advice for newbie on keeping Emperor

BigBadConrad

Arachnobaron
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Aug 6, 2003
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Brand new to this forum - looks like an excellent resource, many knowledgable & experienced hobbyists. Read a book last month on scorpion care, but it was not very thorough. Just bought a 4.5" Emperor one week ago (not sure of sex yet. I know what to look for but since I only have one scorp I'm not really sure if pectines are relatively "feathery" or not). After reading up (including skinheaddave's post on 'Emperor guidelines') looks like I need to make some changes to my setup. Have him in a 5 gal. Kritter Keeper w/a 7 watt Kritter light in lid, 2" peat, bark log, small water dish. I have some experience keeping herps & limited experience w/inverts (mostly mantids), but this is my first scorpion. I live in the Arizona desert, so very dry in my house. Room temp is 72-76. I've been thoroughly misting the peat several times daily. Sounds like I need a different lid (Kritter lid is very ventilated) and a gravel/tube setup to get humidity up (is the tube really necessary? Any details on how to set that up?). I have been leaving the light on all day and turning it off at night. Guy at the store set me up with this gear & said it should be fine, not to worry about a thermometer or humidity gauge, but I suspect I need to give this more attention. The scorp is often active at night, but it hasn't eaten since I brought it home 7 days ago. I left two large crickets in with him for the first two days, tried to feed him one w/foreceps a couple times at night when he was out & prowling, but he just turns & crawls away. Removed crickets so as not to stress him out. Tried with foreceps every day since. Tried a bloodied large mealworm last night with no luck. Have seen it sit with claws open (hungry?), but refuses food then too. Do you let crickets roam free or always feed from foreceps? I know they often fast, but since he hasn't eaten for me yet I'm getting concerned. I'm sure getting the temp & humidity closer to ideal will help. Any suggestions? I want to get this right ASAP.

Thanks,
John (BigBadConrad)
 

chuck

Arachnodemon
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Jul 1, 2003
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you dont have to change tops, just put ceran wrap over part of the top. and misting doesnt do much for humidity, you may want to take a water bottle and wet the substrate.

id allow the cricket to roam around all night, theyre nocturnal and you being around may be making it nervous. but as long as it looks big and healthy you dont need to worry about food, IMO
 

wsimms

Arachnodaddy
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First, I think you DO need a decent thermometer and humidity gauge. I keep mine between 85 and 95F, with a normal minimum humidity of 80%. I have a 3/4 to 1 inch level of aquarium gravel at the bottom of my tank, covered with about 5 inches of (potting soil, peat, and ground coconut shell) substrate mix over that. I have 6 plastic conical 15ml test tubes with the bottoms cut out running through the substrate to the gravel and I add water through these as needed. They (4) also have two large water dishes. Too low a humidity runs the risk of molting problems, too high and you get fungus and mites. I'm currently experimenting with slightly lower humidity.
As to feeding, I leave crickets in overnight and take them out in the morning, though I like to hand feed mine occasionally (for the "bonding experience" LOL). Males especially can be prone to fasting, sometimes for months. However, warmer temp=increased feeding, so he may be too cold. See the link below
W


http://www.angelfire.com/extreme/emperorscorpions/
 
Last edited:

scorpio

Arachnodemon
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Yeah, I just got my scorps yesterday nd ive been using the tube method. I mist regularly, and in a few days, the moisture should start coming through the substrate. Its a good way to keep humidity up.
 

BigBadConrad

Arachnobaron
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Thx for the tips...OK, I got a "cool forest habitat kit" that included a 20 gal (long) tank w/sliding screen lid, a ceramic clamp-style light to sit on top, and therm & humidity gauges (cheapos). I'll have to silicone seal the tank and plug the center hole in bottom so it will hold water, and get some glass/plexiglass for the top. Also bought a divider that seems to fit real well and I might put another scorp or centipede with similar requirements on the other side, with the lamp in the middle and the bark logs on the ends. The lamp came with a "Zoo Med Daylight Blue Reptile Bulb" (60W). Think this bulb will be OK? It must be cooler than the 50W "Basking bulb" that comes with the similar, uhh, "Warmer Forest Habitat Kit" (I forget the real name). Is 1" of gravel and 4" peat about right? Should the gravel be aquarium gravel or larger sized? Anyone put an undergravel aquarium filter or that egg crating stuff under the gravel, or is this overkill? I thought it might be a good idea. Are multiple watering tubes in the gravel the way to go or is one fine? Also, I put the gauges in the Kritter Keeper I'm using now and was surprised to see it is 80 degrees (just outside of his bark log) and 80% humidity (after a misting). I'll check again tonight with the light off. Am I on track with any or all of this? Thx for the feedback.

