- Joined
- Jul 12, 2007
- Messages
- 356
Hey everyone, I keep this species and they do quite well, thought I would post a straight to the point care sheet, with that said, here it is.
Housing: I believe that the housing of this species is crucial to their well being, I recommend a
glass aquarium with a top opening screen top, nothing you can't buy at your local pet store,
though the smaller glass tanks might be harder to find. Ventilation is crucial with this species,
do not restrict ventilation in any way whatsoever in the cage, and if possible, keep them against a wall
below a window IF the cage is heated(this is to enable air flow,), I also don't recommend keeping one in a m
icro climate type of
ward, if you will, as the ventilation is most likely restricted and the humidity high.
Temperature: Keep them at room temperature, or if your house is below 70(do not keep them past 86) degrees during the day
supplemental heating will be necessary, a heat lamp or heat pad is fine, however
I have found that these scorpions become more active in dimly lit situations as LONG as
they can tell day from night for their day/night cycle. One thing I have done for my scorpions
is turn the heat completely off during the night unless your house gets below 40 degrees with
40 degrees being a bit on the extreme side. You must remember that they are found in the desert
and it can get close to freezing during the night, these scorpions are very very tough, I do however believe
a warm day temperature is something that should be given. I may get a lot of flame for this next recommendation
but I do believe that all heat sources must be regulated with a thermostat, on/off ranco is fine, and tested with an accurate
thermometer, I use the PE1 by pro exotics. I will admit that before I was strict with using thermostats, I never had a problem
with overheating and i did put the heat pad on the bottom, I do not recommend this and have since changed my methods with better success, but I will note
that my scorpions did fine with this set up.
Humidity: This is one of the biggest issues people have with these scorpions, there is
much contradicting information and along with that, we know very little about scorpions in general.
With that said, I will share my methods of humidity with this species, As I said, ventilation is crucial, do not restrict it in any way,
for humidity, I remove the scorpion and dampen half of the cage every few weeks after which it is then allowed to dry.
One thing I have recently starting doing is giving the entrance of the scorpions burrow at the wall of the glass a misting, no more than two pulls of the trigger
as this is meant to provide drinking water, I will mist the scorpions burrow using this method every two days or so.
When the scorpion is in premolt I will give the cage a very light misting daily, yes daily, it is imperative however that the misting be VERY light, with
no more than 4 pulls of the trigger all around the cage, misting the burrow is preferred as this will hold in humidity better, as long as you are careful not
to spray the scorpion.
Substrate: I believe in a deep substrate and this is of grave importance for this scorpion, at least 3 inches for young scorpions and 5 inches for adults, with 8 being
in my opinion, ideal. Many people have recommended a false bottom for this scorpion, I recommend against this. Why? because with a false bottom there is no
way to ensure that the scorpion does not come into contact with the bottom, these are burrowing scorpions and will dig very deep and extensive tunnel systems
if given the opportunity to do so. Do not add gravel or clay balls to the bottom of the substrate, use a deep substrate and add water down it every few weeks
as mentioned above, this is the way the burrows are anyway in the wild. For substrate mixtures I use 80/20 excavator clay and sand that is dampened
and allowed to dry to allow a burrowing consistency. At one point, I had kept the substrate bone dry and did not add water for quite some time,
I had wondered why the scorpion was not burrowing despite the "ideal" mix, I added water and in within two days the scorpion dug an extensive tunnel system.
Retreats: I used to use a flat rock for a retreat, but after repetitive excavation by the scorpion of under the rock, I kept having to remove the rock and collapse the burrow
for fear of the scorpion being crushed, now, I have sterilized cactus wood in for decoration and merely let the scorpion dig a burrow in the substrate alone.
Feeding: I feed my scorpions as often as they will eat and do not believe in over feeding, this usually amounts to one cricket a day,in some circumstances 2 a day, this
also serves the purpose of keeping the scorpion well hydrated which is important.
Housing: I believe that the housing of this species is crucial to their well being, I recommend a
glass aquarium with a top opening screen top, nothing you can't buy at your local pet store,
though the smaller glass tanks might be harder to find. Ventilation is crucial with this species,
do not restrict ventilation in any way whatsoever in the cage, and if possible, keep them against a wall
below a window IF the cage is heated(this is to enable air flow,), I also don't recommend keeping one in a m
icro climate type of
ward, if you will, as the ventilation is most likely restricted and the humidity high.
Temperature: Keep them at room temperature, or if your house is below 70(do not keep them past 86) degrees during the day
supplemental heating will be necessary, a heat lamp or heat pad is fine, however
I have found that these scorpions become more active in dimly lit situations as LONG as
they can tell day from night for their day/night cycle. One thing I have done for my scorpions
is turn the heat completely off during the night unless your house gets below 40 degrees with
40 degrees being a bit on the extreme side. You must remember that they are found in the desert
and it can get close to freezing during the night, these scorpions are very very tough, I do however believe
a warm day temperature is something that should be given. I may get a lot of flame for this next recommendation
but I do believe that all heat sources must be regulated with a thermostat, on/off ranco is fine, and tested with an accurate
thermometer, I use the PE1 by pro exotics. I will admit that before I was strict with using thermostats, I never had a problem
with overheating and i did put the heat pad on the bottom, I do not recommend this and have since changed my methods with better success, but I will note
that my scorpions did fine with this set up.
Humidity: This is one of the biggest issues people have with these scorpions, there is
much contradicting information and along with that, we know very little about scorpions in general.
With that said, I will share my methods of humidity with this species, As I said, ventilation is crucial, do not restrict it in any way,
for humidity, I remove the scorpion and dampen half of the cage every few weeks after which it is then allowed to dry.
One thing I have recently starting doing is giving the entrance of the scorpions burrow at the wall of the glass a misting, no more than two pulls of the trigger
as this is meant to provide drinking water, I will mist the scorpions burrow using this method every two days or so.
When the scorpion is in premolt I will give the cage a very light misting daily, yes daily, it is imperative however that the misting be VERY light, with
no more than 4 pulls of the trigger all around the cage, misting the burrow is preferred as this will hold in humidity better, as long as you are careful not
to spray the scorpion.
Substrate: I believe in a deep substrate and this is of grave importance for this scorpion, at least 3 inches for young scorpions and 5 inches for adults, with 8 being
in my opinion, ideal. Many people have recommended a false bottom for this scorpion, I recommend against this. Why? because with a false bottom there is no
way to ensure that the scorpion does not come into contact with the bottom, these are burrowing scorpions and will dig very deep and extensive tunnel systems
if given the opportunity to do so. Do not add gravel or clay balls to the bottom of the substrate, use a deep substrate and add water down it every few weeks
as mentioned above, this is the way the burrows are anyway in the wild. For substrate mixtures I use 80/20 excavator clay and sand that is dampened
and allowed to dry to allow a burrowing consistency. At one point, I had kept the substrate bone dry and did not add water for quite some time,
I had wondered why the scorpion was not burrowing despite the "ideal" mix, I added water and in within two days the scorpion dug an extensive tunnel system.
Retreats: I used to use a flat rock for a retreat, but after repetitive excavation by the scorpion of under the rock, I kept having to remove the rock and collapse the burrow
for fear of the scorpion being crushed, now, I have sterilized cactus wood in for decoration and merely let the scorpion dig a burrow in the substrate alone.
Feeding: I feed my scorpions as often as they will eat and do not believe in over feeding, this usually amounts to one cricket a day,in some circumstances 2 a day, this
also serves the purpose of keeping the scorpion well hydrated which is important.