Desert hairy scorpion

[KevinsWither]

How did you all make them molt in the younger instars sucessfully?

 

[ArachnoDrew]

How did you all make them molt in the younger instars sucessfully?

@Scorpionluva has had success... humidity is the key when in pre molt

 

[Scorpionluva]

@Scorpionluva has had success... humidity is the key when in pre molt

I did have great success with them molting and moisture did play a big part of it but my airflow( an abundance of) and shallow set up played key parts in it too. Im going to get some juvies and try to document it all this time just so other people have more options on types of setups that can be used. The deep sub for burrowing works well for some and false bottom setups can have great success also but both just seem to turn hadrurus into another pethole species and that i didnt care for lol. I loved watching hadrurus and how active they can be with nowhere to go !

 

[gromgrom]

@Red Eunice has had some success as well, he even showed me his setups. Perhaps he can also add some helpful words here.

 

[Scorpionluva]

@Red Eunice has had some success as well, he even showed me his setups. Perhaps he can also add some helpful words here.

Yes i suggest to anybody keeping them to find any/all methods that have worked and try a combo of setups and possibly figure out a new method that works too. The more methods we find - the more they can help the next person in need

 

[Red Eunice]

How did you all make them molt in the younger instars sucessfully?

Personally, my pair were young juveniles, both have molted twice with no problems. Each enclosure has a water dish and a flat cork bark. I drop water onto the indentations keeping the humidity level higher than most keep theirs. No misting is done nor do I moisten the substrate, sometimes an accidental overflow when filling the water dish.
Also, they have a bit over 3" substrate for burrowing, maybe a reason I see them frequently. Mine aren't pet holes by a long shot.
Thinking outside the box and being successful is what gives keepers an alternate choice with set ups. Trying a different method, being successful and posting it only helps others enjoy the hobby that much more.
"Variety is the spice of life!"

 

[darkness975]

Something I have never understood is why H. arizonensis has such molting problems when so many other arid species that people keep do not. Is H. arizonensis really that specifically needy of a species that humidity is such a key compared to other arid species, both that come from its region and those from other regions?

 

[KevinsWither]

Thank you all! Now with that in mind, with the 3 inches of substrate, now I just gotta draw out how I'll do that! And find some desert hairy scorpions!

 

[KevinsWither]

Personally, my pair were young juveniles, both have molted twice with no problems. Each enclosure has a water dish and a flat cork bark. I drop water onto the indentations keeping the humidity level higher than most keep theirs. No misting is done nor do I moisten the substrate, sometimes an accidental overflow when filling the water dish.
Also, they have a bit over 3" substrate for burrowing, maybe a reason I see them frequently. Mine aren't pet holes by a long shot.
Thinking outside the box and being successful is what gives keepers an alternate choice with set ups. Trying a different method, being successful and posting it only helps others enjoy the hobby that much more.
"Variety is the spice of life!"

Mind if you shoot me a pm with pics of the setup?

 

[darkness975]

Thank you all! Now with that in mind, with the 3 inches of substrate, now I just gotta draw out how I'll do that! And find some desert hairy scorpions!

They need more than 3 inches.

 

[KevinsWither]

They need more than 3 inches.

'
I'd add more than 3 inches of substrate. Someone did say a little over three inches though.

 

[darkness975]

'
I'd add more than 3 inches of substrate. Someone did say a little over three inches though.

H. arizonensis is an obligate burrower. The more Substrate the better.

 

[Scorpionluva]

Personally, my pair were young juveniles, both have molted twice with no problems. Each enclosure has a water dish and a flat cork bark. I drop water onto the indentations keeping the humidity level higher than most keep theirs. No misting is done nor do I moisten the substrate, sometimes an accidental overflow when filling the water dish.
Also, they have a bit over 3" substrate for burrowing, maybe a reason I see them frequently. Mine aren't pet holes by a long shot.
Thinking outside the box and being successful is what gives keepers an alternate choice with set ups. Trying a different method, being successful and posting it only helps others enjoy the hobby that much more.
"Variety is the spice of life!"