-BBC
 

scorpio

Arachnodemon
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Hmm....from my 2 days of experience, and my 2 weeks research, I dont think lights are reccomended. Especially those that give off UV Rays. Ive heard they kill empies. I would try a heating pad on the side of the tank. Or some other method. We cant forget that the rainforest is pretty dark, and thats where Emps come from. I kept my tank partially covered with a towel, so there is a light side and a dark side. Like the force:p So far, my empies have gone on both sides, but they like to stay under my tight little hiding spots.
 

wsimms

Arachnodaddy
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They certainly have no UV requirement as herps do, and some authorities indicate that UV IS detrimental to their health. I use a ceramic heater and a heating pad stuck on the back (NOT bottom) of the tank.

W
 

BigBadConrad

Arachnobaron
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Hmm, I thought everyone used lights. Yeah, I know they shun the direct rays, but I thought as long as they have a dark spot to hide in this was a good way to heat the tank and to simulate a daily light cycle (turning it off at night). Wsimms, do you keep the light on in the day/off at night? How about the rock heater - do you cycle it, what kind/brand, and how did you attach it to the side? While I'm setting this up he's in a 5 gal Kritter Keeper, and with the light off at night it's only in the low 70s (too cold, right?). So: which to use, light, rock heater or both? And on or off at night? Thx.
 

wsimms

Arachnodaddy
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I turn the ceramic heater off at night, but since I keep my A/C running at a cool 68F, I leave the heating pad on all the time. It sits behind their main hideout, but they also have another hideout at the other end of the tank, so they always have access to a temperature gradient, even though the overall tank temp drops at night. However, they usually prefer to hang out next to the heating pad, even when the ceramic heater is on. The tank is next to a window (indirect light only), so they get a good day/night cycle along with their temp change. For what it's worth, they usually come out of hiding within 1-2 hours after dark/cooldown, and they are usually still out when I go to bed. I'm not sure if it's the light or temp change that stimulates this, since I usually try to turn off the heater right at sundown.

W
 

wsimms

Arachnodaddy
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The tank heater is one of the ZooMed sticky kind which I stuck to the back (out)side of the tank at the substrate surface line at one end of the tank. I have the 10-20 gallon size on my 10 gallon tank. The ceramic I think is also ZooMed, and it is 65 watts, which would probably be too hot if you don't keep your house a meatlocker like I do. For my tank, this combo maxes out right around 100F at the heating pad during the day, and 95F at the hot end of the tank away from the pad. The other (cool) end of the tank gets to about 85F during the day.

W
 

BigBadConrad

Arachnobaron
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Thx, W. I assume the ceramic heater is over the center? I also should probably cover most of the screen to keep the humidity up, huh? I know you don't have that problem in GA - I spent a Summer in Doraville LOL. Update: mine is definitely a male. I am going to scrap the partition idea and just make some nice spacious digs for him and a female of the same size.
 

wsimms

Arachnodaddy
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I actually have the ceramic heater on the same end of the tank as the heating pad, so there is a fairly big drop in temp between ends of the tank. I'm not sure if this is ideal, but my scorps seem to like it. While we do have outdoor humidity in the high 90% range right now, my industrial strength AC keeps my inside humidity below 60%, so I'm always checking their humidity. I usually keep my top mostly covered, but I'm experimenting with keeping it uncovered and at a relatively lower humidity. I have four in this tank, 2 males, 2 females, purchased at different times from different places, and they all get along well, so I think 2 in a 5 gallon should be fine. My personal bias is that people tend to keep their scorps in too large a container. I think that a "communal" species like this will be OK as long as they are well fed.

W
 

-KIND-PHISH

Arachnopeon
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Aug 11, 2003
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heat rocks work?

I got a badass egyptian huge black scorpion type thing (i dunno much about scorpions im learning) but I put a heat rock in its aquarium-a small one and I got a hideout thing for it and a little water pong thingy and sand and a top at leat 90 percent covered.. and when I said sand i mean just sand I am not sure what the humidity is or anything like that. ANWAYS I just need someone to tell me if what I got is good enough OH and it got out of its first stage of molting and back to eating stuff. I just need to know if I need to do any changes to it PLEASE TELL ME CUZ the shopkeeper is a idiot...he told my scorpion was barley poisounus and a regular emperor well its a dang fat tailed small pencher very very posiounus scorpion and its bigger then any black one ive seen in any pet store or on TV. I dunno if im lucky to have it or if im stupid to have for beginner
 

scorpio

Arachnodemon
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im sure dave covered a lot of this, but humidity is important...
You cant just keep any old scorpion in sand....Lots are tropical species

Heat Rocks have bad feedback. I would reccomend a heating pad, and if you cant get the temp right, maybe a rheostat.
 

-KIND-PHISH

Arachnopeon
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Aug 11, 2003
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TERRIAN?

Dang I couldn't get daves email my email deal is **BLEEPED UP** But anways....I think my scopion is happy some what because he has gottin out of molting and eats.

You said there tropical some what do you think I should put some sort of a desert plant in there? Or some sort of grass area...I was thinkin put half sand and half vegetation?

And Im also thinkin if the humidity isnt enough then I could cover it up about 95 percent from the 90 percent its on now....:confused:
 
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