Heterometrus Madraspatensis - GRAVID YAY!

decided last night that the moss in the enclosures needed re-drenching. and as i got to this females tank and took the moss off the top of the bog wood...

***SQUEEEEEE***

there she was, the first time since january I had seen her full body. she was mated 2nd week of december, then in january was rehouse to the 4ft tank. where she dug a burrow in two days and apart from seeing the odd pedipalp, in fact twice in 2 months, I have been unable to see her.
She stopped eating at the end of january, and before me was one incredibly plump scorpion. white blobbing to the side membranes and a distinctive nerve cord squished against the tergites!
So pleased to announce that the mating was a success and hopefully any time from august onward I hope to update this thread with some very good news.

Sorry there are no pictures, obviously I disturbed her and by time i had lept across the front room to get my camera, she was pretty much back inside her burrow. However will try and get one of her before she drops... I dont think I have seen a picture of this species in gravid state on the net before.

Well done on getting them to breed, really great news for this sp in captivity

Maybe post up your breeding conditions etc on a seperate thread in case anyone else is trying to duplicate your successful breeding?

Pairing up my I.Dufoureius this week, fingers crossed

oh congrats hun, thats just great, x

Thats great!
Looking forward to seeing some babies in the near future


Good luck, Young_Gun. Keep us updated

Young_Gun wrote:Well done on getting them to breed, really great news for this sp in captivity
Maybe post up your breeding conditions etc on a seperate thread in case anyone else is trying to duplicate your successful breeding?
Pairing up my I.Dufoureius this week, fingers crossed

I certainly will do. Once she has given birth I will put up all my breeding information, then further update it with the sling husbandry, I would have thought this would be pretty much like most hets, however this species appears to be non communal as adults, females become far too territorial.

Therefore I intend to try the slings together in a tub when they come off mums back and study how they get on... if however they appear to be too aggressive they will obviously be parted. I will have made little tubs ready in case things start to go pear shaped!
I would hazard an educated guess that they may be communal if they have been brought up together but certainly introducing a non related pair of scorpions nearly proved fatal!
This is the problem when breeding a species when there is absolutely no specific information available!

and good luck with the I.Dufoureius xx

I sooo cannot believe my luck, it was awesome to see her under the moss two nights ago... tonight she came all the way out in hunting mode... guess she is hungry after 2 months of not eating
And as much as I know this species is pretty aggressive, nothing prepared me for how aggressive she would be in gravid state. ever seen a 5" scorpion jump about 3" into the air? I just did! even the slightest movement triggered her into hissing and jumping. for the first two minutes anyway, she went camera shy after that and wouldn't jump for the camera... typical

And for the first time in all my scorpion keeping... I saw venom from a scorpion.

I took the opportunity to get some pictures, because I have yet to see pictures on this species gravid on the net.
I know she was pretty peeved with me but I thought it would be of use to other people wanting to breed this species in the future. She has another 4-6months to go so plenty of time for her to settle down and relax. And I slung in about 3 crickets to keep her going, obviously take out the uneaten in morning
I apologise for the poor quality of the pictures... my camera sensor really doesn't like artificial light and taking pictures through plastic tubs lol. only thing that lets this camera down!

oooooooooooo she looks very plump and VERY cross lol. Great pics, is that venom drops in the second to last pic ??? In the last one she looks like she will pop. Great news and great pics

thank you for the comments

yes that is venom in the pictures, I personally have never seen that in the 10 years i have been keeping scorpions.

I reacon she will be extremely large in 4-6mth when she finally drops

WHAT !!!! She still has all that time to go !!!! Jesus, i didn't realise. I thought that it was near time lol

oh no still a long way to go yet lmao.

Scorpions have an incredily long gestation period, stupidly long for some sp.

Lisa, if you like seeing venom then try some P.Transvaalicus, I use the facemask I use for working with the spitting cobras when I'm working with them as an added precaution.

Nice pics and definitely looks like the boy did his job.

lol sounds interesting

I have had a call today asking for a breeding loan of my male. And I know someone else with a breeding pair so with a bit of luck by next year, quite a few people will be able to enjoy these wicked looking hets.

Bit slow on the reply, but yay congrats! She looks gorgeous too! I will be saving my pennies.