Teruelius grandidieri
Madagascan Black Scorpion: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A glossy Madagascan buthid (Teruelius grandidieri, recently moved out of the genus Grosphus): warm, mostly dry care, light cork bark and shallow scrapes rather than deep burrows, and strict containment.
Group: ScorpionsDifficulty: Spice 3-4: Intermediate / AdvancedSetup: Dry forest/scrubland buthid: bark-scraper, not a deep burrowerHandling: NEVER
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 | 75-90°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Low-Moderate ambient (~40-50%) with steady airflow; dry surface, one damp corner |
| Setup Type | Dry forest/scrubland buthid: bark-scraper, not a deep burrower |
| Substrate | ~50/50 coco or topsoil + sand, kept dry; light cork bark and secure flat stones to scrape behind and hide under |
| Feeding | Small roaches/crickets weekly |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3-4: Intermediate / Advanced |
| Handling | NEVER |
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
- Baby Buddy: secure starter enclosure for 2i-3i instars (escape-proof ventilation only)
- Bark Buddy: bark/scrape setup with light cork bark for larger juveniles and adults
- Burrow Buddy: terrestrial setup with a slanted scrape-burrow start for larger juveniles and adults
Warnings First
- Buthid scorpion
- Fast defensive movements
- Keep escape-proof
- A shallow scrape under bark has almost no passive air exchange. Vents low on two opposite walls keep that retreat from going stale between the dry surface and the damp corner.
Simple Care
- Warm, secure, lightly dry.
- Steady cross ventilation from vents low on two opposite walls; the scrape under the bark needs moving air.
- Light cork bark and flat stones over a slanted scrape: not a deep burrow.
- One damp corner from an overflowing water dish; keep the rest dry. Put pebbles in the dish so small instars cannot drown.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- This genus is best maintained with dry upper substrate and a slightly humid retreat rather than constant wetness.
- Use tight hides to reduce stress. Small buthids often do better in compact setups than oversized display tanks.
- They barely burrow. Expect a shallow scrape, not a tunnel. Offer light cork bark to wedge behind plus secure flat stones, and if you sink a cork tube as a burrow start, set it on a slant so the scrape stays stable. A little vertical/climbing structure is welcome. Build the humid retreat by letting the water dish overflow into one corner weekly.
- A shallow scrape under a bark slab is the specific reason ventilation matters here. Unlike a deep burrow, it has almost no air volume of its own, so it takes whatever the surrounding enclosure gives it. Vents low on two opposite walls, at or just above the substrate line, keep air crossing the substrate so the scrape stays fresh. Lid-only venting leaves that thin layer under the bark still and damp, which is where cuticle fungus starts on a bark-scraping species.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity work against each other and that suits this setup. Airflow holds ambient around 40 to 50% on its own, so the weekly dish overflow into one corner is all the moisture you need to add. If the enclosure is reading higher than that, add airflow instead of skipping the overflow.
- Judge by hand rather than by gauge. The open substrate and the bark faces should read dry, while the damp corner stays lightly moist and dries back over several days. A corner that never dries means the box is not moving enough air.
- Keep the water dish shallow and drop pebbles or coarse grit in so the waterline sits below the rim. Small instars drown in open dishes, and since this setup deliberately uses an overflowing dish, the stones matter more here than on a species where the dish sits untouched.
- When you recharge the damp corner, pour or mist into that corner and under the bark specifically, not across the enclosure. One reliable humid microclimate beside a genuinely dry surface is what this species is built for, and a general spray collapses the difference between them.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feeding: crickets or small roaches around body length, smaller for instars. Young eat every 4-7 days, adults every 1-2 weeks; remove uneaten feeders, especially before a molt.
- Growth: matures over several molts. Captive data for this species (recently moved to Teruelius from the Grosphus complex) is still thin, so keep notes on molt and feeding dates and adjust conditions conservatively. Don't disturb or feed a soft, recently-molted animal.
- Maintenance: spot-clean boluses and feeder remains; keep the upper substrate dry with a slightly humid retreat rather than a wet enclosure. Avoid cohabitation unless you have surplus space and a separation plan (cannibalism risk is real), and keep transfers tool-based, since this is a fast, defensive buthid.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Madagascar; exact locality depends on the species or import line.
- Habitat translation: Warm and dry with a single damp corner; light cork bark and stone scrapes: not a soaked tropical tank, and not a deep burrow.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Now placed in Teruelius (Lowe & Kovařík, 2019; formerly part of the Grosphus complex); captive husbandry data is still relatively sparse, so keep notes conservative and track molt and feeding data.
- Avoid cohabitation unless you have surplus space and a separation plan; cannibalism risk is real.