I am the Scorpion King

[Sayonara³]

Ah ha ha ha haaaaa.

I now have three very entertaining Pandinus imperator (http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/p_imperator.htm).

They're pretty neat. Anyone else keep scorps?

[Lance]

So do you pick them up and pet them like you would a dog? Perhaps teach it a trick?

What do they do?

[atinymonkey]

Scorpling king, to be accurate. :D

[Sayonara³]

Right now they are hiding from my mighty kingliness.

Earlier on they were ambushing crickets. One has the hang of it, the others charge over too long a distance, run through the space where the cricket was, and go "bonk" into something.

Most amusing.

[5614]

the others charge over too long a distance, run through the space where the cricket was, and go "bonk" into something.

ROFLOL

sounds like fun, what else do they do? are they at all (possibly) harmfull? if not, take one on a trip down the london underground to see what they think, or more to the point what others think!

[Gilded]

"if not, take one on a trip down the london underground to see what they think, or more to the point what others think!"

I always thought it would be cool if you had an insect or a spider large enough so that you could take it for a walk and scare people with it. :) I guess a 30cm scorpion should do it.

[Sayonara³]

So do you pick them up and pet them like you would a dog? Perhaps teach it a trick?
God no. Strictly ornamental ;)

What do they do?
Now they have got over being mailed across the country in a box, they are starting to show a bit of personality.

One (I *think* it's the one that actually caught prey items) is sitting just under the edge of the hide, in the warm zone, with his claws sticking out as if to say "please sir, can I have some more?"

Another just went for an explore. It was quite funny.


Method:
Scorpion B is going to investigate the tank a bit.


Result:

Climb climb.

Ooh, a plastic wall. How to get around this obstacle?

I know. Scrabble scrabble.

Great, now I'm stuck between the wall and the hide. How am I going to get out of this?

I know. Scrabble scrabble.

Oh yeah.

Help!

At this point I had to intervene and free the idiot creature.

Hurrah! Now to explore by running around the hide and back under it, where I will resume doing nothing.

[Tesseract]

I guess a 30cm scorpion should do it.

Its only grows 20cm long.

[ydoaPs]

sounds like fun. can you buy them at a pet store? how do you take care of them? i guess they eat crickets, but do i need something like a heat lamp(One (I *think* it's the one that actually caught prey items) is sitting just under the edge of the hide, in the warm zone, with his claws sticking out as if to say "please sir, can I have some more?")?

how much room would they need?

[RICHARDBATTY]

get the a hamster wheel. a solid plastic one though.

[RICHARDBATTY]

make a dog track style race cource but with a cricket instead of the rabbit. :-)

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

How much does it take to entertain a creature with a brain the size of your fingernail?

[Gilded]

"Its only grows 20cm long."

Well then, we have to do ourselves some scorpion stretching.

It's good though that Sayonara can now play God somewhere else than SFN. j/k :) Perhaps you should attach titanium extra claws to them and have scorpion pit fights?

Edit: "How much does it take to entertain a creature with a brain the size of your fingernail?"
Well, having a war with Iraq usually entertains one creature of that sort quite a bit, it seems.

[Sayonara³]

How much does it take to entertain a creature with a brain the size of your fingernail?
To be honest I think that's doing them credit.

They do have an unusual eye arrangement though - median eyes in the middle of the carapace, like a spider, with lateral eye groups to the front left and right. Kind of like an eye triangle.

Apparently they also have strange slit-like sensors in their legs, which are pressure sensitive, along with a host of other sensory apparatus. They must have a complex nervous system to cross-process everything they pick up, but then they are one of the oldest arachnids.

I can see one now - I think it's The Idiot. Looks like a male.


Its only grows 20cm long.
You say "only", but it is one of the largest species.

Lengths of 30cm are uncommon but not unknown :eek:


sounds like fun. can you buy them at a pet store? how do you take care of them? i guess they eat crickets, but do i need something like a heat lamp
I bought mine from the web site of a pet shop in Southampton, UK. It was £15 for three juveniles (special offer), or £13 for an adult. So I went for the "make sure they haven't been conditioned to be psychotic by watching them develop yourself" approach.

My set up is:

18" L x 10" W x 6" H plastic terrarium with tight-fitting lid and dividing wall (they like a small space when they're young, so they can have the extra space when they grow up - also good to have a compartment full of damp sphagnum for the humidity).

An 8" x 5" heating pad, which sticks to the bottom of the terrarium. This is covering half of the terrarium so that there is a cool area and a warm area (cold blooded, so they need to be able to regulate their own temp.)

Pine chip substrate - shallow on the heated side and getting deeper on the cool side, so they can burrow.

A large cork bark hide, half in each temp. zone.

Water pool thingy, and copious quantities of damp sphagnum moss.

