New to scorpions and need some help...

[ossiesdream]

Hey guys, I am really wanting to get my wife a scorpion for Christmas. She has wanted one for a while, but I need some advice before I get everything purchased!

So I am thinking about either a dictator or emperor scorpion purchased from Backwater Reptiles. Are these good starter scorpions and is this a good source?

From what I've read, 10 gallon tank with a mesh top, heat pad, several inches of potting soil plus cork bark, hiding spots, etc, is the proper setup. Is this correct?

Thanks for any advice you guys can give

 

[Glorious Baboon]

Don’t buy from backwater reptiles heating pads can be bad especially for borrowers if you use a heat pad you need one that will shut off at your desired temp but still risky I’m not sure the care requirements for those exact scorps I only own a forest scorpion I got for a freebie I keep him like my terrestrials With the exception of more humidity in the enclosure it uses the cork bark pretty much all day and hardly comes out don’t feed them to much they eat til they pop

 

[Bob Lee]

There is an emperor husbandry thread pinned on top, just read that one. You might want to buy a starter culture of springtail for humid enclosures.

 

[pannaking22]

Pandinus or Heterometrus, care the same on both. Humid and fairly warm. No heat pad on the bottom unless you want cooked scorpion. Backwater Reptiles is not recommended, there are several other sellers that have that group for sale that will send you specimens in good shape.

 

[Crom]

I would stay far away from Backwater Reptiles

 

[Dry Desert]

I would stay far away from Backwater Reptiles

If you - or wife - want a scorpion that you can see out and about fairly often I would go for Hadruus Arizon. ( Giant Desert Hairy ) Keep them nice and warm with good depth of sandy substrate several hides, with only a small water dish overnight once every 2 weeks and you will see him/her out and about once settled. Wherever you buy from make sure they are being kept on sand and not peat and NEVER buy one with any traces of black on or near any joints - Mycosis. ( Pandinus family are nicknamed " Pet Holes" )

 

[darkness975]

If you - or wife - want a scorpion that you can see out and about fairly often I would go for Hadruus Arizon. ( Giant Desert Hairy ) Keep them nice and warm with good depth of sandy substrate several hides, with only a small water dish overnight once every 2 weeks and you will see him/her out and about once settled. Wherever you buy from make sure they are being kept on sand and not peat and NEVER buy one with any traces of black on or near any joints - Mycosis. ( Pandinus family are nicknamed " Pet Holes" )

@ossiesdream with the exception of their diapause period, this is mostly true. Hadrurus arizonensis tends to be fairly active and compared to most Pandinus spp. and Heterometrus spp. you will probably see it more. Keep a small water dish in there , they do drink from water dishes despite what some threads in the past have claimed. Let it dry out before refilling the cap.

H. arizonensis Drinking

• darkness975
• Apr 27, 2017
• 6

 

[PhilMcWonder]

Put heat pads on the SIDE of the tank, never on the bottom.
Scorpions go underground to escape from heat... sooooo if the heat is coming from the bottom then the scorpion will dig right into the heat and might get overheated trying to escape from the heat.

 

[Dry Desert]

Put heat pads on the SIDE of the tank, never on the bottom.
Scorpions go underground to escape from heat... sooooo if the heat is coming from the bottom then the scorpion will dig right into the heat and might get overheated trying to escape from the heat.

DO NOT keep any form of water dish in with Arid species on a regular basis - to do so will only increase humidity and lead to MYCOSIS. Most experts will even suggest that arid species will aquire all their moisture from their prey items or from deep in their burrows - this is why species like Hadrurus are very difficult to breed in captivity - because the young rely on the moisture gradiant in their very deep burrows. CONSTANT WATER DISHES LEAD TO MYCOSIS.

 

[darkness975]

A small water bottle cap of water that is filled up after it dries out will not cause the fungal attack known as mycosis to take root.

 

[Dry Desert]

A small water bottle cap of water that is filled up after it dries out will not cause the fungal attack known as mycosis to take root.

A small water bottle cap of water that is filled up after it dries out will not cause the fungal attack known as mycosis to take root.

A small water bottle cap of water that is filled up after it dries out will not cause the fungal attack known as mycosis to take root.

