The imperial scorpion Pandinus imperator (Koch, 1842) has been successfully kept and bred in captivity for many years. It makes an excellent beginner’s scorpion, due to its general lack of aggression, its large size, and the fact that it can be housed communally. As an importer, I have an insight to the way these creatures are collected and housed, both by the exporters in their countries of origin and by myself when they arrive at my premises. I hope that the information I can give you will help you keep your scorpions happy and healthy.

Pandinus imperator, along with its cousins the red-clawed and the giant scorpion, is native to West Africa. The imperial commonly appears in the pet trade, the others less so. The imperial scorpion and the other two species are CITES appendix II listed, which means import and export permits are required for their trade. P. dictartor (Pocock, 1888) (the red clawed scorpion) is sometimes shipped from Cameroon and is listed to occur in Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and, possibly, Gabon. This species is smaller than the imperial scorpion, being dark-brown in colour with distinctive red claws. P. gambiensis (Pocock, 1899), the Senegalese giant scorpion, occurs in Senegal and Gambia. I have never personally seen this species imported, although I have tried to do so myself and will continue to do so in the future.

Other recognised non-CITES species include P. cavimanus, the cave clawed scorpion, and P. viatorus, known from Tanzania. After this the list of species continues and to the best of my knowledge twenty-four species of Pandinus are known. It is, however, difficult to correctly identify species, and locate them if they are not CITES listed. I import my imperials from Ghana, although shipments containing imperials also commonly arrive from Togo and Benin.

Finding imperial scorpions in the wild.

According to my collector, imperials are very common in Ghana. When I asked him where they collect scorpions from, his reply was “anywhere”. Apparently, despite popular belief, they are actually more common in the drier regions and their burrows can be found in the sides of sandy banks, in rocky areas and even very close to human habitation. They share the same banks in a communal way but it is, apparently, just as likely to only find one specimen in a burrow, as it is to find more. This suggests they may not be quite as communal as we would normally think.

Catching imperial scorpions in the wild.

I was convinced that ultra violet lamps were used at night in the catching of most scorpions, as under such light scorpions glow (green in the case of imperials). When I asked my exporter if he used this method, he laughed (he does this a lot) and asked “what is a UV lamp”. He informs me that they either dig them up or wait until after it has been raining when they are very easy to find. Presumably they have to leave the burrows to avoid drowning due to flooding. I still think my way would be easier!

All exporters use collectors to get their animals for them (the exporters actually just pack the boxes and deal with the paperwork side etc.) and, certainly in Africa, the exporters will have different collectors for each species. These collectors sometimes work in family groups specialising in a specific species. When they have collected sufficient number of animals the collectors visit the exporter at his farm and sell whatever they have. This, however, is not the case for imperial scorpions, which are, apparently, so common that any collector will easily obtain them for him. If a large order is required one collector can collect well over 150 a day, within a few minutes walk of their house.

Housing in Ghana.

My exporter informs me he has about 1,500 imperial scorpions in stock at any time, which he keeps in large wooden boxes with opening lids. The substrate used is a deep sand and soil mix, which they burrow into. He waters them once a day and supplies clean, fresh water in the dishes at all times. The scorpions are feed on crickets and dried fish! This means they will scavenge, not only relying on the vibrations and movement of prey.

Captive care.

In captivity imperial scorpions should thrive and, hopefully, provide you with offspring, provided you give them the following basic requirements. Suitable housing can provided by utilising anything from an old aquarium to an all glass vivarium. Whatever you choose to use, make sure the enclosure is secure. If you use a glass vivarium, make sure you use a lock, as these scorpions are powerful enough to open glass doors, and I once had a whole group move house on their own. As with all captive pets, the bigger the enclosure the better, and if you are intending to keep a group of imperials a trio would do well in a 24” x12” x 12” cage. Although height is not important to the scorpion, a taller enclosure will enable you to provide a deeper substrate to bury in. Provide your scorpions with approximately 6” of substrate, or more. Bearing this in mind, an aquarium with appropriate lid would be the best option as the substrate will be easier to contain.

The substrate can be orchid bark, peat or vermiculite but if you are trying to create a natural environment try mixing aquarium sand, peat and some small-grade gravel. This mix will hold the moisture and provide some strength for tunnel building, as well as being aesthetically pleasing. Although the scorpions may not originate from an environment as wet as was previously supposed, the depths of their tunnels would always be humid. The rest of the tank can be decorated with moss, cork bark, rocks, plastic plants and, of course, the compulsory fake skull (only joking). Seriously, with a bit of imagination very attractive, natural-looking environments can be created.

Heating is best provided via use of a heat mat, which is best taped to the back of the aquarium because of the use of such a deep substrate. As with reptiles, use a mat that only covers half of the enclosure, to facilitate proper thermo-regulation. Daytime lighting is not required, and may even be upsetting to the occupants, bearing in mind that they naturally live down a dark tunnel! A limited amount of black light at night, however, should not be harmful and will provide you with an insight as to what they get up to.

Water should be provided in a shallow dish and changed regularly. A good tip is to put some cotton wool, a piece of sponge or, in the case of a natural tank, some moss in the water dish to avoid drowning - scorpions can drown in even the shallowest of bowls. An important consideration is not to over-feed your scorpions; they gorge feed and will eat just about as much as you give them. This can be harmful, so small, regular feeds are more beneficial. One scorpion will thrive on a couple of field crickets, or similar-sized prey like one hopper, a week. Do try to vary the diet, and remember they do scavenge so if your snake doesn’t want that extra pinkie, give it to your scorpion.

Sexing imperial scorpions is relatively easy as, several subtle differences can be seen, but the easiest way is to look at the pectines. The pectines are comb-like structures underneath the scorpion, which are used for sensing vibration. In Pandinus (as with most scorpion species) the males’ “combs” are longer and have more teeth. The mating ritual is a very complex thing, which is beyond the scope of this article, but I can tell you that wild-collected females of suitable size will probably be either pregnant or carrying sperm. So, mating may not be necessary for a female to produce young in captivity.

Communal life can be hazardous; you will always get the Phil Mitchell that wants to harass everyone. Seriously, one rogue scorpion can cause a lot of casualties, so when you first set up your “community” watch what happens, especially after the lights go out. The best combination would be two females to a male, and for larger cages five females to two males. Do make sure your scorpions are of the same size.

Wild collected or captive bred? There has been quite a lot of publicity about wild-collected animals in recent months, and generally it has all been bad. It is very much a personal choice that only you can make, but certainly wild-caught scorpions generally adapt well to life in captivity. It is also fair to say that imperial scorpions are very common over their entire range, so collection for the pet trade is unlikely to adversely affect wild populations. The fact that they are protected by CITES means there is a quota of how many can be exported each year. This quota is given on advice by field researchers and area counts. The collection of wild animals, including scorpions, gives hundreds of people a living, through a renewable resource, without doing any lasting damage to the environment. It is true to say that without this important source of income local people would have no reason to look after their environment, or the creatures that dwell within it.

As a species, imperial scorpions can be easily cared for, and will breed in captivity. These are certainly no problems with wild-caught scorpions and you should not let adverse publicity cause undue concern. Whether wild-caught, or captive-bred, imperial scorpions certainly make interesting captive subjects, and I would have no hesitation in recommending the species, particularly to those new to scorpion-keeping.