The humidity is meant to be kept at about 80% by giving them a quick spray every now and then but I have no idea how to monitor the levels. Any ideas?


Right now they are feeding on crickets, but they will basically devour any non-pungent creature that crosses their path, up to a third or even a half of their own size. Some even eat mice or lizards.


Behold another of my crappy paint diagrams!

[Sayonara³]

Oh for the love of...

The Idiot is stuck again. Scrabble scrabble scrabble.

I'm going to have to move the hide, which will no doubt freak out the two underneath it.

[Lance]

I'm going to have to move the hide, which will no doubt freak out the two underneath it.

Long stick or are you just going to stick your hand in there? You should try picking them up.

[Sayonara³]

Stuck my hand in.

They aren't big enough to leap for my throat yet :eek:

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I bet the stings would still hurt, though.

That's the kind of pet you want to get on the good side of. :-p

[Tesseract]

This is you:
http://www.caver.net/other/scorpion.jpg

[YT2095]

the stings Do hurt!

but rarely harmfull, well unless of course you have an alergy (what a way to find out!).

btw, Sayo, Nice tank layout, looks quite cozy :)

[RICHARDBATTY]

http://www.airandwatercentre.com/store/productdetails.asp?cId=26&pId=157 £80 :eek: HUMIDITY SENSOR. Stand alone unit runs on one AA battery. You can buy sensors as a component but you'll need to build a circuit to run/read it. :-(

[YT2095]

or dip some filter paper in Cobalt Chloride soln and let it dry.

it`s Blue when dry and Pink when humid :)

[RICHARDBATTY]

or dip some filter paper in Cobalt Chloride soln and let it dry.

it`s Blue when dry and Pink when humid :)
and it doesn't cost 80 quid :-)

[Gilded]

"Lengths of 30cm are uncommon but not unknown"

I wonder if pet stores sell scorpion steroids...

[Tesseract]

The link wasnt working that I posted.

[Gilded]

Heh, funny pic. :) Reminds me of the radscorpions in Fallout (2)... Perhaps Sayonara should try to irradiate the Idiot, thereby making it super-intelligent and about 3 foot tall. :rolleyes:

[YT2095]

Tesseract; you don`t SERIOUSLY beleive that pic do you???

if nothing else look at the guys arm and apply a little basic physics to what he`s holding it with!

the down force would make his forearm and shoulder bulge more than Arnie on hellium! :)

edit: oh yeah and look at the "Black lining" where the scorp intersects with the car and background, and yet the car and surroundings are clearly top lit :)

[Tesseract]

Tesseract; you don`t SERIOUSLY beleive that pic do you???

if nothing else look at the guys arm and apply a little basic physics to what he`s holding it with!

the down force would make his forearm and shoulder bulge more than Arnie on hellium! :)

edit: oh yeah and look at the "Black lining" where the scorp intersects with the car :)
Who said I believe it I just thought it was funny.

[ydoaPs]

are those the kind that glow in black light?

[YT2095]

who cares!, the guys pants look funny too!

[ydoaPs]

sorry, i wasn't talking about the pic.

but, now i am. it looks so fake that it makes me want to hit the person that made it. it looks like they spect 1.07 seconds on it. and, yes, the pants look odd.

[Skye]

who cares!, the guys pants look funny too!
They're called 'jeans', and they are quite popular as casual attire.

[ydoaPs]

they are called "jeans that are way to damn tight for a guy to be wearing."

[Tesseract]

they are called "jeans that are way to damn tight for a guy to be wearing."

I say the photo of the guy was made in the 80's.

[Tesseract]

sorry, i wasn't talking about the pic.

but, now i am. it looks so fake that it makes me want to hit the person that made it. it looks like they spect 1.07 seconds on it. and, yes, the pants look odd.

They didnt even bother to put a shadow in.

[RICHARDBATTY]

I like the difference in tone and the pixel count. The lights wrong and you can see the dots from the cookie cutter. The effort is more amusin than the subject. :-)

[Sayonara³]

are those the kind that glow in black light?
Afaik they all do.

They look like creepy ghost zombie scorpions under UV :eek:

[ydoaPs]

do you have a black light in your terrarium?

[RICHARDBATTY]

Afaik they all do.

They look like creepy ghost zombie scorpions under UV :eek:
Can you get pics and post them? :-)

[Sayonara³]

do you have a black light in your terrarium?
No, but I have a hand held one.

Can you get pics and post them?
I am going to borrow my housemate's camera at some point, since it's 156x1034 times better than mine.

[Gilded]

It seems that all cool things glow under UV. Uranium marbles, scorpions...

[RICHARDBATTY]

No, but I have a hand held one.