See your setup is in a way similar to mine since yours dont burrow in 3" of sub im sure and i just misted 1 side with rocks and seashells to catch tiny pools of water to drink or bath in. Theyd dry up within 24 hours though as i had a ton of airflow
But usually with the deep sub setup they burrow and for the most part....disappear thats what i didnt like about keeping them that way. Plus the thought of any molting under 5" of sub knowing from all the movement they make while molting scared me of a potential collapse and squashed desert hairy nobody wants to see that happen especially if you cant do anything to try and save it

 

[Scorpionluva]

H. arizonensis is an obligate burrower. The more Substrate the better.

In the wild absolutely! no question about it but in captivity youd need a whole room , plant life and 2 dumptrucks full of sand/clay and rocks to try and replicate their habitat correctly

6-7" of sub is hardly correct for how deep theyre found in the wild and without root systems of desert plants holding humidity for them to drink underground - id say it wouldnt have a great chance to molt compared to shallow setups where they can drink , hide and molt in clear sight

 

[Scorpionluva]

@KevinsWither try to make a setup with 3+" of sub on 1 side and up to 6-7" on other side. That's a starting point mixing both types of setups experimenting is fun !

 

[darkness975]

In the wild absolutely! no question about it but in captivity youd need a whole room , plant life and 2 dumptrucks full of sand/clay and rocks to try and replicate their habitat correctly

6-7" of sub is hardly correct for how deep theyre found in the wild and without root systems of desert plants holding humidity for them to drink underground - id say it wouldnt have a great chance to molt compared to shallow setups where they can drink , hide and molt in clear sight

All I meant was OP needs more than 3" of substrate for it to feel more comfortable.

In the past I kept mine on shallower substrate and all they did every night was incessantly dig to nowhere.

 

[KevinsWither]

Looks like I might try the 3 vs 7 inches of substrate. This could be a good experiment in it's own self!

 

[Red Eunice]

See your setup is in a way similar to mine since yours dont burrow in 3" of sub im sure and i just misted 1 side with rocks and seashells to catch tiny pools of water to drink or bath in. Theyd dry up within 24 hours though as i had a ton of airflow
But usually with the deep sub setup they burrow and for the most part....disappear thats what i didnt like about keeping them that way. Plus the thought of any molting under 5" of sub knowing from all the movement they make while molting scared me of a potential collapse and squashed desert hairy nobody wants to see that happen especially if you cant do anything to try and save it

Don't get me wrong, you may have misunderstood, they have burrows. Extensive ones at that.
I think the term "obligate burrower", to many, means a lot of deep substrate in which to construct burrows. In the wild this holds true, but in captivity, I don't believe it to be an absolute necessity.
Their natural habitat is hot, arid and full of predators, deeper burrows are the norm.
In captivity, temps are regulated, moisture/humidity is provided and no predators to avoid, deep sub. Nah!
Before I purchased mine, read an research paper from Ohio University about different substrate mixtures and the tunnels that H. arizonensis constructed. Different ratios of sand/clay mixes were offered and the results surprised me. If memory serves me correctly, the higher clay content mixture had many near 90° vertical drops ending with a cavernous area and were the deepest. The high sand content tunnels were shallow with gentle slopes.
From their research, I opted w/h the 60/40 sand clay mix, the middle of the road offered in the study.
I regret not having bookmarked/downloaded it as a reference article.

 

[Red Eunice]

Mind if you shoot me a pm with pics of the setup?

Here you go, taken minutes ago!

 

[Scorpionluva]

In the past I kept mine on shallower substrate and all they did every night was incessantly dig to nowhere.

My 1st hadrurus did the same thing and died shortly after ( darned LPS pets)
I wanted more of them so i had my cousin who lived in AZ get me some and take pics and mental notes on where he found them. Since i knew i couldn't replicate their habitat correctly - i aimed for what they needed and did a crude representation of that lol
Some how it worked and i didnt think anything of it
i tried and failed with several other exotic species back then ( parabuthus transvaalicus +mossambicensis) and just chalked that up to hadrurus being an easy species to keep breed and raise while the exotic stuff was hard..... not now it seems the other way around. Im trying to arrange my scorp room so i can add a few hadrurus experiments.
I can document it all this time just to help figure out some other methods that will work and hopefully none that fail