Opisthacanthus rugiceps is an awesome scorpion species! And although they aren't very big or colorful, they are among my favourite scorpion species. In this article I will tell you some general info and care for this species and some personal experiences and opinions on them as well.
O. rugiceps was actually the second scorpion species I ever got, my first one was an asian forest scorpion, and after that I got a captive bred, adult pair of this species almost a year ago. I like their chubby look, especially the females look very bloated when you look at them from above, it looks pretty funny to me. They're also pretty active in the warmer months, I regularly see them foraging at night which is fun to watch.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Opisthacanthus rugiceps is a species in the family Hemiscorpiidae, which contains a lot of cool species that I really like. Opisthacanthus rugiceps comes from Africa, as a lot of species from this genus. O. rugiceps specifically is found in eastern Africa, where it lives on savannahs and in forests. It is a semi-arboreal species, spending most of its time under bark and in tree holes, showing only their strong pedipalps so that predators have a hard time getting to them, kind of like a shield protecting the rest of the scorpion's body. They're a medium sized species, about 6-7 cm measured from the front of the prosoma to the tip of the telson, with males staying smaller than females. The color is brownish grey on the body, with lighter legs and black pedipalps. The telson is a light brown-orange color. Being from the family Hemiscorpiidae, their venom is very weak, they rely on their pedipalps as a defence and to kill prey.
CARE
This is not at all a hard species to care for, I would recommend them to beginners. There are however a few things that should be taken in consideration when keeping this species.
Opisthacanthus rugiceps should be kept at day temperatures between 25-30C, at night the temperature can drop to room temperature, although they are more active at higher night temps, I recommend no heating at night. In their natural range, the temperature can also drop pretty significantly at night, depending on the season and specific region. In the summer, the night temperature will naturally stay higher than in winter, I think that might be a trigger for them to breed, as animals in the wild often breed in a specific season. I'm not sure on this theory though, I don't have any experience with breeding them yet. They like moderate humidity, not too dry and not too damp. Keeping one side of the enclosure damp should be sufficient. They do like to drink, so always keep a filled shallow water dish in the enclosure. This is one of the few species that I regularly see drinking.
A good link for the climate of different places in Tanzania: https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/tanzania
As they are semi-arboreal, I would recommend providing them with something to climb and hide above the ground. A hollow piece of wood with lots of holes and cracks for them to wedge themselves into would be ideal. As pieces like that are pretty hard to find, you can also use pieces of corkbark stacked in a way so that they provide both horizontal and vertical hidig places.
I've heard conflicting information when it comes to keeping them together. Some say it's not a problem, and some say they will cannibalise. I kept them separate at first, and put them together a few times for breeding, watching them in case something happened, but they didn't really breed succesfully. After a few times, I decided to just put the male in with the female. I kept checking on them regularly, and was surprised to see how well they did together, so I just kept him in with her. They're still doing well together, after a few months. The best thing is probably just to try and find what works for you when it comes to keeping communally or not.
When it comes to feeding, I've found they really don't eat very often. There might be a few months in between feedings sometimes. As long as they look healthy, that shouldn't be a problem. I've also found that they prefer a little bigger prey items, as opposed to smaller ones. A similar size or a bit bigger than the claw of the scorpion should be fine for adults. I don't have any experience with slings/juviniles of this species, but as far as I've seen, I think they eat more readily than adults. If someone has more experience with slings or juviniles, let me know!
BREEDING
This species is very easy to sex as they display sexual dimorphism. The males are much smaller and skinnier than the chubby females.
As stated earlier, I do not have any experience breeding this species yet. However, I am positive that they will breed for me in the future. When they do, I will post a separate breeding report.