Common Name: Giant Asian Forest Scorpion
Scientific Name: Heterometrus spinifer

Size: Small (scorpling)
Status: Captive born (August 2024)

A huge, shiny, black forest scorpion, active and easy to keep. These scorpions glow a beautiful iridescent blue colour under ultra violet light.

How I keep mine

I keep my Asian Forest scorpions in plastic boxes with peat or coir on the base and pieces of bark or half a flower pot to hide under. I place my boxes on a shelf with a heat mat on it, I use a strip heat mat (15cm wide) and this covers part of the base of the box (several boxes can fit on one long mat). Like most bugs it is a good idea to give them a dry and a damp area to choose from. I find the area above the heat mat is dry and the area not covered by the heat mat is more moist.  I use plastic boxes for my scorpions as I have lots of species and don't have the space to keep them all in individual tanks but of course they do equally well when housed in a plastic or glass tank and are much more visible. The Asian Forest scorpions need quite a high humidity so the box/tank must never be allowed to dry out or they will perish. I feed all my scorpions on crickets or cockroaches once a week. The adult scorpions seem to eat “when they feel like it” which can be quite infrequently but the juveniles which I tend to house together can get through quite a few crickets in a week. I sometimes feed maggots to the juveniles as they will eat both the larvae and the adult flies when they hatch. The maggots will burrow into the substrate and hatch after about ten days (very useful if you are going away on holiday). I also find maggots are a cheap food as you can buy them from a fishing shop and keep them cool in the fridge for several weeks. I always house the adult scorpions individually, I know this species has been successfully kept communally but I’m not brave enough to risk it!