I’ve been looking at scorpions recently and wanted to find one that wouldn’t, ya know, kill me or put me in severe pain if it stung me. Any suggestions?
My first scorpion was an asian forest scorpion male and female. I got them several months ago and they are doing great. I also have a vaejovis confusus that I got from bugsincyberspace.com. And that scorpion is thriving as well. As for your fear of stings, Most species can't kill you. And in the hobby there is an even smaller number of these deadly scorpions. Even if you wanted a deadly scorpion such as the deathstalker, you would have a difficult time finding a seller. I would suggest an asian forest scorpion as a first. Their sting is the equivalent of a bee sting, also they can be kept communally. My rule of thumb with these guys are 5 gallons per scorpion. I have two in a 10 gallon. Also my female is very tolerant of handling, while not recommended as handling stresses scorpions out, it is still a possibility. If the size of these guys scare you or you want a desert species with even less potent venom go for the vaejovis confusus. I have never been stung by the asian forest scorpions so I can't accurately explain the pain to you. I have been intentionally stung by my v. confusus. I was doing an experiment that could not be done accurately as the sting was not painful enough. Barely felt it. However mine is very skittish and can not be held. I did talk with a guy on youtube who had some of these and he said that his are fine with being handled so maybe mine is just a little bit different. The asian forest scorpion or heterometrus sp. can be around 5 inches in length from the tip of the tail to the tip of the claw. They like a warm and humid enclosure with lots of places to hides. The v. confusus get maybe 3 inches in length. I keep mine in a small kritter keeper with a cork bark hide and sand as substrate. They prefer a humid enclosure. There are other great beginner species that you could go with I am just giving recommendations based off of the species that I have kept successfully. If you can get your hands on an emperor scorpion, get it. They are the best beginner species. sadly, due to over collecting these guys are illegal to get from the wild anymore so all existing specimens that can be bought are in the hands of breeders so they have become rare in the hobby and expensive. Going to an expo would be the best way to get an emperor scorpion. I hoped this helped If you still have questions I will gladly help out.
I forgot to mention asian forest scorpions will almost never sting. The have huge powerful claws that they kill their prey with, they rarely need to use their venom so getting stung is not something to worry about, especially with proper handling. They can go a long time without food. They are probably the hardiest animal I have kept. I hope you decide to get one of these little guys and you come to enjoy the arachnid hobby as I do.
That picture is from google it is not my own setup. The picture is a simplistic enclosure for AFS, Mine is different because I have a lot of fake plants and the water bowl I use is bigger around. Always go for a shallow water dish so your scorpion does not drown. One cool thing you could do is, invest in a handheld blacklight. Never use a blacklight fixture, it is believed by most that a permanent black light fixture can cause harm. However shining one on them to show your friends isn't bad for them.
