communal with geckos?

remainpositive · Jul 24, 2014

I found this pretty interesting (not to sure if this has been brought up before), I've heard of spiders and certain arachnids having a symbiotic relationship with frogs and toads but banded geckos? Makes me wonder how tough it is to keep them from ringing the boxing bell. :giggle:

http://miketroll.buzznet.com/photos/geckoscorp/?id=32440051

Smokehound714 · Jul 24, 2014

Very irresponsible.

darkness975 · Jul 24, 2014

That is a horrible idea. Even if the lizard is too small to be considered food the stress from a bunch of them running around all the time has to be detrimental to the scorpion's health.

edgeofthefreak · Jul 24, 2014

It's also from 2008. I wonder if this guy ever posted an update, be it positive or negative.

But I agree, completely irresponsible, for reasons that Google can tell you why.

Smokehound714 · Jul 24, 2014

Oh LOL it's from mike. Didnt notice this til now. Nah this was a troll picture, lmao

AzJohn · Jul 28, 2014

This is actually a behavior that has been noted in the wild on several occasions. The person who posted it is well regarded by knowledgeable hobbyist. The two species have a somewhat compatible relationship.

Smokehound714 · Jul 28, 2014

AzJohn said:
This is actually a behavior that has been noted in the wild on several occasions. The person who posted it is well regarded by knowledgeable hobbyist. The two species have a somewhat compatible relationship.

This 'behavior' is nothing more than the two species having no choice but to share a retreat. The only reason they dont actively kill each other is because the geckos dont recognize the scorpions as food, being much too large to feed on. However aside from this, vaejovids are NOT communal in nature, especially stripetails, which DO cannibalize each other.

Desert scorps · Jul 28, 2014

I have seen videos on youtube about this topic and they seem perfectly fine together it seems as if the scorpions and geckos "look out" for eachother like in dangerous situations.

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Smokehound714 · Jul 28, 2014

Desert scorps said:
I have seen videos on youtube about this topic and they seem perfectly fine together it seems as if thescorpions and geckos "look out" for eachother like in dangerous situations.

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no they don't, and no they aren't. stripetails are by no means a communal species. They will readily cannibalize each other. the geckos MAY have an immunity towards the venom of stripetails, as much of their diet in the wild consists of juvenile stripetails, as we'll as other small scorpion species.

However, that being said, banded geckos are very delicate, and a defensive jab from a larger scorpion can cause a fatal puncture wound.

If you've raised these scorpions before, you'd know they can be very quick to sting, almost as vicious as paruroctonus and smeringerus in that regard. Many animals that are hostile towards each other will share a hiding place. They simply have no choice in such a hostile climate.

remainpositive · Jul 28, 2014

Smokehound714 said:
no they don't, and no they aren't. stripetails are by no means a communal species. They will readily cannibalize each other. the geckos MAY have an immunity towards the venom of stripetails, as much of their diet in the wild consists of juvenile stripetails, as we'll as other small scorpion species.

However, that being said, banded geckos are very delicate, and a defensive jab from a larger scorpion can cause a fatal puncture wound.

If you've raised these scorpions before, you'd know they can be very quick to sting, almost as vicious as paruroctonus and smeringerus in that regard. Many animals that are hostile towards each other will share a hiding place. They simply have no choice in such a hostile climate.

There is no doubt how their readiness to sting, but their communal behavior is weird in my case then. I have three communally and they actually go great! They even actually share a burrow with each other, I've never once witnessed territorial displays what so ever.

Smokehound714 · Jul 29, 2014

remainpositive said:
There is no doubt how their readiness to sting, but their communal behavior is weird in my case then. I have three communally and they actually go great! They even actually share a burrow with each other, I've never once witnessed territorial displays what so ever.

..Yours burrow? Ive never been able to get this species to do so

Mine would always just scrape under a stone, push a few piles of substrate out, and they'd be finished.

remainpositive · Aug 4, 2014

Smokehound714 said:
..Yours burrow? Ive never been able to get this species to do so Mine would always just scrape under a stone, push a few piles of substrate out, and they'd be finished.

They do! Actually they make extensive tunnels and burrows.

Scorpionkid16 · Aug 21, 2023

Oh boy where do I start… first new member here….second… I’ve kept a spingerus and a banded gecko in captivity for just about a year and a half now and I gotta say, no harm has come to either specimen! I’ve seen the gecko run over the back of the scorpion many times when I accidentally scare it but not once did the scorpion flick it’s tail at the gecko, they often hide under the same piece of bark and cross eachother often while out in the enclosure and yet no harm done.

The Snark · Aug 21, 2023

Scorpionkid16 said:
I’ve kept a spingerus and a banded gecko in captivity for just about a year and a half now

What you have there in any scientific study is called a one off. The top or bottom 10% that automatically gets discarded in any proper study.

Ignoring all the comments above about this, I'm going to go solely by observations in a gecko and scorp rich environment. A rough analogy would be the great cats and the carnivorous reptiles cohabitant in the same area. Paths may cross. Singular incidents may occur, but all one offs. Different worlds and different agendas. Sure a viper could kill a lion, or a casual reflexive bite and a dead snake. A hefty hungry Tokay could try to make a meal of a scorp on rare opportunity presents itself occasions, and quite a lot rarer, a scorp happening across a readily available geck in it's hunting through the detritus. But all, one offs.
The they can share living space, and accidents can occasionally happen. But as @Smokehound714 and others summed it up, irresponsible keeping of animals. Don't go asking for trouble.

darkness975 · Aug 21, 2023

Old thread but I still stand by the mentality that this is a terrible idea.

CRX · Aug 22, 2023

This is one of the stupidest things I've heard of like what is the point?

communal with geckos?

remainpositive

Arachnosquire

Smokehound714

Arachnoking

darkness975

Latrodectus

edgeofthefreak

Arachno-titled!

Smokehound714

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AzJohn

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Smokehound714

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Desert scorps

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Smokehound714

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remainpositive

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Smokehound714

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remainpositive

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Scorpionkid16

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darkness975

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CRX

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