Hottentotta gentili
Central Morocco Scorpion: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A large North African buthid with a proportionately serious exposure boundary. El Hidan et al. measured 0.46 mg/kg by subcutaneous injection in mice; Ward et al. (2018) assigned sting class III and cited at least ten fatalities, while a 1994-98 regional paper attributed a disproportionate share of deaths to the then-named taxon without individual molecular confirmation. No hand contact: stage a catch cup, use long tools, and treat any suspected sting as an emergency requiring professional care. Husbandry numbers come chiefly from one keeper, so build around dry exposed substrate, a sheltered damp refuge, secure rocky cover, water access, ventilation, and a warm gradient rather than treating exact figures as species optima. - Big Z
Group: ScorpionsDifficulty: Spice 5: ExtremeSetup: Warm dry Moroccan lithophilic setup: sand-heavy substrate, flat rock and cork crevices, no burrowing depthHandling: Never. Not once, not briefly, not for a photo. Catch cup, long tongs, secondary containment.
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 | No species captive optimum is established. One experienced keeper reported about 95 F (34 C) by day and 68 F (20 C) at night. A warm daytime gradient and ordinary night cooling are keeper-plus-regional context, not a proven 86-95/68-72 F species range. Avoid uncontrolled or under-floor heating. |
|---|---|
| Humidity | No numeric RH % target is established. Keep most substrate and the exposed surface dry while maintaining a reliable sheltered damp zone and water access appropriate to size; preserve ventilation and never saturate the enclosure. The exact weekly-quarter mist routine and one wet-molt loss are one keeper's observations. Primary regional work also records dry-area Maghreb Hottentotta in more humid microhabitats. |
| Setup Type | Warm dry Moroccan lithophilic setup: sand-heavy substrate, flat rock and cork crevices, no burrowing depth |
| Substrate | Use a stable, dry-biased, form-holding sand/soil blend with flat rock or cork crevices. One keeper used about three parts sand to one part coco; that ratio is a keeper recipe, not a species requirement. Rocky shelter and limited self-burrowing have species field support. Keep a sheltered portion able to hold a small moisture reserve without making the enclosure wet. |
| Feeding | One keeper reported twice-weekly feeding at second instar and weekly from third instar onward. Use that only as a keeper starting observation: offer appropriately sized prey, record individual intake and body condition, remove leftovers promptly, and remove live prey during molt. The 19-25 mm supplier size does not establish this batch's instar. |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 5: Extreme |
| Handling | Never. Not once, not briefly, not for a photo. Catch cup, long tongs, secondary containment. |
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
- Small juvenile (19-25 mm supplier size): exact instar unknown; individual escape-proof enclosure, stable rock/cork retreat, dry exposed surface, sheltered moisture reserve, and water delivered without a drowning hazard
- Juvenile: secure individual enclosure with a warm gradient, rocky retreat, localized damp refuge, effective ventilation, and a safely sized open water dish
- Adult (70-110 mm total length in the 2007 revision): secure individual enclosure, flat rock/cork cover, dry-biased form-holding substrate, damp refuge, open water, and secondary containment for maintenance
Warnings First
- El Hidan et al. reported an LD50 of 0.46 mg/kg by subcutaneous injection in mice. Animal LD50 does not predict an individual human outcome.
- Ward et al. (2018) assigned H. gentili sting class III and cited at least ten fatalities. This is global-review aggregation; the underlying individual fatal cases were not retrieved.
- A 1994-98 southwest-Morocco paper attributed 14.25% of envenomings and 25.71% of deaths to the then-named Buthotus franzwerneri gentili. It was a regional attribution, not an individually specimen- or molecularly-confirmed case series.
- Treat a suspected sting as an emergency and seek professional medical care immediately; Big Z's provides no treatment advice.
- Keeper reports describe high defensive readiness, but that is keeper observation rather than a population-level behavior study.
- The numeric care profile comes chiefly from one keeper. Monitor the actual animal and do not treat the reported temperatures, mist cadence, substrate ratio, or feeding stages as validated species requirements.