While you are waiting for your bottle cap to dry out the water is evaporating into the surrounding atmosphere. Any true arid species with les than 14 - 16 inches of substrate and a temperature of 30 plus deg. cent. will drink from a standing water as it.s re- hydrating. One bottle cap, overnight, every 2 - 3 weeks is plenty enough.Although not as common tropical forest scorpions can suffer from Mycosis for the same reasons.
Do not bother to reply to this posting as it,s my last post. I can only apologise to other members of this forum that may have learnt from my " very limited experience " that I have myself learnt about scorpions since 1979 whilst in Saudi Arabia for 10 years, and am still learning - NOT from this forum though.

 

[darkness975]

@Dry Desert there is no reason to take such an extremist discord. I said that a small water cap filled up and then allowed to dry up and refilled again at some point is okay, I never said give an arid species a giant swimming pool.

 

[pannaking22]

Arid species are kept in an enclosure with good ventilation, so the semi-frequently filled bottle cap isn't going to hurt anything. They aren't being kept in a way to maintain humidity. I filled my Hadogenes and Parabuthus bottle caps weekly and neither got mycosis. In fact, they greatly appreciated the cap and I'd usually see them drinking a few hours after I'd filled it. It would all be evaporated off by the next morning, within a couple hours in the winter when I had the heater on. Of course this is different if you live in an extremely humid area. If that's the case then you'd want to go light on the watering or not do it at all.

@Dry Desert we've appreciated your posts, but if you're going to be combative when someone gives differing care advice that works then you're welcome to try other forums. AB has enough drama in the tarantula sections, so it'd be nice to avoid it here.

 

[StampFan]

DO NOT keep any form of water dish in with Arid species on a regular basis - to do so will only increase humidity and lead to MYCOSIS. Most experts will even suggest that arid species will aquire all their moisture from their prey items or from deep in their burrows - this is why species like Hadrurus are very difficult to breed in captivity - because the young rely on the moisture gradiant in their very deep burrows. CONSTANT WATER DISHES LEAD TO MYCOSIS.

Maybe if you live in a very humid climate a water dish can be an issue, but the room I have my inverts in can easily drop down to less than 15% humidity in the winter. Adding a water dish to a typical well-ventilated enclosure in that dry a home isn't going to do much to increase humidity. And I have seen Hadrurus drink from a dish.

 

[Dry Desert]

Maybe if you live in a very humid climate a water dish can be an issue, but the room I have my inverts in can easily drop down to less than 15% humidity in the winter. Adding a water dish to a typical well-ventilated enclosure in that dry a home isn't going to do much to increase humidity. And I have seen Hadrurus drink from a dish.

StampFan - Hurrah -at last someone realises that we all don't live on the Texas/Mexico border. AB is viewed by a world wide audience where a good 60/70% of scorpion/would be scorpion keepers live, mainly Europe,Asia and many other places in the world where nomal high humidity is a real problem. Just ckecked my meters the indoor ambient R/H is 74.6% ( South West UK )
Regarding pannaking22,s being "combatant over differing care advice " in my early days of scorpion keeping ,1985, I lost 4 lovely Parabuthus liasoma through INCORRECT care advice NOT Differing care advice regarding water requirement of arid species.
Any world wide forum MUST give 100 % correct advice that affects ALL not just the ones living around the Southern U.S/Mexico border.

 

[StampFan]

StampFan - Hurrah -at last someone realises that we all don't live on the Texas/Mexico border. AB is viewed by a world wide audience where a good 60/70% of scorpion/would be scorpion keepers live, mainly Europe,Asia and many other places in the world where nomal high humidity is a real problem. Just ckecked my meters the indoor ambient R/H is 74.6% ( South West UK )
Regarding pannaking22,s being "combatant over differing care advice " in my early days of scorpion keeping ,1985, I lost 4 lovely Parabuthus liasoma through INCORRECT care advice NOT Differing care advice regarding water requirement of arid species.
Any world wide forum MUST give 100 % correct advice that affects ALL not just the ones living around the Southern U.S/Mexico border.

Any Northern/winter climate home that has central heating has very low winter humidity levels.