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Your Pet Scorpions - Feeding and Breeding
Feeding Scorpions in Captivity
Feeding scorpions is pretty easy. A scorpion will eat just
about any insect that is no bigger than a cricket, but try
not to feed your scorpion anything that might fight back and
injure your pet. Roaches, mealworms, crickets,
grasshoppers, small worms and the like will be fine.
Make certain that the prey is alive; scorpions won't eat if
they can't kill their own prey. You can buy crickets and
mealworms at most pet stores, or fairly easily grow your
own. Feed the food insects well on a variety of vegetables
and fruits for several days before feeding them to your
scorpion and you will greatly improve the health and
longevity of your scorpion.
Breeding Pet Scorpions
When a pair of scorpions is ready to breed, they must
"dance." If you want to try to breed your scorpion pair, put
a fairly large piece of slate or other flat rock into their
tank. The "stage" must be large enough that they can face
each other with their claws locked together and walk forward
and backward without falling off the rock.
They may dance for just a few minutes before mating or the
mating ritual may go on for days, but finally the male will
deposit his spermatophore (package of sperm) on the surface
of the "stage," and the female will stand over the sperm
package and collect it with her cloaca. Once this happens
the dance is over and the female should be pregnant.
Once your scorpions have finished mating put the female into
her own tank. She will spend from a few months to a year and
a half, depending on species, in gestation, during which
time the young scorpions develop and are fed inside the
female's body. The twenty-five to thirty-five baby scorpions
are then born live, and climb up the mother's legs to her
back. They will stay on her back for safety until their
first molt, usually within a week or two after they are
born.
Once they climb down they are on their own, and will reach
maturity in two to six years. Once the babies have climbed
down from the mother, it is recommended that you separate
mother and babies in case she decides that they look like a
good midnight snack. Young scorpions will eat the same foods
as their parents, but try to give them the smallest insects
possible.
More on Scorpions and Invertebrates
Stuffed Plush Scorpions to Cheer up your Day
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