Late Night Snack

Late night feeding of my Vinegaroons using wax worms. Not filmed is a smaller Vinegaroon I have, it doesn’t really leave its burrow but if I drop a prey item by the entrance it will go after it and drag it back to its burrow. Since they are nocturnal I tend to feed them when they are the most active. The Vinegaroons also come out and investigate when I mist the enclosure, even though they have access to water all day I think prefer to drink off what gets misted instead of the water dish. I’ve even observed them dumbing the dirt they excavated into the water dish. Enjoy the video.

Vinegaroon Feeding

One of my Vinegaroons picked up and carried away a small super worm back to its burrow to eat at its leisure. After recording the feeding,  I took the opportunity to experiment with the iMovie app by adding a song from the apps theme choices. The app doesn’t have much to choose from but it does have the option to add from your own music and playlist.

Vinegaroons excavating

My Vinegaroons starting to dig burrows in the middle of the night. All four Vinegaroons have made themselves burrows with tunnels and multiple chambers. I’m lucky that two of them built there starter burrow right next to the side of the container. All four have a main burrow they use but still continue to excavate in other parts of  the container. There is always a new pile of dirt and a new tunnel started by the time I check on them the next day.

Vinegaroon Enclosure

I’m currently housing my four juvenile Vinegaroons in 12”x12” plastic storage bins with about 5 inches of reptisoil substrate, two hides one being live moss,  and a cork bark hide. My Vinegaroons seem to enjoy the live moss more then  the cork bark. Multiple holes have been drilled out the side of the containers and the lid. I keep the humidity between 75-85 and provide clean drinking water.

Some Vinegaroon info

  Vinegaroons also referred to as whip scorpions are Thelyphonida which is part of the arachnid order. Vinegaroons resemble a scorpion but are more closely related to spiders.  The particular Vinegaroons I will be showcasing scientific name is Mastigoproctus Giganteus  better known as giant vinegaroons. Vinegaroons have no stinger or venom glands, but they aren’t completely defenseless. They have very strong pedipalps to catch their prey which mostly includes other insects, slugs worms, scorpions millipedes and centipedes. Vinegaroons are also  capable of spraying  a mist of 85% concentrated acetic acid  from the base of their tail. To us it would smell like strong vinegar hence the name Vinegaroon.  Vinegaroons have six legs and two antenna type legs. They have such poor eye sight and are nearly blind but the two long antenna legs are used like a pair of walking canes that are able to feel vibrations, chemical, and tactile stimulation. Vinegaroons  need deep substrate at least five to six inches to dig a burrow that may contain multiple chambers. The juvenile vinegaroons will often seal the entrance to molt also adults and juveniles will hibernate in the burrow. Vinegaroon juveniles molt once a year for a total of four years before becoming an adults and by that time they are able to be sexed.

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