That said, I'm willing to try my hand at the raising of feeder roaches (urk), which I also innately detest, although keeping only those species which A) cannot escape, and B) are non-native, and not very adaptable to the conditions of my geographical location (id est, even IF there were an escapee, the chance of survival for an individual would be slim to none, with the possibility of becoming invasive virtually non-existent).   As things are turning out, it is starting to appear as if this was something I should have done ages ago, as the unpleasantries one faces with crickets have been entirely absent to date, and things are working out well so far. nbsp; Ideally, in another few months, I'll have dispensed with the use of crickets altogether, which would be VERY nice.

It was a few years back when I had finally decided to set up The Homepage of the Arizona Bark Scorpion -- after all, they just never seemed to get around to it, and they always appear to have such difficulties using a keyboard with their needle-thin claws -- and my, how things have changed in the interim.   For starters, what was originally Centruroides sculpturatus was renamed Centruroides exilicauda, and now, due to various reclassifications in the field (and depending upon the person spoken with), it appears that the Arizona Bark Scorpion may very well be reverting to the previous name (Sculpturatus).   Until I have the time to dig through the proper literature and/or someone cares to do it for me and send me the appropriate references and documentation, I have taken the liberty of configuring the DNS records so that WWW.SCULPTURATUS.COM and WWW.EXILICAUDA.COM (along with the .NET variants) all point to this site.   Once the dust settles, I'll clear up the DNS to reflect the hopefully permanent status.

Until the time comes when I can actually know for sure the exact scientific name of my particularly favorite species, I suppose all I can do is simply wait with the proverbial baited-breath, and hope that in the meantime I do not have a large number of casualties among my collection of scorpions, as my current Centruroides colonies are, undoubtedly, at a severe risk of dying from acute nomenclature.

In any event, here it is:  The AZ Bark Scorpion Homepage, a source of information for those interested in this scorpion, mostly including a very marginal number of the literally thousands of pictures, a fistful of personal ramblings on the nature and care of the AZ Bark Scorpion, and even including an admittedly patchwork caresheet -- one which I'd like to think is probably the most complete and most accurate, if least well-organized, caresheet for this particular species currently available on the Internet at the present time.   Please note that when I initially wrote the caresheet up and published it for the world at large in this place, there was really nothing at all in the way of available literature for those who chose to keep these scorpions outside of the professional field, and the little information I could find online, not counting scientific and research data which was available only to professionals (as your average hobbyist likely wouldn't have access to those sources), was, when not incomplete, oftentimes simply inaccurate, or at the very best quite generic.

While there are now many other sources of information which have sprung up in the intervening years which are easily and publicly available, I've not felt as compelled to update things at this site all that often, as the most common queries are already answered and documented in other places, and I remain, at the heart of things, very, very lazy, truth be told.   This is not to say that I won't be continuing the admittedly glacial advance of adding further information here, including but not limited to further pictures, links, and information which is probably more of interest to those of a scientific bent, such as medical data, biology, information on their venom (festive quad-disulfide-bonded protein that it is), and I may even revamp the existing care sheet, and include further pictures of my own scorpion housing facilities.  Contributors are welcome, though please note that I'm generally very busy, so please do not be offended if I don't reply to inquiries right away, as my email turnaround time is soul-numbingly slow.   As my centruroides (at) exilicauda (dot) com email has become a spam-box to a greater degree than before, I'm probably going to create another account which will consist of -- just as before -- the format 'genus' (at) species (dot) com, with the latest nomenclatural changes reflected therein (suck on that, spammers).   Those with any amount of wherewithal can easily decode what my present address is, at that point, and interested parties may always feel free to drop me an email if so inclined, and I'm always happy to answer whatever questions anyone might have, and am equally open to suggestions/additions to the information on this site.

For those who aren't familiar with me directly (id est, haven't corresponded with me, met me, discussed scorpion-related matters with, or didn't take any of my extras when I was giving some away), my personal experience with scorpions, particularly those in the genus Centruroides, is what is what most people would refer to as being a bit 'in-depth'.  Of course, after keeping vast numbers of them, including raising so many hundreds (well, ok, I am forced to confess that I only recently realized I passed the thousands-mark some time back) which were born in captivity, and having spent uncounted hours observing them closely for some number of years, one is bound to gain some amount of experience with them, as well as (perhaps) a bit of insight into their proper care and keeping.  I make no claims to brilliance, but am merely easily fascinated by simple things, and I happen to be an avid and meticulous observer.

