Asian Forest Scorpion Care Sheet

Asian Forest Scorpion is a very broad term that covers most of the scorpions that come from Southeast Asia. There are a few common subspecies that you will find in the reptile hobby.

Heterometrus spinifer: The Malaysian Forest Scorpion,
Heterometrus longimanus: The Asian Forest Scorpion.
Heterometrus laoticus: The Laos Forest Scorpion.

Asian forest scorpions do well with a glass terrarium as their enclosure. This is because glass is great at allowing heat to escape, ensuring that the enclosure stays cool enough. Other enclosures, such as wooden vivariums, are far too efficient at retaining heat.

The Asian forest scorpion's terrarium should be at least 300mm in length and 300mm in height. The Asian forest scorpion is going to grow to around 7-8", so they need a space large enough for them to move around in.

Asian forest scorpions require a near-constant air temperature of 70-75°F. This is best achieved by sticking a heatmat on one side of the glass enclosure. This heatmat is regulated using a thermostat to make sure the temperature stays constant.

As the glass is only being heated on one side, this also creates a small temperature gradient within the enclosure, allowing the scorpion to warm itself up or move away to cool down.

Asian Forest scorpions do not require UVB and will actively hide from the sunlight during the day.

Asian forest scorpions should always be allowed at least 2'' of substrate to give them the opportunity to burrow or dig. We find the best substrate for these scorpions is a soil mix called Spider Life.

The scorpion's vivarium can be decorated with artificial plants for a more natural look. Small natural wood ornaments look very effective and also provide further perches for the scorpion. Trailing plants are very good at disguising electrical wires and equipment, as well as providing cover for young scorpions.

Asian forest scorpions are carnivorous and have a diet consisting of live insects. The core of the live food diet should be high in protein and relatively easy to digest. We have found that brown crickets are the most readily accepted, but you can also use black crickets or locusts (hoppers).

Scorpions don't require extra supplementation as they get the vast majority of their needed nutrients from their diet. However, you should still gutload your live food to make sure you are giving the best food you can to your animal.

If you keep a male and female together, they may breed. You do not need to do anything to encourage this. As long as they are healthy and the conditions are good, it will happen naturally. You need to consider whether you want this to happen before introducing the pair.

Asian Forest Scorpions, as with most pets, require a clean environment to thrive. We recommend a spot clean as often as possible (every day) and a full clean every 4 weeks or so. If you are keeping the snake in a bioactive enclosure, you can spot clean and monitor the enclosure. It may still be a good item to change out the bedding a few times per year.

When cleaning the enclosure, you should remove your animal, all decorations and all of the bedding. Once the enclosure is clear you can spray it all over with a reptile-friendly disinfectant. These usually work very quickly and only need to be left for around 30 seconds, instructions can normally be found on the disinfectant's packaging. Once the disinfectant has done its work it can be wiped away from the surfaces with a paper towel. In some cases, you might want to repeat this process a second time to ensure that the enclosure is thoroughly cleaned.

Your decorations can be cleaned in a similar method, simply spray them down with the disinfectant and rinse thoroughly with water before drying them off and putting them back into the enclosure. We recommend this process is done during the daytime to make sure that the scorpion will be going back to a warm vivarium for at least an hour before the basking lamps are turned off for the night.