I am going to borrow my housemate's camera at some point, since it's 156x1034 times better than mine. Digital? Only they are good for that sort of thing. But then you probably know better than me. :-)

[Gilded]

You can also use a digital camera for lots of things. Preferably for taking lousy pictures of element samples.
http://www.freewebs.com/gildedchem/crystal.JPG
Mmm-mm! Bismutholicious!

[Lance]

I was going to take a picture of my bismuth crystal but then I remembered it’s broken into about 10 pieces right now. It was more perty than yours.

[RICHARDBATTY]

You can also use a digital camera for lots of things. Preferably for taking lousy pictures of element samples.
http://www.freewebs.com/gildedchem/crystal.JPG
Mmm-mm! Bismutholicious!
I was meaning more for dark shots.
I took some in an aquarium with bad light and no flash.
When I got them on my machine it was just a
black square but enhanced realy well.
You can't get motion shots though as they blurr badly
and no baby shark pics :-(
Did you use macro when you took your crystal pic

[Gilded]

"Did you use macro when you took your crystal pic"

I don't know. :D

[RICHARDBATTY]

"Did you use macro when you took your crystal pic"

I don't know. :D
They sometimes use symbols like a flower for close up or "macro" and mountains for normal or landscape stuff. :-)

[Gilded]

"They sometimes use symbols like a flower for close up or "macro" and mountains for normal or landscape stuff."

Ahh, I see. I guess I used it then. However, the picture probably didn't turn out as well as it could have, but pretty good anyway.

Edit: I'm actually quite sure I used it, since the camera refuses to take close-pictures without the close-up option. :p

[PersonCube]

Interesting... can you kill them? I am not /wanting/ you to, I just would like to... well... test something. *evil grin*

An electrical charge, maybe? Merely 30,000 volts!!! *maniacal laughter* No seriously, I experimented on pillbugs using 400 volts... they "popped like popcorn" as my stepmother said. ^^

[ydoaPs]

it sounds more like torture to me. similer to the little kid burning ants with a magnifying glass.

what was the purpose of the experiment. what was your hypothesis, "how much electricity does it take to pop a pillbug?"

[PersonCube]

First, I must state this: pillbugs do not have an advanced enough nervous system nor do they have pain impulses.
Second, yes, it was a very good experiment and the hypothesis was as follows:
"If a Armadillidium vulgare, a.k.a pillbug, is introduced into a containment area in which continuosly has an electrical charge of 400 volts, what will Armadillium vulgare's immediate reaction be?"
And the reason for this experiment is I was testing if the outer shell of pillbugs can contain electricity. For my chemistry teacher said that pillbugs can crawl underground electrical fences (like the ones for cows and large dogs) and not get zapped. Thus, I was testing (since 400 volts is the range that the electrical fence would be) to see if that was true. I refuted him and he was quite impressed! ^^

I am not a maniac, I do not torture pillbugs, *repeats* I swear....
~Cubes

[Lance]

it sounds more like torture to me. similer to the little kid burning ants with a magnifying glass.


I fail to see how either one would be considered torture.

[Martin]

"if not, take one on a trip down the london underground to see what they think, or more to the point what others think!"

I always thought it would be cool if you had an insect or a spider large enough so that you could take it for a walk and scare people with it. :) I guess a 30cm scorpion should do it.


a 19th century french poet did this


Gerard de Nerval had a lobster as a pet

he had a leash for it so he could take it for walks outdoors

I believe he died insane

(the poet, not the lobster)

[Sayonara³]

I bought these things partly so that I can observe their behaviour, and study the amazing adaptations that their progenitors have evolved over millions of years, and partly because it's in the nature of the human individual to look after - and take responsibility for - other life.

So no, PersonCube, of course I am not going to fry them.

[PersonCube]

Aww... well, maybe if they get a disease and are suffering? *crowd shuns him and pulls out torches and pitchforks* Oh, fine... It was just a thought... :'-(

PS: I am an active biologist and love all life... even the most minute. I do believe it is okay to conduct experiments upon smaller things without any sense of pain, such as pillbugs or roaches or something. ^^

~Cubes

[Sayonara³]

I am unfortunately required to report the passing on of the scorpion formerly known as "Slim Shady".

The coroner's report lists "persistant fasting, due to being a skinny and nervous nancy" as the cause of death.

Which is odd, because the buggers are meant to aestivate in times of food stress.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

He just fasted and died?

Must not be very intelligent buggers.

Sorry to hear it.

[Sayonara³]

It was probably ill when I got it. That makes them stressed out, which compounds the problem in several ways.

[coquina]

on wearing them?
http://www.ukpsychics.com/scorpionqueen.jpg

[Sayonara³]

:eek:

That woman's a nutbag.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Next thing you know, it'll be in style.

Scorpion bracelets! If someone's annoying you, just chuck the scorpion at them!