Review of Tailess Whip Scorpions

I was thinking about getting one or four of these neat little critters but what are the general opinions of them? Likes? Dislikes? Precise care would also be wonderful.

I don't have very much experience, but I have a (recently) 3rd instar Heterophrynus batesii which I keep in an 18" cube terrarium (for when it's an adult) with high humidity and a 75 watt bulb. Humidity is very important for successful molts, and Heterophrynus, at least, need logs both to hide behind and to molt from. (this all concerning tropical whipspiders, I believe desert whip spiders are different) I have read that the terrarium should have all sides at least as big as the outstretched antenniforms of the whip spider, but I think bigger is better based on my whip spider's activity. I hugely enjoy having mine, it's absolutely amazing to see it hunt (even when there's no food in the terrarium, it still hunts) with its massive antenniforms. It uses every inch of the space, including, occasionally, the roof. What species were you thinking of?
Hope this helps.

What species? I have a Damon diadema, it is very interesting to watch them. They hide behind bark during the day but come out at night to hunt. I would recommend them to anyone. They are very easy to take care of as well.

Biollantefan54 said:

What species? I have a Damon diadema, it is very interesting to watch them. They hide behind bark during the day but come out at night to hunt. I would recommend them to anyone. They are very easy to take care of as well.

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Indeed, Damon diadema are also fairly easy to find, and for cheap. They can tolerate a little dryness, but they are really shy eaters. Mine likes to leave cricket bits all over the enclosure, but I rarely get to see the catch.

Truly a remarkable animal!

Damon diadema was what I had in mind. It's there a general price range I'd be looking at?

I don't think we are allowed to say prices, it is whatever you would pay for it. You can check the classifieds and dealers to compare prices. I see mine hunt all the time, it is so cool. It stands above the food and if the food moves, it moves like a crab faster than you can blink, above the prey. It then pinpoints where the prey is with its antenniform legs and opens its pedipalps and then like lightning, lunges at the prey with surprisingly good accuracy. Very interesting.

Ashton said:

Damon diadema was what I had in mind. It's there a general price range I'd be looking at?

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One good thing to keep in mind is that specimens with damaged whips can sometimes be purchased for a big discount. The whips grow back, so it's a cheap way to get a specimen.

I really enjoy my three juvenile D. diadema. They are simple to keep, and they have a certain otherworldly quality about them. Watching the hunt is always fun.

I got mine in late May/early June 2015 when they were really tiny (all three shipped together in one 2 oz. deli cup), I started them on fruit flies. They ate some, but they seem to prefer and do better on suitably sized crickets. I ended breeding crickets, as pet stores in my area don't carry small enough crickets. If you get an older juvenile or an adult, pet store crickets should be fine.
I know some people feed them roaches...not an option for me. : )

I started them off communally in a 2.5 tank with a cork bark structure. They're getting too big for it, so I recently got them a 12 x 12x 18 Exo Terra vivarium. I haven't set it up yet, but I am planning on doing so soon, with a couple of big slabs of cork bark.

I use 1/2" of cocofiber as the substrate, and include springtails and dwarf purple isopods as a clean-up crew. The crew finishes off half-eaten, discarded crickets amazingly quickly.

A small petri dish serves as a shallow water dish. I also mist the enclosure as needed.

With the glass lid, ventilation is minimal (there are some slots for glass dividers that form four tiny gaps near the edges of the glass) but I also lift the lid every day or two for maintenance.

Room temperatures seem to be fine.

I feed my whiplings every 2-3 days, one suitably sized cricket each. Most times, at least one of the crickets has been caught within minutes, and the rest are gone within 24 hours. If there are any crickets left by this time, I remove them and try again in a couple of days.

I may have to separate these three siblings soon, as one (the largest) has already taken to spending more time alone. I hear that they can get aggressive as "teenagers".