HADRURUS ARIZONENSIS / Desert Hairy Scorpion
Family: Caraboctonidae
Common name(s): Giant Desert Hairy, Arizona Desert Hairy
Location: (U.S.A) Arizona, New Mexico, California
Size: 8 - 12cm
Faunarium: medium size for one adult specimen
Substrate: Desert sand mixed with calci sand (3:1)
Temperature: 30°C throughout daylight hours, drops at night
Humidity: None
Toxicity: Mild venom, but painful (2 out of 5)
Keeper level: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Food...
Adults will eat small, medium and large crickets; small or medium locusts (hoppers) and other feeders.
Scorplings will eat small crickets and hoppers.
Overview...
They like to dig (alot).
They are typically quite aggressive scorps.
They are very difficult to breed and raise in captivity.
They are the U.S.A's largest species of scorpion.
They are reportedly long lived (15 - 20 years being attainable).
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Personal Observations...
Although mainly defensive when threatened, this
is a very aggressive species when in pursuit of prey. It will firstly snatch at
prey with it's pincers, grappling for the optimum grip before plunging
it's sting into the prey. On all occasions I've seen it use the sting more than once
on the same feeder, and sometimes it will leave the sting in the feeder
for a very long amount of time.
As mentioned above, they like to dig. Do not take this statement lightly. In
one night they can escavate complex and extensive tunnel networks. You can
have a flat landscape in their enclosure before you go to bed and wake up
the next day with half the sand piled up at one end of the tank.
In light of
their burrowing activity it is important that the substrate is prepared properly.
Desert sand on it's own just won't do (!). It will begin to collapse as soon as it dries out,
either from the scorpion moving around, continuing to dig or perhaps from opening and closing a tight lid to introduce a feeder or what not. Therefore you must mix the fine desert
sand with a more dense sand substrate. Personally I use desert sand mixed with calci sand.
You must add water, mix the two and then tighly compact the substrate. After preparing the set-up
leave it to dry out completely before introducing the scorpion.
Personally I dig the beginning of a burrow under a large flat rock before I let the set-up dry up
and introduce the scorpion. As when dry it will be rock solid and it may take the scorpion a day
or two to get started on a proper burrow. In such a stressful situation for the scorpion the quicker it can get out of sight and into a burrow, the better. Especially with such a highly strung species (!).
They are also ravenous feeders. Infact I have to refrain from over feeding my female.
She would literally eat until she burst (probably due to being wild caught and being an opportunistic feeder). Plus I don't like my scorps looking like hot dogs (!).
Scorplings of this species behave exactly the same as adults from the offset: they are ravenous, dig alot and are nervously aggressive.
I've read on certain other sites that this species has the ability to spray venom. At this point
I would disagree with this statement. I have observed my adult female dripping venom from her aculeus
when very stressed, and if she sensed any air movement at this time she would bang her metasoma towards the disturbance and thus venom was flicked from her venom apparatus. Not squirted.
Since this species comes from the desert I have high temperatures throughout the day, but drop the temperature at night. This is probably not completely necessary, but I try to replicate
their natural habitat as much as possible. I do not supply a water dish for my adult female (since she attains her water from prey items) and keep the enclosure completely dry. Mainly beause my WC adult female arrived with a little mycosis on one of her appendages and I don't want this to spread. This species is very susceptible to mycosis (fungal infection which rots the scorp's exoskeleton) if subjected to any form of humidity. The best "treatment" as far as I know is to keep the scorp as dry as possible, this will atleast slow down any spreading of the infection.
Finally, I think this species is good for people at all levels in the hobby: beginners and experts alike. Ofcourse caution must be exercised since this species will sting with no hesitation and has
potential to cause a very painful envenomation. However they are easy to care for, are long lived and are very interesting to observe due to their typical aggression, appetite and active lives.
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