#androctonus bicolor

[morbidsmenagerie]

Androctonus bicolor, I don't bother him too much because he's fairly high strung and illusive.

[cthulhusstepmom]

I'd like to know about the beetles! Will you tell us about your beetles? (I have no idea how having pet beetles works, do they need flying space? Most of them fly, right?)

I would love to tell you about the beetles!!

You're right the vast majority of beetles do have wings so it's definitely a factor for those, thankfully the most common beetles kept as pets usually are the Stag Beetles (the big beefy ones with the horns) and their cousins; they can fly but they're pretty content to live mostly terrestrial lives if there's plenty of food around. Thankfully my beetles are fully terrestrial so that's not something I have to worry about!

My beetles are Blue Death Feigning Beetles or Asbolus verrucosus:

They stay pretty little, these are full grown adults, and I've got five of them in a 5 1/2 gallon tank with my scorpion. Eventually I want to upgrade them to at least a 10 gallon and try breeding them but it works for right now.

The Blue part of their name is pretty obvious(the blue coloring is actually a natural sunscreen they produce!) but the Death Feigning bit is because when they get scared they keel over and play dead(mine haven't done it since I got them cause they've gotten used to people) .

(that's what it looks like when they "die")

They're from the Southwest of America so they like it hot, I keep mine with a hot spot of about 90° and I've found that they're way more active than at room temperature. They also love to burrow and rearrange their enclosure which is why mine have fake plants cause they're easier to put back.

Now for arguably the coolest fact: they're almost indestructible! Their armor is so hardcore that the majority of predators their size can't even touch them! Which is why I got them because I have a Black Fat Tail Scorpion (Androctonus bicolor) who needs the same conditions and I was tired of having a pretty tank of sand for a pet (that's the thing about lots of scorpions, they burrow and that's kind of it (still love him though, his name is Asmodeus)).

(that's his burrow there, if you look close you can see the entrance and the exit)

They're super low maintenance, they don't even technically need a water dish cause they get the majority of their hydration from their food (I gave them one anyway cause I'm too lazy to mist them every morning to give them dew to drink). They're scavenging omnivores so they eat pretty much anything, I give them some protein rich dog food and rotating vegetable offerings as well as a little bone if they want to gnaw on it(my isopods like it so I figured I'd offer).

annd yeah those are my beetles! Their names are War, Conquest, Famine, Death, and Gonzo.

Thank you for being interested!!! I never get to talk about my bugs and I love them so much!! 🥰

[fox-the-artist-fruit-canid]

Why am i like this?

So...how did this happend?

Well...i just got a vision and a simple ittybitty thought...

What if toxik was a great failure mutant of the variant scorpious?

In company from a thing that left me thinking about if in the secondary au A Tale Of Blood Petals will he look the same or not

And thats how this was born...

But changing chanel in what did i based on? Welp i based this on the Androctonus bicolor also know as black tailed scorpion.

(I know the stinger and the pincers look diferent but lets say it was both a lil skill issue and a creative license)

Also why is it blue or cyan instead of red? Mostly becuse scorpions shine in that color when exposed to ultraviolet rays or black light.

And thats all for today

@stingerking please don't kill me (be free to do so)

Fox out

[animalids]

Black fat-tailed scorpion (Androctonus bicolor)

Photo by Arie van der Meijden

[joeatasfaposts-blog]

Black fat-tailed scorpion

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/461300-Androctonus-bicolor

Species: Black fat-tailed scorpion

Spider-Man Character: The Scorpion

Scientific Name: Androctonus bicolor

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Scorpiones

Family: Buthidae

Genus, Species : Androctonus

Description:

hey can be identified by their hefty physique.

Reproduction:

Sexual reproduction is accomplished by the transfer of a spermatophore from the male to the female; scorpions possess a complex courtship and mating ritual to effect this transfer. Mating starts with the male and female locating and identifying each other using a mixture of pheromones and vibrational communication.

Development:

They hunt at night and use their venom to paralyze or kill their prey. During the day, scorpions hide in burrows or debris, under wood, stones or tree bark, and under floors of buildings and in crawl spaces.

Environment:

North and West Africa.

Diet:

Scorpions can eat many kinds of insects, spiders,  and lizards.

Fun Facts:

Life sucks.

Citations:

[nepenthesbaphomet]

Androctonus bicolor.

[morbidsmenagerie]

Androctonus bicolor

[morbidsmenagerie]

Androctonus bicolor, he isn't out all that much.

[morbidsmenagerie]

My first medically significant scorpion, androctonus bicolor. I used a gritty substrate cactus mix so it wouldn't get too wet, I know these guys are normally kept on sand but in my experience sand just lends itself to getting cemented on their feet if you ever mist the enclosure. I'll see if he likes the grittier mix, and if not I'll incorporate more sand.

[morbidsmenagerie]

Still eating a lot and doing well, he's so granular looking.

[morbidsmenagerie]

The first time I tried to keep these it went terribly, he died the same night I took him home (presumably from the stress that comes with being wild caught and then sold at an expo). I'm finally ready to try again with this species, as they are gorgeous, active scorpions with bold personalities. I've let him settle in for a few days now before I took pictures of him, and he's already eaten 2 crickets so far so already things are going a lot better. And he's immature (my other male was a WC adult) so hopefully I'll get to see him grow in the future!

[morbidsmenagerie]

Confirmed that he is indeed dead, seller said he was wild caught so he's been through a lot of stress through transport and multiple rehomings. Took this opportunity to get close ups to show of some of the more subtle details of scorpion anatomy though. I would never get this close to him if he was alive.

[morbidsmenagerie]

Had a bit of a scare with him today, his tail is a lot stronger than I was expecting and he managed to push himself out of the forceps when I was moving him. Thankfully I was using a double barrier, which is keeping the enclosure in a larger secondary enclosure so if he escapes the first one there's an extra level of protection. Because of that, he landed in the outer barrier and was easy to get back instead of landing on my floor. I saw someone that comparing keeping medically significant scorpions with operating a buzz saw, as long as you're vigilant and using safety devices you should be fine, but if you get complacent and start doing dumb stuff you're much more likely to have an accident. Even with tons of experience and safety precautions tho, sometimes things can just happen, so having a plan and being aware of the risks are mandatory with keeping any potentially dangerous animal.

[morbidsmenagerie]

Unfortunately last night my androctonus rapidly declined in health. I believe he has passed away, but I'm going to leave him for a few more days. Because he declined over the course of 12 hours shortly after I got him, and my other scorpions appear to be doing well, I can only guess a preexisting health condition combined with the stress of the move caused it. It really sucks, as this was a new species I was very excited about keeping, but it does occasionally happen.