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Atlas / Library / Scorpionidae / Malayan / Asian forest scorpion
BeginnerNocturnal · sleeping now
Scorpionidae

Malayan / Asian forest scorpion

Heterometrus spiniferแมงป่องช้างมลายู

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. thebiodude.com

Photograph: Kai Squires · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Malayan / Asian forest scorpion is nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light. The sheet states a night temperature, and the rail follows it.

Burrowing · warm · humidFrom the sheet: 26–30°C, humidity 75–90%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/heterometrus-spinifer

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature26–30 °C
Humidity75–90 %
Enclosure30×20×20
Diet7–14 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
26–30°Ambient
24°Night

One ambient band, 26–30°C, dropping to 24°C at night. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states26-30°C day, ~24°C night

Humidity

75–90%Target RH

The sheet states75-90%

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m10–14 cm
1520100400 cm
10–14 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Scorpiones
IUCN / CITES
IUCN not assessed (wild-collection pressure noted); CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Beginner
Commonality
Very common: the flagship pet scorpion in Thailand
Adult size
10-14 cm (some to 15 cm) body+tail
Lifespan
6-8 years (females longer)
Growth rate
Medium
Activity & niche
Nocturnal, humid forest-floor burrower; hides by day under bark/logs
Temperament
Defensive-skittish; relies on large pincers more than sting
Venom / defense
LOW venom (mild, bee-sting level); big pincers give a strong pinch. Docile but a pincher: not dangerous

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substrateclimbing branchwarm hidewater75–90 % RH30 cm20 cm
warm hideclimbing branchwatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
30 × 20 × 20 cmWidth × depth × height
6dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states30x20x20 cm (~20 L) for one adult; floor space over height

Temperature
26-30°C day, ~24°C night
Humidity
75-90%
Min. enclosure
30x20x20 cm (~20 L) for one adult; floor space over height
Substrate
10-15 cm moist coco fibre/peat/topsoil that holds a burrow
Hides / decor / water
Cork-bark hide, sphagnum moss, shallow water dish always full

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 7–14 dAs an adult
4Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window. The sheet gives several ages on one line; this is the adult figure.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesGut-loaded crickets, Dubia/red-runner roaches; occasional mealworm/superworm · 1-2 prey items weekly (adults every 7-14 days); slings weekly

Staple food
Gut-loaded crickets, Dubia/red-runner roaches; occasional mealworm/superworm
Feeding frequency
1-2 prey items weekly (adults every 7-14 days); slings weekly
Supplements
Not required; nutritious gut-loaded feeders suffice

Behaviour and handling

HandlingDiscouraged but not dangerous: risk is a painful pinch/rare mild sting; observe, do not handle
CommunalSemi-communal possible with heavy space, hides & food; watch for cannibalism: safest kept solo
Defense / stress signsPincers raised, tail arched, stridulation/hissing, fleeing to burrow

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
6–8 yrLifespan in care
6 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Viviparous (live birth); 20-35 white scorplings ride the mother's back until first molt

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsDehydration/mycosis if too dry-dirty; mismolt; impaction on wrong substrate
Red flags / quarantine
SignsReject sunken/wrinkled body, lethargy, dark mouthparts, mites; QT wild-caught for parasites

Good to know

  • Fluoresces bright cyan-green under UV light like all scorpions

What it needs

Enclosure at least 30 × 20 × 20 cmbecause enclosure30x20x20 cm (~20 L) for one adult; floor space over height
A thermometerbecause temp26-30°C day, ~24°C night
A way to check the night figurebecause temp26-30°C day, ~24°C night
A hygrometerbecause humidity75-90%

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.