Scorpio maurus palmatus

The fascination of observing a desert scorpion is great. The relatively small, yellow animals captivate you immediately. 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 colour.

 

Scorpio maurus palmatus is nocturnal and can often be seen hunting prey or digging. They like to build a hiding place where they can stay during the day to avoid the strong desert heat. Therefore you should not overdo it with the temperature in the terrarium. During the day 30 °C and at night down to room temperature is quite sufficient. We keep a corner in the terrarium slightly humid. It is best to choose the corner of the terrarium that is closest to the hiding place.

 

A terrarium with the dimensions 20x20x30 cm is sufficient for single keeping. Scorpio maurus palmatus can also be kept in groups to a certain extent. The terrarium should not be smaller than 60x40x40 cm. However, especially in the beginning, you should keep a close eye on the animals and separate them if necessary. You can use a sand-loam mixture as substrate. We also offer our animals grey lava stone. 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 turkestan cockroaches and Argentine cockroaches as food.

 

If there is a successful mating of Scorpio maurus palmatus, you can expect up to 12 young. They will stay on their mother’s back until their second or third moult. After that, they should be separated and kept together in a group or individually.