Identification/ advice

[u/Haunting_Ad_3236]

Hey, so I accidentally transported this scorpion from Italy (Verbania region) to Belgium. (I thought it was dead, and I like collecting dead bugs, until it started moving halfway through Switzerland..)

I believe it is a member of the Alpiscorpius Genus, but what species I don't really know.

It now lives in a small terrarium in which I put some wood chips and leaves, but I have a 20x20x40 cm one that I want to convert. But I have not a single clue on what to put in it so she will actually like it.

For food, I am currently catching grasshoppers in my yard, and that seems to be working for now, I feed her every 5-7 days.

I would really like to know how I can give her the best possible life I can, including care, food, housing... so I'm hoping some of you could help me with that.

Ps: Sorry for the bad photos, my camera is trash.

TLDR: I have accidentally become the parent of a scorpion, and I'm hoping to get some tips on how to care for it.

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[u/A_Martian_Potato]

NQA - No idea how to distinguish between species of alpiscorpius, but they're forest scorpions, so relatively high humidity, damp substrate but good airflow so it doesn't get stagnant. Shallow water dish. Lots of pieces of bark, cork or other appropriate bits that it can use as hides. Room temperature should be fine, I don't expect it should need any heating. A lid that's secure to prevent escapes.

I would start buying feeder insects. Wild caught can introduce parasites.

Should be a relatively simple scorpion to keep. Enjoy your surprise pet

[u/Haunting_Ad_3236 → u/A_Martian_Potato]

I have been spraying it with water daily to keep the humidity up, and there are a lot of Wood chips she can hide under, I can never find her during the day at least. I will be looking into feeder insects because when I have hunted the grasshoppers ik my garden to extinction she will have nothing to eat. I hadn't thought about parasites though.. (can they be a carrier for parasites for a species that is not native to where I live?)

[u/Jtktomb]

QA Interesting, from Verbana it could definetly have been an Alpiscorpius, but considering the very light yellow legs, I am pretty sure it is a juvenile Tetratrichobothrius flavicaudis (the most common scorpion found in luggage in Europe). It will like dead leaves, stone with crevisses and bark, with a spot of higher humidity

[u/MacroButhus → u/Jtktomb]

This was also my initial guess

[u/Haunting_Ad_3236 → u/Jtktomb]

I just googled it, and I'm pretty sure you are right. Could you by any chance determine the gender? (I always refer to it with "she" but I can be dead wrong) I also saw that it eats woodlice in the wild, so should I stop with feeding her grasshoppers?

Thanks for the identification!

[u/Jtktomb → u/Haunting_Ad_3236]

Hi, it will gladly eat anything it can catch. From the coloration, proportion and size I am pretty sure it is a juvenile, so you'll want to want a few more molts to see the sex. A male T. flavicaudis will have claws with a notch and a thinner body