Scorpio maurus palmatus

Brief description:

The fascination of observing a desert scorpion is great. The relatively small, yellow animals immediately captivate you. However, it is often the case that they are also extremely poisonous. This is not the case with Scorpio maurus palmatus. The sting is comparable to a bee sting and therefore relatively harmless.

Scorpio maurus is a more widespread scorpion species that can be found from North Africa to India. The subspecies Scorpio maurus palmatus is found in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Israel and Jordan. In Israel it is also called the “golden scorpion” because of its color.

Scorpio maurus palmatus is nocturnal and can often be seen hunting prey or digging. They like to build a hiding place where they can remain during the day to avoid the intense desert heat. You should therefore not overdo it with the temperature in the terrarium. 30 °C during the day and down to room temperature at night is perfectly adequate. We keep a corner of the terrarium slightly damp. It is best to choose the corner in the terrarium that is closest to the hiding place.

A terrarium measuring 20x20x30 cm is sufficient for keeping them individually. Scorpio maurus palmatus can also be kept in groups to a limited extent. The terrarium should not be smaller than 60x40x40 cm. However, you should keep a close eye on the animals, especially at the beginning, and separate them again if necessary. A sand/clay mixture can be used as a substrate. We also offer our animals gray lava rock. We take two stones and build a kind of stone hiding place, which is very well accepted. A drinking bowl with water or aqua gel must always be offered. We use chocolate cockroaches and Argentinean forest cockroaches as food.

If Scorpio maurus palmatus is successfully mated, up to 12 young can be expected. These remain on their mother’s back until their second to third moult. They should then be separated and kept together in a group or individually.