Giant Blue Scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer)

Giant Blue Scorpion Heterometrus spinifer
Name	Giant Blue Scorpion
Name Lat.	Heterometrus spinifer
Family	Scorpions
Family lat.	Scorpionidae
Order	Scorpions
Order lat.	Scorpiones
Origin	Asia
Habitat	Rainforest
Diet	Insects
Humidity	60-70 %
Behavior	Nocturnal
Keeping	Individual, pair, group
Care Level	Easy
Housing	Semi humid terrarium
Breeding	Simple
Life Span	5-10 years
Protection	No
Metric Units
Size	12-15 cm
Temperature Day	25-28 °C
Temperature Night	20-22 °C
Housing Size	40 x 30 x 30 cm
US Units
Size	4.7"-5.9"
Temperature Day	77-82 °F
Temperature Night	68-72 °F
Housing Size	15" x 10" x 10"

Distribution and habitat

The distribution area of the predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal Blue Thai Scorpions extends from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia through Cambodia to Vietnam. They prefer to inhabit dense rainforests, where they live in self-dug or natural burrows under stones or branches and pieces of bark lying on the ground.

Maintenance

For 1 animal a terrarium of L 40 x W 30 x H 30 cm can be recommended. For a pair or group keeping the terrarium must be extended accordingly. The terrarium should be placed in a quiet and vibration-free place without sunlight.

The terrarium should be structured with stones, cork tubes, pieces of bark, roots and branches (hiding places). They need a small, shallow, drinking bowl with gravel and a 10-15 cm deep substrate of sand-loam-peat mixture suitable for digging. The substrate should always be kept slightly moist. Waterlogging and mold must be avoided at all costs. Artificial or potted plants (e.g. Ficus repens, Scindapsus aureus) can be used for decoration. Once a day the inside of the terrarium should be finely sprayed with water (humidity), but a rain or mist system is better.

Temp. day: 25-28 °C

Temp. night: 20-22 °C

Humidity: 60-70

The lighting duration should be 10-12 hrs. depending on the season. A conventional light source (fluorescent tube, incandescent bulb) is sufficient. Attention should be paid to their natural day-night rhythm.

Diet

The diet should consist of crickets, cockroaches, house crickets, maggots and grasshoppers, as well as other arthropods. Wax moths should only be fed in small quantities to adults, but not to juveniles, because of their large fat content

The quality of the feed can be enhanced by feeding overripe fruit and honey water. It is important to add minerals and vitamins regularly (e.g. by dusting the feeders). Young animals should be offered food daily, adults 1-2 times a week. Feeding should be done only in the evening. Hungry scorpions keep their pedipalpal claws wide open and actively search for food. Drinking water must always be available

A varied diet promotes health and prevents deficiency symptoms.

Reproduction and breeding

The sex difference is difficult to see. The sexual opening is heart-shaped in the female and oval in the male.

The mating ritual resembles a wrestling match and is often misunderstood as aggressive behavior. During this "mating dance" a sperm package (spermatophore) is passed. Females can also give birth to offspring several times without further mating (sperm storage). After a gestation period of 12-15 months, the female gives birth to 15-30 young. The white, barely mobile young find protection from predators on the back of the mother for at least 2 weeks, until after the 2nd molt. Only then do they begin to feed on their own. The young can be raised together if there is sufficient food and plenty of hiding places. Small crickets and house crickets are suitable as rearing food.

Obligation to report

Make sure to inform yourself about any regulations on keeping or bans on keeping this animal in your state or home municipality (e.g. public order office). Your pet store will be happy to provide you with further information.

Important

Care should be taken when handling them in the terrarium. They are hardly aggressive and only weakly poisonous, the poisonous effect is similar to that of a bee sting. However, the sting itself can cause severe pain. For relocation, the animals are grasped with approx. 30 cm long feeding tweezers at the rear end and not at the front body (risk of injury)

Good ventilation without drafts is necessary, as well as equipment for measuring temperature and humidity. Lighting should be placed in such a way that the animals cannot injure themselves. The terrarium should be locked in such a way that neither unauthorized persons can open it nor the animals can escape. Special attention should be paid to thorough hygiene and impurities must be removed regularly.

Further literature can be found in your pet store.

References

Text: Bernd Rassinger; Image: Franz Lowak

Source: ENGELMANN & LANGE (2011): Zootierhaltung - Tiere in menschlicher Obhut: Wirbellose, Harri Deutsch Verlag; STOCKMANN & YTHIER (2010): Scorpions of the World, N.A.P. Editions