Venom in the Garden of Eatin’?

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When it comes to gardening in Southern California there are a lot of pests that gardeners are concerned with.  These pests & insects consume herbs, fruits, and vegetables which the hardworking gardener is hoping to harvest for their own table.  Most of these are of no real threat to the human species & can be easily dispatched.  They can also be eliminated through the use of pesticides and insecticides commonly sold at most home improvement or hardware stores.

Those of the environmental or eco-friendly persuasion can also discover a number of options such as bran flakes for snails & slugs.  Some companies sell farm raised hunting squads such as the inaccurately named Ladybug Hippodamia sp. which is actually named a Lady Beetle can be released to exterminate aphids.  Nature provides us with other pest and insect predators such as arachnids.  These vary in form like the scorpions and spiders which lie in wait to deal death blows to unsuspecting creatures which haplessly cross their path or fall into their web of doom.  So begins our story of spiders, venom, and gardening.

Scorpions Don’t Do Comb Overs. Captive Care of the Arizona Hairy Scorpion Hadrurus arizonensis V

Feeding

With all of the scorpions I’ve kept over the years feeding has been an easy process.  Once a week drop in two to three crickets of appropriate size.  Size is determined by the length of the cricket being equal or lesser size when compared to the width of the scorpion.  These are eaten within a day.  I dust the crickets but not out of necessity, I have reptiles being fed at the same time so rather than hassle with removing a few I just dust the lot and feed.  This has shown to have no ill affect on the scorpions.  Mealworms and other insects can be fed as well but crickets are much more plentiful and cheaper.  Arizona Hairy Scorpions Hadrurus arizonensis have been known to gorge themselves and then go off feed for up to six months at a time.

The subject of water is debatable; some think that in the wild scorpions obtain their water from the foods they consume.  While this may be true, I have always offered a shallow dish of water once a week with a hermit crab sponge cut in half so that they may climb upon it and drink.

Maintenance

Once a month move the scorpion to a small container preferably without handling them directly and sift the sand with a wire screen.  Once every few months empty the entire enclosure rinse and wash it with a bleach solution of a capful of bleach to a gallon of water and rinse until the bleach smell is completely gone.

Scorpions are an interesting pet simply for the behaviors they exhibit in a well decorated and designed captive environment.  Not to mention that they are not by any means the “normal” pet people keep.  If you should decide to keep a scorpion this species is one that will offer a lot of enjoyment and are one of the easier, less aggressive species available to the herpetoculturist.  Go out and pick one up for yourself and see how you too can create a desert environment that will bring you many hours of happiness as you watch the scorpion and its natural behaviors.

Scorpions Don’t Do Comb Overs. Captive Care of the Arizona Hairy Scorpion Hadrurus arizonensis IV

In order to facilitate a natural environment I place a piece of dried ocotillo and a few pieces of slate rock in the enclosure.  The flat slate rocks are supported by another small rock resting on the bottom of the enclosure itself.  This way if the scorpion burrows beneath the slate it will not be crushed by falling rocks.  Alternatively you could use aquarium silicone to “glue” the pieces together.  Make sure you use nothing else other than aquarium silicone as any other type of cement or glue may have toxic properties which will kill the scorpion.

As far heating is concerned we keep our year round at about 75 degrees with an 85 degree basking spot provided through the use of 65 watt Ceramic Heating element so we don’t disturb the normal circadian rhythm of day and night cycles.  If you want you can turn on a black light some times and the scorpion will fluoresce with an eerie bluish glow.  All scorpions do this and science doesn’t as of yet have an explanation for why but it does look cool at night.  I wouldn’t leave it on all the time but using it as a parlor trick so to speak is kind of fun.