Simple Care
- House one animal per enclosure.
- Provide stable flat rock or cork crevices over a dry-biased, form-holding substrate.
- Keep the exposed surface dry but maintain one sheltered damp refuge; never saturate the setup.
- Use a warm gradient and ordinary night cooling; exact keeper temperatures are observations, not species optima.
- Provide water in a format safe for the animal's size.
- Record intake and body condition; the published stage schedule is one keeper's practice.
- Latch the enclosure, use escape-proof cross-ventilation, and stage a catch cup before opening.
- No hand contact. Use long tools and secondary containment for maintenance.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Species field work under the older name reports rocky areas, limited self-burrowing, and occurrence in human dwellings. Stable flat rock and cork crevices are therefore stronger evidence than an exact substrate recipe.
- One keeper used approximately three parts sand to one part coco, about 95 F by day and 68 F at night, and localized weekly misting. Those are observations from one setup, not replicated species husbandry.
- Primary regional work reports dry-area Maghreb Hottentotta associated with more humid microhabitats. The guide therefore avoids both saturation and a bone-dry enclosure by maintaining a sheltered damp refuge and open water.
- No species ventilation or climbing study was found. Effective escape-proof cross-ventilation and a latched lid are Big Z containment standards.
- House individually as a conservative exposure and cannibalism-control policy.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- One keeper reported twice-weekly feeding at second instar and weekly from third instar onward. The schedule is retained only as a keeper observation, not an established species cadence.
- Supplier length of 19-25 mm does not establish second or third instar. Record this stock as small juveniles, exact instar unknown.
- Growth reports conflict, so no maturity timeline is asserted. Adjust prey size and frequency from intake, body condition, and molt behavior.
- Maintain with long tools over secondary containment. A suspected sting requires emergency professional care; this guide provides no treatment instruction.
- Keeper consensus reports sexual reproduction rather than parthenogenesis, but no reproductive primary study was retrieved.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Morocco is confirmed from examined material across the Anti-Atlas and High Atlas and the Souss-Draa regions, at 86-1706 m. Algeria is literature-reported by Kovarik (2007) and the current Scorpion Files, but no Algerian records occur in the GBIF dataset queried on 2026-08-14; the Algerian presence and its locality basis remain unresolved, not rejected. Named Moroccan localities include Tiznit, Tata, Zagora, Ouarzazate, Erfoud, Akka, Ighrem, Tizi-n-Test and Tafraout. 'Central Morocco' is a supplier/trade label, not a verified collection locality for these animals.
- Habitat translation: Published field work places the taxon in rocky Moroccan settings and reports limited self-burrowing; broader Maghreb work notes that dry-area Hottentotta can occupy more humid microhabitats. Translate that cautiously into stable rock/cork crevices, a dry exposed surface, a sheltered damp refuge, effective ventilation, open water when safely sized, and a warm gradient with ordinary night cooling. Exact temperatures, substrate ratio, and weekly moisture cadence are one keeper's practice, not a measured captive optimum.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Originally Buthus gentili Pallary, 1924, the taxon was long treated as Buthotus franzwerneri gentili before Kovarik's 2007 revision restored full-species status. Current sources also synonymize Buthus/Androctonus barbouri with H. gentili.
- Mirshamsi et al. (2026) includes H. gentili as a distinct sampled species and groups it with H. franzwerneri and H. hottentotta in a weakly supported African clade (posterior probability 0.51); the analysis does not justify an unqualified sister-species statement.
- The 2007 revision gives 70-110 mm total adult length. Supplier size does not establish the current batch's instar.
- No institutional husbandry source or replicated species care study was found. Exact temperature, moisture cadence, mix, and stage feeding values are keeper observations.
- Medical evidence supports Spice 5/no handling after proper attribution: mouse/subcutaneous toxicity evidence, global-review class/fatality aggregation, and a regional historical attribution. It does not support customer treatment advice.
- The target is not listed in CITES Appendices valid 5 March 2026; other domestic, collection, trade, import/export, and provenance questions remain unverified.