cat attack on my emperor?

[Alex99]

Scorpions are photosensitive. Normal light will affect them negatively which will lead to a decline in health, and UV light will outright kill them.

Lamps will also desiccate the Scorpion itself.

I use a heat lamp with a red heat bulb. I was under the impression That red bulbs didnt cause stress or even bother them in the slightest. Is this not true? I have a heat pad that keeps one side at around 80F but when it drops to the low 70s i like to flick it on for an hour or two. Its not my primary heat source obviously but I thought it was stress free?

 

[Dennis Nedry]

It’ll probably only cause stress if it’s too hot. The light itself probably won’t cause much if any stress

 

[darkness975]

Red light wont affect them just beware of desiccation.

 

[Alex99]

Red light wont affect them just beware of desiccation.

What would desiccation affect? The substrate or the scorpion?

 

[Dennis Nedry]

What would desiccation affect? The substrate or the scorpion?

Both. It would directly dry out the substrate, which the scorpion depends on for moisture. This can easily be avoided by just moistening the enclosure with a good soak and having a good depth of substrate though

 

[Bob Lee]

a BULB is A BULB and a LAMP is A LAMP,

CRAP IS MADE OF ATOMS, YOU ARE MADE OF ATOMS, YOU = CRAP.
Gotta love logic.

 

[Bob Lee]

ALWAYS Replicate their natural wild environment.

Yes, I shall now kill xx percent of all my inverts(Because in the wild they wouldn't be here) and calculate their fatality rate compared to the population ratios so I know how many humans need to be killed by them. I'm going to start kidnaping people first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[Bob Lee]

Oh, since we are on the whole NATURE thing why don't I included myself in, let me just do a quick calculation of my condition if I never had access to technology. Oh, damn, wow, too bad, I'm dead, like the other 99 percent of humanity, time to sharpen that wrist cutter I guess. Nature gotta nature.

 

[dragonfire1577]

This species doesn't really seem to settle in until they make a nice burrow or become pet holes under a piece of bark. Set her up with some nice tight hides and start some burrows for her to continue digging in the moist eco earth then hope for the best for recovery.

 

[Dry Desert]

Why wouldn’t light stress it? Too much light would just lead to it hiding more and you seeing it less. What’s the point in even having the heat lamp if you can’t use it when the scorpion is active at night and more exposed? It being natural doesn’t make much of a difference when the animal is living in a glass tank
@NYAN
@Dennis Nedry
@Bob Lee

Bob Lee - No comment at all

To the other "experts" who have decided how I keep my scorpions let me explain how I actually keep them.
Firstly I live in the UK - not Australia, or on the Texas/Mexico border. In the UK maintaining temp. and reducing humidity are a major issue, this is why most of my enclosures are WOODEN - retains heat better and easier to install correct ventilation with fans.
All my arid species are heated from above with CERAMIC HEAT LAMPS not bulbs, these heat lamps are thermostaticly controlled with a night time temp. drop with day/night timers.
All my non arid species are also in hand made wooden enclosures with many real plants, because of the real plants the set up for these enclosures are Daytime - Two 40watt correct Daylight BULBS backed up with Two 75watt pale blue Moonlight Bulbs, all on timers with night time drop. The daylight bulbs - for the plants- are on 8 hour timers this time of year, when the daylight bulbs are off the two Moonlight bulbs come on and are in moon glow reflectors so when the t/stat reduces the low light output from the bulbs there is still a lovely moonlight effect from the reflectors, none of this affects the scorpions nocturnal activity. All this lighting and heating is from above as heat mats in wooden enclosures is a no no and using heat mats in large enclosures in the UK would still require back up heating. All enclosures are misted as and when required to maintain correct humidity.
The reason some arid species burrow 6 feet or more is that's the area where the humidity is just right, especially for the young who are very moisture dependant this is the reason most breeders have difficulty raising Hadrurus spp. past 2nd instar as they don't have the room forsuch deep substrate.
As a foot note any heating device that is not made from glass is A HEAT LAMP.
Heat mats work just fine, attach it to the back or side of the tank with electrical tape and use some insulation between the tank and mat and you eliminate the risk of it cooking itself when it burrows towards the heat source and sits right above it


