Creepers from the Trees

Hello and welcome. 🙂

I'm very glad to be with you all for another post! With the outbreak and then sudden pandemic that we've all been dealing with, I have some extra, much welcomed time on my hands. Not that I really ever went anywhere much besides school once a week, but that's beside the point. 😛 Today's tale will be spun around a trade I completed last year that introduced a new, fluorescent arthropod to my mini-zoo. Before I spoil too much more, let's jump right on into things.

In early May of last year, I got into contact with Fernan Bañez of Iso Isopods regarding some buggy friends he had offered me a few months prior. Luckily he still had them available and we locked in a trade with haste. At the time, I was very tied up with school work, so they were shipped out the following month when my plate had cleared up. They arrived and it was finally time for the unboxing. I sliced open the package and examined each of the 6 vials inside to find that all of the young Opisthacanthus asper had made it! *Break-down time initiated*

Opisthacanthus asper appears on the eastern portion of South Africa and goes by the title, Tree Creeping Scorpion. True to its name, this creature spends much of its time snugly tucked into any crevices it can find on the closest tree. The sizeable, highly-textured pedipalps are the only body parts typically left exposed during this behavior and they will readily use them to ensnare prey and/or defend against predators. These scorpions show-off a base color of black virtually throughout their entire lives, accompanied by yellowish to orangish legs and a telson that is essentially colored the same. They sit with their cousin, Opisthacanthus madagascariensis, as the only Opisthacanthus spp. presently circulated in the U.S hobby.

I have each of my individuals set up in a 64 oz. container with a generous amount of large pinholes poked around the rim along with a few in the lid. Their substrate is a mix of topsoil and perlite, which I keep dry except for in one corner of the enclosure. Besides that, they are equipped with a couple pieces of vertically-arranged egg crate for climbing/hiding.

The official second members of the scorp gang. 🦂

Medium-sized individual fluorescing under UV light

Medium-sized individuals

Smaller individual(s) in pre-molt

Exuvia

Medium-sized individual showing partial coloration shortly after molting

Enclosure

Unfortunately early on in my time keeping them, one of the individuals passed away (presumably due to desiccation). 😢 My husbandry protocol has thankfully been perfected since then though and I'm happy to say that I even managed to rid a particular scorpion of its pre-existing mycosis! Things can only go up from here and I'm very much looking forward to keeping this species for years to come. 😊

Stay safe and I'll meet you right where I always do - next post. 🙂