Damon variegatus
Sold under its hobby name. This guide covers the group or trade name this fella is sold as, so the ranges fit the whole group. Start in the middle and watch how your animal settles in.
African Whip Scorpion: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A flat, long-legged tailless whip scorpion that hunts at night on bark and rock. Give it a tall cork-faced enclosure with open space below to molt, keep the substrate damp, and watch instead of handle.
Group: Spiders & Other InvertsDifficulty: Spice 2: BeginnerSetup: Tall arboreal, vertical cork barkHandling: Not recommended, catch cup transfers
Use This Guide Safely
- Confirm the exact animal. Match this guide to the species, locality, size, and life stage on your label. If the ID is uncertain, use the more conservative part of the range and ask before changing the setup.
- Change one thing at a time. Treat temperature and humidity as target zones, then watch posture, burrowing, drinking, feeding, and molt behavior before making another adjustment.
- Respect the handling boundary. If the guide says no handling, fast, defensive, or medically significant, plan transfers with catch cups, locked lids, and no bare hands. For serious bites, stings, or symptoms, seek emergency medical care.
Quick Snapshot
| Temperature | 77-81°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 65-75%, damp substrate, good airflow |
| Setup Type | Tall arboreal, vertical cork bark |
| Substrate | Damp coco/soil + leaf litter, never soggy |
| Feeding | Adults 1 right-sized prey item weekly |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 2: Beginner |
| Handling | Not recommended, catch cup transfers |
Humidity zones: Very Low under 30% - Low 30-60% - Low-Moderate 40-70% - Moderate 60-80% - Moderate-High 70-85% - High 80%+ - Very High 90%+
Enclosure Format / Size Class
- Up to 5 in leg span: tall solo enclosure, vertical cork, open hanging space, damp substrate, water dish
- Subadults: size up to the leg span and add more vertical cork surfaces
- Adults: tall solo setup sized to leg span, several cork faces, water dish, strong airflow
Warnings First
- One per enclosure. Whip scorpions housed together can injure or eat each other.
- Keep the space under the cork clear. They hang upside down to molt.
- Pull live prey before and during a molt.
- No venom, but the pedipalps pinch and the long legs injure easily. Move it with a catch cup, not hands.
- Very flat body: it walks out through vent slots that look far too narrow. Check every gap.
- Do not spray a freshly molted animal directly.
Simple Care
- House one animal per enclosure.
- Use a tall enclosure with vertical cork bark and open hanging space below.
- Keep the substrate damp, never soggy, with good ventilation.
- Hold 77-81°F. A warm room usually does it.
- Keep a shallow water dish full.
- Feed to appetite and body condition, and remove uneaten prey.
- Watch, don't handle. Move it with a catch cup.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- In the wild it hides by day in rock cracks and behind loose bark, then hunts on open surfaces at night. Tall cork faces copy that.
- Start at 77-81°F and 65-75% humidity, then adjust to how the animal behaves.
- Use damp soil or coco fiber, with leaf litter if you like. Keep it moist below and keep air moving so it never goes stale.
- Size the enclosure by leg span, not body length. The legs span many times the body.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Adults: about one right-sized prey item a week. Juveniles can eat more often.
- Adjust to appetite and body condition, and remove uneaten prey, especially near a molt.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Southern and east-central Africa, from South Africa and Eswatini north to the DR Congo and Tanzania, in dry to moist savanna.
- Habitat translation: Savanna rock cracks and peeling bark become tall cork faces, a damp substrate with good airflow, a water dish, and open space below for molting.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Tailless whip scorpions have no venom glands and make no silk. The first pair of legs works as long feelers.
- Females carry eggs in a pouch under the body, and the young ride on her back after hatching.
- Often mixed up with Damon diadema in the trade. One large spine on the pedipalp base points to D. variegatus, two points to D. diadema.