LEDs give off very little to no heat, certainly not enough to make a noticeable change in the enclosure’s temperature


Ceramic heat emitters create the same heat from above but create no light, infra red bulbs create the same heat as a heat lamp and create red light which is less noticeable to a scorpion, space heaters are the heaters you use to heat the entire room or house. Space heaters aren’t even close to being a direct heat source or a heat lamp


Hiding away during the day is the reason why heat lamps aren’t necessary. Last time I checked one of the many reason some species dig 6ft deep burrows is to escape both the heat and aridity, so how is it natural to expose them to heat they’d otherwise avoid? If you’re gonna turn it off at night so that the scorpion will actually exit it’s burrow then what’s the point of heating it in the first place if that heat will quickly dissipate? May as well just use a heat mat attached to the side or a ceramic heat emitter which won’t create light that will disturb the scorpion. If you’re turning it off and night and not using any heat sources to allow a cooling period then what’s the point in using a heat source at all if it’s hiding away in a cool burrow?

The most natural way to heat them at night would be using a heat mat attached to the side of the enclosure. If they’re active at night and the sun isn’t out at night and any heat is either leftover ambient temperature or radiating off the heated sand and soil then it would be more natural to use an indirect source like a heat mat on the side of the tank.

I’m not saying using a heat lamp during the day is wrong and I’m not saying that there is one right way to heat them, I’m saying that the idea that the only right and natural way to heat them is with an overhead lamp is just plain wrong

This species doesn't really seem to settle in until they make a nice burrow or become pet holes under a piece of bark. Set her up with some nice tight hides and start some burrows for her to continue digging in the moist eco earth then hope for the best for recovery.

This species doesn't really seem to settle in until they make a nice burrow or become pet holes under a piece of bark. Set her up with some nice tight hides and start some burrows for her to continue digging in the moist eco earth then hope for the best for recovery.

 

[Dry Desert]

My reply has been mixed with other posts, its there somewhere.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

My reply has been mixed with other posts, its there somewhere.

You can edit it to fix it if you care, others will be able to quote it then. Otherwise ignore the previous sentence

Anyways as I said I haven’t said you’re doing it wrong or that there is only one right way and that you’re not doing it that way, nor did I say that you should be using a heat mat and assume what enclosures you were using, but again my point was that the idea that the only natural way is to use overhead heating is wrong. Overhead heating works perfectly fine if you make sure you moisten it enough to not dry out the substrate, particularly in species that need moist sub, and make sure the temperature isn’t too high

You also can’t put the reason that some species dig so deep up to just reaching moisture. They do dig burrows that deep to avoid the heat too, which is obvious when you consider the surface temperature of the sand in certain areas such as Australia gets to 60 degrees C or more in direct sun which would cook any scorpion, as well as to avoid reaching levels of humidity that are too high during the wet season where it becomes easy for many species to develop mycosis

Not every non-glass heating device is a heat lamp. There’s still everything from space heaters to heat mats and heat tape to water based heaters. I highly doubt OP is drawing the same definition of heat bulb vs heat lamp as you are, I’m willing to bet he is talking about a lamp that creates light and would stress the scorpion if kept on overnight which he would need to do if trying to keep a constant temp without heat sources that don’t create light

 

[Bob Lee]

@Dry Desert Basically what I'm saying is nature isn't always better

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I'll just add to the other comments stating that a heat pad on the side of a tank works well. It does. I'm not sure about the effects of light on the scorpion's well-being, I don't keep one on any of mine because I am convinced sure that the dessication issues caused by a heat light are valid. I don't keep any arid species, however.

And never underestimate a cat.

 

[Avicularia Kael]

They do not need light- it hurts them. That is why they avoid it. A heat mat or space heater are your best options. Keep the tank somewhere the cat has no access to, change the substrate, and your golden!