Invertebrates are so called because they have no spines to speak of. You may think that such spineless creatures are pushovers, but that’s where you’ll be wrong. Among these spineless creatures are insects, spiders, and scorpions. The latter two make great pets when cared for properly and handled carefully.

Emperor scorpions are the most popular breed of scorpions kept as pets. Their venom is mild and their care and feeding is relatively easy. For those who have surpassed the challenge of keeping their emperor scorpions alive and relatively well-fed, the next challenge would be to breed from them. Below are a few tips on breeding your emperor scorpion.

Telling them apart.

The first thing you need to do after you’ve decided to breed your emperor scorpions is to tell whether the one you have is a male or a female. Females, in general, are larger than males. This is a good indicator, but just to make sure, take a good look at the scorpion’s pectines. Pectines are the scale-like protective armor found across the abdomen of scorpions. The pectines of male emperor scorpions are bigger and resemble a fringe on their abdomen. A female’s pectines on the other hand, look short in contrast to a male’s. You can surf the net for pictures of a male and a female emperor scorpion if you’re not entirely sure how to classify your scorpion.

Setting up the mood.

Like most creatures, emperor scorpions breed readily when they feel comfortable in their surroundings. They’re burrowers, so you may need to have a deeper substrate. Three to five inches of loam or clay would be perfect for your scorpions. You will also need to get a bigger tank for mating your scorpions. A ten gallon tank is okay for a single emperor scorpion, but two will get crowded and stressed in it. A twenty to thirty gallon fish tank is best for a pair of breeding scorpions. During their courtship process, they will need a wide, flat open space. A strategically placed flat rock or driftwood in their tank should do the trick. Don’t forget to feed them a variety of food. Sticking to one food source could lead to a deficiency in one or more nutrients. Varying the type of food you give your emperor scorpions will ensure that they get a well-balanced diet and give them an even bigger incentive to mate. Full scorpions are more likely to seek mates than starved ones. The humidity in the cage should also be at its highest, at least sixty to eighty percent. Frequent misting is a must.

Sit back and watch.

Keep the male in the tank or about a week or more. Remove it when you notice the female getting bigger with young. Leaving the male in the tank could cause undue stress in the female and make her eat all of her young. The gestation period of an emperor scorpion is around seven to ten months, although it could last for up to a year in some cases. A female emperor scorpion will give birth to approximately eight to thirty tiny scorpions. It’s best if you leave the tiny young things to the care of their mother. She may eat a few, but this is normal. In the long run, you’ll get a higher survival rate if you let her take care of them than if you remove them and put them in another tank. Try not to stress her out by limiting your handling and providing plenty of food for her and her young. You should be able to separate the young emperor scorpions from their mother with no ill effects just after their first molt.