peat, which should be kept damp. Spray daily to maintain higher levels of humidity. Rock scorpions prefer sand. Provide hides and a water bowl. The best choice for drinking water is to use Water bites, this is a jelly which allows the scorpions to drink without drowning. It also provides a source of Calcium.

Spot clean and attend to the scorpion on a daily basis. A full sterilise, strip down and change of substrates should be done every three to four weeks. Always use a good quality reptile disinfectant, household cleaners should not be used.

Food is best provided by commercially available live insects such as quiet/black crickets, wax worms, locusts and mealworms. Ensure all live food is "gut loaded" with a good quality insect food and provided with Water Bites. This not only keeps the live food alive longer and saves you money, but also ensures all the vitamins and minerals the scorpion needs are already inside the live food. Feed every three or four days on one to three food items.

No lighting is required, but black lights can produce interesting "glow in the dark" properties, and some keepers do provide a black light for this purpose.

Scorpions will from time to time shed their skins, this comes off in one piece.

Handling should be kept to a minimum. This keeps stress levels down to a minimum, but also is a better option for the keeper as scorpions can sting. The end of the tail has the sting. If you are stung it has been likened to a bee sting, but perhaps not as prolonged. A small percentage of people are allergic to bee and scorpion stings, so care must be taken. Also be careful of the claws, they can give quite a nip.

It is vitally important that you have considered the following points;

1. Some species can be short lived, and others can live for around 10 years ¡V please ask for further details should this worry you.
2. You will need to keep crickets, and they often escape and end up roaming the house!
3. It is unfair not to appreciate other family members fears of scorpions ¡V do not purchase if there is a risk of having to return it to us due to someone¡¦s phobia.
4. They are escape artists - there are no easy solutions to finding an escaped scorpion - don't lose them in the first place!
5. All scorpions can sting. This will be at least comparable to a bee or wasp sting, at worst could cause a significant health risk.
6. Emperors can grow quite large, up to around 12 inches.

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I understand that any purchase of animals made here is with the full understanding of the above and that I have been fully informed of the correct husbandry requirements for the species chosen. I have been given a copy of this care sheet. I am over the age of 16.
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