Liocheles australasiae
Dwarf Wood Scorpion: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: Build snug bark retreats over a damp base, not an open dry display. Use a secure enclosure, feed small manageable prey and leave occupied hides intact. Big Z's recommends housing each scorpion separately.
Group: ScorpionsDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Humid, ventilated bark-crevice enclosure with partly buried corkHandling: No bare-hand handling. Use a catch cup and tools, and check beneath cover before moving it.
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 | About 77°F (25°C) is a documented Liocheles keeper example, not a tested optimum. Measure near the occupied bark and keep conditions steady; avoid direct sun and unregulated heat. |
|---|---|
| Humidity | No fixed humidity % target. Maintain a damp refuge beneath bark without saturating the floor. Partly buried cork should connect moister soil to drier upper cover; keep ventilation open and check the refuge rather than relying on condensation. |
| Setup Type | Humid, ventilated bark-crevice enclosure with partly buried cork |
| Substrate | Use firm moisture-holding soil or coir beneath partly buried cork. Provide room to shelter at different moisture levels; this species' keeper guidance emphasizes narrow bark crevices rather than a universal deep-burrow measurement. |
| Feeding | Offer small crickets or roaches that the scorpion can manage. Tiny young can take crushed prey or small freshly killed portions. Remove refused live prey promptly and remaining food by the next day; do not feed during a molt. |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | No bare-hand handling. Use a catch cup and tools, and check beneath cover before moving it. |
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
- Tiny scorplings: a secure small enclosure only if every vent retains them and food can be monitored.
- Larger animals: scale bark crevices, floor space and prey to the measured scorpion; a listed length does not prove maturity.
Warnings First
- Small size does not make bare-hand contact risk-free; keep fingers away from the scorpion.
- Support bark so it cannot shift or crush the animal.
- Do not pry open a sealed hide to locate the scorpion.
- Keep live feeders away from molting animals.
Simple Care
- House individually as a conservative precaution.
- Check lid and vent gaps carefully for the animal's actual size.
- Provide partly buried, securely supported cork with close hiding gaps.
- Keep the refuge damp, not flooded, with air exchange above it.
- Use small prey and remove uneaten portions.
- Leave sealed retreats and molting animals undisturbed.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Choose a container with usable bark cover, movement space and easy maintenance access. Avoid a sealed jar.
- Partly buried curved bark lets the animal choose its position within the moisture gradient, following Dave Jay's keeper method.
- Water an unoccupied edge gradually. Do not flood the hide or strip the enclosure simply because the scorpion is hidden.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Small, slower prey or freshly killed portions are practical options for small scorplings; verify that food is actually eaten.
- Adjust portions to body condition and feeding response rather than forcing a rigid calendar.
- After a molt, wait for the body to harden and normal activity to resume before feeding; this is a general scorpion-care precaution.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: A widespread Indo-Pacific species, recorded from India across Southeast Asia into the western Pacific. The collection locality of these animals is unconfirmed.
- Habitat translation: Records of this species in decayed wood and beneath bark support a sheltered crevice build. A partly buried bark system supplies moisture choices without treating it as a desert scorpion.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Females from the studied Iriomote population reproduced without mating. Keep an eye out for unexpected young, but do not assume every animal's sex from that finding.
- Big Z's recommends professional advice for injury or persistent loss of condition; do not repeatedly expose the animal to inspect it.