Pandinurus exitialis
Gold Claw Scorpion: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: A large northeast-African savanna and hill scorpion: secure deep burrow space, a drier surface over a lightly humid lower layer, plus a tight rock or cork retreat.
Group: ScorpionsDifficulty: Spice 3: IntermediateSetup: Hot semi-arid burrowing terrestrialHandling: Do not handle
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 | 78-85°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Moderate ambient (50-65%) with cross ventilation; damp lower layer, dry surface |
| Setup Type | Hot semi-arid burrowing terrestrial |
| Substrate | Deep soil/sand mix with humid lower layer |
| Feeding | Roaches/crickets weekly |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 3: Intermediate |
| Handling | Do not handle |
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: grow-out terrestrial setup for juveniles
- Larger terrestrial setup for full-grown adults
Warnings First
- Strong claws
- Rare/valuable; avoid risky rehousing
- Needs stable retreats
- The damp lower layer only works with cross ventilation at substrate level. Sealed in, that same moisture turns the burrow stagnant and brings mold and mycosis.
Simple Care
- Give depth and a tight hide.
- Cross ventilation low on two opposite walls so the damp lower layer stays healthy.
- Keep lower substrate lightly moist, top not swampy.
- Shallow water dish with pebbles in it so small instars cannot drown.
- Avoid constant disturbance.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Use a deep, packable substrate blend with a slightly moist lower layer. The surface can stay drier while retreats hold humidity.
- Heavy decor should sit on the enclosure floor before substrate is added so burrowing cannot collapse it.
- Its recorded localities are hill and inselberg country, not open desert flats: a half-buried cork slab or a stack of flat rocks as a crevice retreat suits it as well as a dug burrow does.
- That moist lower layer is only an asset if air can reach it. Put vents low on two opposite walls, at or just above the substrate line, so air crosses horizontally through the burrow and crevice layer. This is the exact spot that goes stagnant in a scorpion enclosure with lid-only venting, and stagnant damp against the cuticle is what starts mycosis on a species that spends its day wedged into a retreat.
- Ventilation and ambient humidity trade against each other. Hold 50 to 65% by keeping the lower substrate lightly damp and running a water dish, then let air move freely. Do not close vents down to protect a humidity reading. On a valuable animal that is the expensive mistake.
- Judge moisture by hand rather than by gauge. Squeeze substrate from the lower layer and it should just hold together with no water released, while the surface reads dry. If the whole column feels the same, the enclosure needs more airflow, not less water.
- Keep a shallow water dish and drop pebbles or coarse grit in so the waterline sits below the rim. Small instars drown in open dishes, and the stones give them a climb-out. It also feeds humidity at floor level, which lets the surface substrate stay properly dry.
- Mist under the cork slab or behind the rock stack rather than across the enclosure. That recharges the humid pocket inside the retreat where the animal actually sits, and leaves the open surface and the airflow untouched.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feeding: crickets or appropriately sized roaches up to body length, smaller for juveniles. Adults eat every 1-2 weeks, growing animals a little more often; remove uneaten feeders, especially before a molt.
- Growth: matures over several molts, then stops growing. Husbandry data for this species is thinner than for the common emperor, so log molt and feeding dates and change conditions slowly rather than all at once, and never feed a soft, freshly-molted scorpion.
- Maintenance: spot-clean boluses and feeder remains; keep hydration measured. A slightly moist lower substrate layer with a drier surface, not a wet enclosure. Because this is a rarer, valuable animal, prioritize a stable settled burrow over frequent rehousing or 'checking on it'.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: Sudan and South Sudan: recorded from the Gebel/Nuba-area hills of North Kordofan south of El Obeid (the type locality), the Ingessana Hills, Boma National Park, and Eastern Equatoria. Hot semi-arid savanna and rocky hill country in northeast Africa; no Pandinus or Pandinurus is known south of the Zambezi.
- Habitat translation: Hot, mostly dry savanna with hill and rock structure: a deep packable burrow plus a tight cork or rock crevice, drier surface over a slightly moister lower layer.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Adults appreciate terrestrial floor space plus a real burrow start, not just a hide.
- Keep hydration measured; persistent wet substrate is more dangerous than brief targeted moisture.
- Taxonomy: family Scorpionidae; long confused with Pandinus magrettii, but revalidated as a distinct species (Kovařík, 2012), with Pandinurus prendinii Rossi 2015 now treated as a junior synonym. Older stock listed under any of those names may be this animal.