Leiurus jordanensis
Black Deathstalker Scorpion: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: The dark-bodied Leiurus from Jordan: same genus, and the same league, as the infamous Deathstalker (L. quinquestriatus). One of the most medically significant scorpions in the hobby: a small species (adults about 3-3.5 inches) with venom that punches far above its size. Expert containment only.
Group: ScorpionsDifficulty: Spice 5: Extreme (Medical Significance)Setup: Hot arid buthid setupHandling: 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 | 82-95°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Low ambient (30-45%), ventilated; dry substrate, controlled hydration only |
| Setup Type | Hot arid buthid setup |
| Substrate | Dry sand/soil mix with tight hide |
| Feeding | Small prey weekly |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 5: Extreme (Medical Significance) |
| 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)
- Burrow Buddy: secure burrow setup for larger juveniles and adults
Warnings First
- Highly medically significant venom
- Extremely fast
- Not suitable for casual keepers
- Tight ventilation still has to be real ventilation. Many tiny vents low on two opposite walls give a hot arid buthid airflow without opening an escape route.
Simple Care
- Security matters more than appearance.
- Keep hot, dry, and simple.
- Many tiny vents low on two opposite walls: tight openings, but enough of them that air actually crosses the substrate.
- Shallow water dish with pebbles in it so tiny instars cannot drown.
- Only open with tools and a catch system.
- Single housing is the Big Z default. Matched-group attempts are expert-only hot-scorpion projects with extra space, heavy feeding, and separation plans: not normal care.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Use a small, escape-proof enclosure with minimal clutter and tight ventilation. The animal should always be visible before opening.
- Dry substrate with one tight hide is safer than a complex display build. Hydration can be controlled sparingly.
- Tight ventilation is right, but the mistake is confusing tight with sparse. Use many small openings low on two opposite walls, at or just above the substrate line, rather than a few larger ones in the lid. That gives you air crossing the layer the scorpion occupies with no opening a 2i could pass, and it is the difference between a hot dry enclosure and a hot sealed one. Still, damp air under a hide grows cuticle fungus even on a desert species.
- On an arid species the ventilation and humidity trade is entirely in your favor. Airflow holds ambient at 30 to 45% by itself, so the water dish is the only input you manage and there is no reason to close vents down. If you are restricting airflow to hold heat, fix the heating instead.
- Check by hand rather than by hygrometer, on the same schedule as your tool-based maintenance. Substrate should read dry to the base, and anything you moisten should dry back within a day.
- Keep the dish shallow and pack it with pebbles or coarse grit so the waterline sits below the rim. Instars of this species are small enough to drown in a dish an adult uses without issue, and on a medically significant animal the stones also mean one less reason to open the enclosure.
- Do not mist generally. The microclimate this species uses is the space under its hide, which runs slightly cooler and marginally damper than the open surface on its own. A pipette of water onto the substrate under the hide, left to dry back, is the safe way to offer a damp option.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feeding: small crickets or roach nymphs at or under body length. Small prey, especially for instars. Young eat every 4-7 days, adults weekly to every other week; remove anything uneaten within a day. Drop prey with long tongs, over a catch container, into an enclosure where you can already see the scorpion. Never with your hands.
- Growth: about 5-6 molts to maturity. A premolt animal stops eating and stays put; clear every feeder out, and don't disturb the soft, pale new molt until it hardens and darkens.
- Maintenance: keep the enclosure small, bare, and escape-proof so the animal is always visible before you open it; spot-clean boluses with tongs; hydrate sparingly. Dry substrate, one tight hide, the odd tiny damp spot. This is strict no-contact husbandry: secondary containment, long tools, no open-room transfers: Leiurus venom is documented as lethal and antivenom is unavailable in most countries.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Jordan and the surrounding Middle East: desert and arid scrub habitats.
- Habitat translation: Hot, dry, sparse, sealed, and simple enough that the animal is always locatable.
Advanced Keeper Details
- This is strict no-contact husbandry: secondary containment, long tools, and no open-room transfers.
- Use a small secure enclosure over a large display; safety and visibility beat aesthetic complexity.
- Do not sell Leiurus as a true communal scorpion. Group housing is an advanced, risk-bearing experiment at most, and single housing is the default recommendation.
- Adult size ~3-3.5 in. A member of the genus Leiurus: the same genus as L. quinquestriatus, which by several measures has the most toxic scorpion venom of any species; all Leiurus are documented in medical literature for serious and (in vulnerable people) fatal envenomation, antivenom is unavailable in most countries, and in some jurisdictions keeping them requires a permit.