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Atlas / Library / Buthidae / Common fat-tailed / South African thick-tail (transvaalicus)
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Buthidae

Common fat-tailed / South African thick-tail (transvaalicus)

Parabuthus transvaalicus

The page we cite does not state this figure. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and it gives no temperature for this species at all. 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. arachnoboards.com

Photograph: Wynand Uys · 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. Common fat-tailed / South African thick-tail (transvaalicus) is nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Burrowing · warm · dryFrom the sheet: 28–34°C, humidity 30–45%

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.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/parabuthus-transvaalicus

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature28–34 °C
Humidity30–45 %
Enclosure40×30×25
Diet7 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
28–34°Ambient

One ambient band, 28–34°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states28-34°C

Humidity

30–45%Target RH

The sheet states30-45% (dry, with water dish)

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m11–15 cm
1520100400 cm
11–15 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
Origin
IUCN / CITES
IUCN not assessed; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Advanced (experts only)
Commonality
Specialist keepers only
Adult size
11-15 cm; thick venomous tail
Lifespan
10-15 years
Growth rate
Medium
Activity & niche
Nocturnal arid burrower/scraper
Temperament
Defensive; can spray/flick venom and stridulate
Venom / defense
Dangerous venom (medically significant) – experts only; can also squirt venom toward eyes

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substratewarm hidewater30–45 % RH40 cm25 cm
warm hidewatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
40 × 30 × 25 cmWidth × depth × height
12dm² 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 states40x30x25 cm for one adult

Temperature
28-34°C
Humidity
30-45% (dry, with water dish)
Min. enclosure
40x30x25 cm for one adult
Substrate
10-15 cm sand/soil mix, packed for scrapes
Hides / decor / water
Rock/cork hide, water dish

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 dAs the sheet states
4Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window.

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 statesCrickets, roaches, locusts · 1-2 items weekly to biweekly

Staple food
Crickets, roaches, locusts
Feeding frequency
1-2 items weekly to biweekly
Supplements
Not required

Behaviour and handling

HandlingNever
CommunalNo: solitary and cannibalistic
Defense / stress signsTail raised and vibrated, stridulation, venom-flicking

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
10–15 yrLifespan in care
10 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; young ride mother's back to first molt

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsMismolt if too humid; dehydration
Red flags / quarantine
SignsHandle only with tools/long forceps; QT wild-caught; verify keeper competence & antivenom access

Good to know

  • One of few scorpions that can squirt venom up to ~1 m as a warning

What it needs

Enclosure at least 40 × 30 × 25 cmbecause enclosure — 40x30x25 cm for one adult
A thermometerbecause temp — 28-34°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 30-45% (dry, with water dish)

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

Sources

arachnoboards.comen.wikipedia.org

Others in this group

Emperor scorpionPandinus imperatorMalayan / Asian forest scorpionHeterometrus spiniferDesert hairy scorpionHadrurus arizonensisLaotian / Vietnamese giant forest scorpionHeterometrus laoticusDeathstalkerLeiurus quinquestriatusYellow fat-tailed scorpion (australis)Androctonus australisArizona bark scorpionCentruroides sculpturatusGiant forest scorpion (longimanus)Heterometrus longimanus

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.