That last point in mind, I suppose I should add that I have compiled a large amount of recorded data over the years, including timed and dated information over a reasonable length of time spent in careful observation of them in communal situations.   precisely what it is I ought to do with said data is a question which I haven't given proper thought to, in all honesty, as I've got enough of it documented in electronic and written format to compile at the very least a small book out of, although I cannot imagine where I'd shop it around for publication, as that is a little outside of my usual channels.   I suppose if I cannot be bothered to try and have it published (or, in the event I try, if no one in the publishing industry has any interest in taking the time and trouble to publish it), I will eventually get around to publishing it here, on the site.   Having a meagre number of published things to my name already has demonstrated that, much like crime, writing doesn't pay, so I doubt putting the information on the Internet could constitute any actual loss of revenue, so this is probably likely to occur sometime in the future.

While I remain filled with unyielding hatred of SPAM/UCE/Pop-ups and the like, and did not start with the intent of doing anything commercial with this site (and still don't plan on doing so in any advertising sense, believe me), due to many people who run sites who want fancy, new-fangled graphical banners and such, I'll eventually get around to putting up a separate page composed of banners and links and the like; I've been rather cavalier about things like that, and in point of fact, haven't even so much as submitted this site to any search engines properly until very recently; to think that this site, unindexed, and with a really harsh (but default, per the privacy policies of this server) and restrictive robots.txt file, was still taking circa close to 2k hits per month would have been harder for me to believe if, after actually submitting the site to obvious and popular search engines, it took about as many hits in the first two months of this year as it had taken in the previous 10 months (!).   Naturally, as this server is actually only partially dedicated to webhosting (that being the least of its duties at present) the upgrade to new servers *IS* coming.   Honest.   Particularly as I don't need this page slugging things up, as there are other people's pages hosted here, as well.   Anyway, I still plan on assembling links useful to those who have an interest in Centruroides spp. and scorpions in general, and some of those are bound to contain links to breeders/online places to acquire them from, so therefore there ARE and WILL BE to 'commercial' sites from this one, although rest assured that I remain firm that there will be ABSOLUTELY NOTHING of that sort on my servers, period:   any irritating or annoying popups and the like, tricks, traps, drive-bys (which infect your PC) or any of that shite, as, considering how intensely I despise such things, I can hardly imagine that the Arizona Bark Scorpion feels any more charitably about (say) popups than I do, and would undoubtedly sting the bejeezus out of the creators of such online irritants, given even half the chance.   I know I certainly would....

A greater assortment of links to sites of scorpion interest will be included and expanded soon enough, and although the main focus of this site will be for Centruroides spp. and the like, I'm not averse to including information or links to information about other species of scorpion, so if you have any really good or obscure links or pages which you feel should be included here (vendors, breeders, forums devoted to the much-beloved little arachnids which some of us, despite all reason, have acquired in large numbers), please let me know via email or the WHOIS contact information for this domain, which is accurate, and at which I can be reached.   For now, here's a small handful of links which should keep you busy...At least for a few minutes, at any rate. Oh, and for the edification of anyone who is not already a member of the appropriate online Fora and email-lists, I am currently subscribed to The ScorpionFans Forum, and can be found on ArachnoBoards with the username JMB, as well as being on The Venomlist under the username 'Neurotoxin'.   Had I been gifted with even a marginal amount of foresight, I'd have used the same nickname on both sites (duh), but it is what it is, so whatever.   Of course, while we're on the topic of links, no site claiming to be informative about scorpions could possibly be complete without mentioning The Scorpion Files, a very comprehensive and informative site, which is vastly more informative and ABSOLUTELY better-kept-up than this one tends to be.   Just perusing that site makes me feel horrifyingly inadequate for having authored this one.

Another site which cannot go unmentioned is, of course, that of the Entomologist Eric Ythier, Scorpion Fauna -- the only caveat I MUST make prior to your visiting that link is that, due to NO fault of his own, the site is hosted by some group which has LOADS of evil JS/OCX-based garbage (read: popups and the like), so visit it using FireFox and NOT, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE).   for that matter, you shouldn't really be surfing with MSIE at ALL, but that's something a little beyond the scope of this page, so I'll just leave it at that.   MSIE pitfalls aside, however, The Scorpion Fauna site is definitely a must-read for those with an interest in scorpions, believe me.

Next on the list would have to be scorpiology.com, including but not limited to their pages on Tityus species Tityus.eu, among many others.   Again, I cannot recommend the information and REALLY fantastic pictures there enough...But that's about all I've got time left for at the present, so I'll wait to add more links for when I update the page and have a distinct section for it.

As for places to acquire Centruroides (and other species of scorpions), I can and do whole-heartedly endorse those listed below, having had nothing but positive dealings with each, and even more extended conversations with some; lest it needs be said, No, I am not affiliated with them in any business-sense, nor am I receiving remuneration of any sort in exchange for my endorsement of them on this (or any other) site.

That said, consider your Unruly Self properly disclaimed.

While I have nothing against Swifty (but for his general lack of numbers of Scorps (sniffle), K8's and Botar are by far the pimpin' shiznatz.  Of course, they, too, could use a LITTLE more variety in their stock...But consider the source of that complaint (me), as I am one seriously picky and obnoxious customer who can (and often does) find fault with virtually, well, everything (some might think me a Cynic, although in truth, I'm merely a Realist), so take the above for what it is, which is a long-standing complaint about EVERY vendor of Invertebrates, really.

