I am showing you all how I have been raising some of my desert scorps such as Androctonus spp and Hottentotta spp. I see no reason why this wont work for other desert scorpions such as Leiurus, Parabuthus,Vajoevis and others as well. This is not the only way to do this nor do I say it is the best but I have had great success at doing it this way.

The early instars are kept in small condiment cups with sand. These cups are too small to place a hide in so I keep the cups in a box which stays dark.


I can usually tell when one is approaching a molt (at least on A bicolor). When this happens I will put a very small amount of water on 1 side of the cup (see picture below) but one has to be very very careful not to add to much or they can get mycosis. If the water does not dry out in about 2 days change the sand so it will be back on dry substrate. About 70% of the time when I do this they will molt within 2-3 days.


Fixing the lid (like in the pic below) would probably be better because the moisture would dry out easier


While not a necessity, My "Hot Box" certainly speeds growth and seems to reduce deaths during molting. This is very crude as you can see and I will certainly have to make a better set up as I breed more and more scorpions. It is a styrofoam box with a reptile heating pad (wrapped in towels) to one side. With the box 3/4 covered the temps stay between 85F-90F.

Here you can see in the next pic the scorp on the left (no Hot Box) is 2 molts behind the other (been in the Hot Box)


When they finally outgrow their little condiment cup, I move them into something like in the next picture. Since I am keeping this out I have to use a hide. This will keep it as an adult until I get my future breeding colonies sorted out later down the road

Very informative Brian!

I lost 6 M. martensii scorplings to what appeared to be dehydration? I have begun to lightly mist the sides of the container for my remaining 3, and they seem to be doing ok. I also offer them crushed crickets, as the scorps are too small to let live ones in there. What Im basically asking is how do you go about making sure theyre hydrated, other than offering them prey? And do you feed yours pre-killed crickets or do you offer them live ones (for scorps under 1/2")?

The Hottentottas actually rest on the hot side of the cup next to the heating pad. I put about 3 drops of water each month in with them though especially around molts

I feed all live crickets. I see no need to feed dead ones, check this out

My martensii babies did the same thing for about 3 days, then they were stone dead. Dont know what happened. I tried the live cricket thing, and all they did was run away. I left the crickets in for 2 hours, and when I checked on them, the scorps were still running away and panicking. They wouldnt stop moving. The instant the cricket moved, the babies would run around and around and around the cup. I gave up and offered them crushed ones, which they promptly suckled. I tried again about a week later, and now they wont touch the dead ones. Im confused. I just dont want to lose them. I might offer them for sale right now actually. LOL I just dont want them to die.

Well I never raised Mesobuthus before but I know that Androctonus and Hottentotta seem to do well with my set up.
Keep us updated on your Mesos

Hey guys, this is the kind of thing we need here in the ATS, keep it up!

One comment: how do they react when you have to remove the lid? While keeping juv. scorpions (scorplings? blecch! ) I always found this stresses them out, although temporarily. As long as you're having success, that's terrific! I have been using yogurt cups lately, Wal-Mart cheapos that are the same as Blue Bunny.

Believe it or not, my A bicolor seems to have associated opening the lids with food. When I start to open the lids they raise their pedipalps and will actually come to the side that I open to accept food. I know that sounds like a far fetched story and I wouldnt have believed it myself if I wouldnt have seen it with my own 2 eyes lol

My jacksoni (s) have always done the same thing. They sit on their bark, and as soon as the lid is opened, they raise their 'palps to the sky when theyre hungry. When theyre not hungry, they just sit there and let the cricket run around until I remove it. But when theyre hungry, they raise their 'palps and the second that cricket is dropped in the cage, they immediatly start their hunt. Its really bizarre.