In stock Emperor Scorpion for sale All scorpions for sale
Pandinus imperator
Emperor Scorpion: Advanced Care Guide
Keeper Snapshot: The classic big tropical scorpion, about 6-8 in and slower than most. Keep deep damp substrate with real cross-ventilation, respect the strong pinch, and don't handle it: calm doesn't mean safe.
Group: ScorpionsDifficulty: Spice 2: BeginnerSetup: Tropical burrower, deep damp substrateHandling: Not recommended, calm doesn't mean safe
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 | 75-82°F |
|---|---|
| Humidity | 70-80%, damp deep substrate, cross ventilation |
| Setup Type | Tropical burrower, deep damp substrate |
| Substrate | Deep moist soil/coco with leaf litter, never swampy |
| Feeding | Juveniles every 5-7 days, adults every 1-2 weeks |
| Care Difficulty | Spice 2: Beginner |
| Handling | Not recommended, calm doesn't mean safe |
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
- 2i-3i instars: secure Baby Buddy, escape-proof vents, damp substrate, pebble-filled dish
- Juveniles: Burrow Buddy grow-out, deep damp substrate, cork hide, low cross-ventilation
- Adults (6-8 in): larger custom enclosure, not a micro display cup, with deep substrate and a water dish
Warnings First
- Strong pinch. Calm doesn't make it a handling pet, and brief contact risks falls. Move it with a catch cup or tools.
- Damp plus still air grows mold and mycosis. Vent low on two opposite walls and never tape vents shut.
- Don't let the substrate dry out completely, and don't let it go swampy.
- Scorplings drown in open dishes. Put pebbles or flat stones in the water dish.
- Communal only with space, food and monitoring. Separate if size, feeding or molt timing diverge.
- Wild-caught animals are more likely to carry mites.
Simple Care
- Keep humidity at 70-80% with deep, damp substrate.
- Vent low on two opposite walls. High humidity is only safe with moving air.
- Hold 75-82°F.
- Give cork hides and leaf litter for humid retreats.
- Keep a water dish with pebbles in it, and rinse and refill it a couple of times a week.
- Give adults real room, not a micro display cup.
- Don't handle it. If a move is unavoidable, use a catch cup or tools.
- Spot-clean boluses, uneaten feeders and mold instead of tearing down the burrow.
Advanced Keeper Notes
Enclosure & Microclimate
- Keep the substrate moist enough to hold a burrow but not saturated. Add leaf litter and cork for humid retreats.
- Vent low on two opposite walls at the substrate line. Lid-only vents give a drying surface over soggy, stagnant air down in the burrow.
- Hold 70-80% with damp deep substrate and a full water dish, with air moving above. Never tape vents shut to hold humidity.
- Check by hand: the bottom third clumps without dripping, the middle stays cool and damp, the top can look drier.
- Mist under the cork hides and into the leaf litter, not the whole enclosure. Emperors foul their dish, so rinse and refill it a couple of times a week.
Feeding, Growth & Maintenance
- Feed crickets, dubia roaches and the odd superworm, up to about body length. Smaller prey for juveniles.
- Juveniles eat every 5-7 days, adults every 1-2 weeks, and adults can fast for a month. Don't power-feed adults into an obese abdomen.
- Roughly 7 molts over about 4 years to full size.
- Mothers carry their white first-instar young on their back until the first molt. Feed her small, calm prey like roach nymphs and don't disturb her.
- Move juveniles out once they leave her back, unless you're running a communal on purpose.
Possible Origin / Range
- Likely native range: West African forest and savanna edges, around Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon.
- Habitat translation: Humid West African forest floor becomes deep, moisture-holding substrate, leaf litter and a humid cork retreat with real airflow, not stagnant mud.
Advanced Keeper Details
- Keep a vertical moisture gradient so it can pick a drier surface or damp lower layers.
- Both extremes kill emperors: substrate that dries out, and chronically wet, still setups. Aim for damp with moving air.
- Wild-caught animals are more likely to carry mites.
- One of the biggest scorpions commonly kept, living about 8-10+ yrs.