  Botar:  "I'm really sorry I don't have any Somalian scorpions in stock currently.  I'll keep you posted if I do, though."
  Me:      "I DON'T CARE IF THAT PART OF AFRICA IS A WAR-TORN HELLPIT!!!  GET ME ANOTHER PARABUTHUS!"

Luckily I've been able to conduct most such exchanges over the phone, which I find incredibly handy, as it prevents him from responding in any sort of appropriate fashion (e.g., by pummelling the living snot out of me).

BUT ENOUGH OF THAT.  So, now, in no particular order, are the worthiest of the worthy; suffice to say that all of them are reputable, knowledgeable, and honest in their dealings, always have high-quality specimens, and in my experience to date, you cannot go wrong with any of them; I personally have done business with anyone here, and I don't do 'paid' endorsements (honest), and receive no kickbacks from anyone I've listed on this page.   (Would that I did).   Suffice to say, I heartily endorse the following dealers without reservation:

    Botarby8s
    Reptist Exotics
    Southern Spider Works
    Krazy8's Invertebrates
    Swifty's Inverts
    NorthWest Inverts

[N.B.:   My removal of Darren Vernier's site (GoldPhoenixExotica) from the listing above is NOT due to any dissatisfaction whatsoever, and I am happy to give an unreserved, 100% positive recommendation as to the quality and care of his stock, his business practices/ethics, and his encyclopaedic knowledge on topics not limited merely to scorpions or tarantulas; however, last I heard, he is (at least as of February 2008), as stated on GoldenPhoenixExotica's site, not currently doing any orders.   If he resumes doing orders, again, I have no hesitations in recommending him.]   In the meantime, if you're looking for a VERY experienced Tarantula/Scorpion dealer in Arizona, I have no hesitations whatsoever about suggesting Reptist Exotics, as, having received items from Brandon personally, and knowing other people who have done large numbers of orders through him (including tarantulas, something which I've got little to no expertise in, sorry), I'm not personally aware of anyone who has done business with him who hasn't been thoroughly happy, so take that for what it's worth.  

As for places to NOT acquire Centruroides, or, for that matter, anything *else*, while I know there are always people complaining about something/someone, there's really only one organization (which is a business, not an individual), which I've had consistent and very negative issues with; with two DOA's and out of circa 15 or so scorpions, only perhaps four (4) of which didn't have fungal infections present on them, while I'm really not up to putting up a self-appointed blacklist, I'm in a bit of a quandary about how to deal with it, as I can only think to myself that if *I* were some budding enthusiast new to the hobby, and I spent hundreds of dollars for a number of scorpions, and received those with the aforementioned issues, I'd likely exit the entire field, stage-left, and probably come to the snap conclusion that the entire thing was a total wipe; that being the last thing I want to see as there are few enough people doing the sort of research, observation and documentation about scorpions as there *should* be, I'm really torn about publicizing the name of the vendor.

It basically comes down to 'picking one's fights', while, at the same time, wanting to prevent something like that happening to others...Fun.   Well, if I can nurse back to health the bulk of the specimens, and the research which I mention above is a success, then that lessens the issue, I suppose...So we shall see.

As for places to acquire various supplies, the only things I've had issues finding in local stores (besides any sort of scorpion which was even remotely interesting -- thanks to being on the East Coast, at present) is, naturally, heat-tape and (in the event of dealing with mite infestations, which I've happily been able to avoid, barring having to rid the occasional newly received specimen(s) of parasites), Hypoaspis miles, known more commonly as the parasitic mite of choice for ridding reptiles and invertebrates of pest mites.

Offhand, there aren't that many online sources for Calorique [tm] Heat Tape; one vendor I use routinely is the The Bean Farm, which is where I generally purchase my heat tape from.   And as for where to get Hypoaspis miles, which is indispensible as a means of biocontrol for parasitic/pest mites, which are both unwholesome and much-to-be-dreaded, as those who have dealt with them know -- I've only ordered them from the Biocontrol Network, and IIRC, one can do online orders.   In any event, for those wondering just how they can rid their beloved non-internal-skeleton-bearing pet from such horrors as mites, or merely for those wondering just how in Hell does one go about ridding one arachnid of other an arachnids, H. miles are the way to go, and are quite effective at mite control/removal.

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While I have the raw photographic talents of an induction coil, I have collected a reasonably large number of pictures of scorpions, and -- as time permits -- I'll be sure and upload them and link to them from here.  Until such a time as I can include all the pictures I've taken (you have NO idea just how many I have -- I mean, really...) please feel free to gaze deep into the picture below to satisfy your primitive scorpion-viewing urges.