# what is the correct supstrate for a desert hairy?



## BaconMan345 (Jul 15, 2003)

I am a total bigginer at scorpion collecting so I figured I would let the pro's anwser this question. I have a substrate prepared to house a desert hairy scorpion the only problem is that I don't know how large  the substrate should be. I really dont want it to be to small so the scorpion gets stressed but I also dont want a cage so big that it is hard to manage. So how big should the cage be?


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## XOskeletonRED (Jul 16, 2003)

If you're only going to be housing one desert hairy, a ten gallon tank is most commonly used because it's larger than a five gallon and is more visually impressive, but yet it's not way to big. Five gallons are also used quite frequently for a single scorp. If you plan to keep more than one (chances are, you will), a twenty gallon long tank is most commonly used. This size is good up to several scorps, but keep in mind, you may have cannibalism at any more than one (if they are fed very well and often enough, you shouldn't run into that problem at all). The most common substrate would be rocks (substrate is used to define the deep under layer beneath the surface, while the surface is most commonly sand, but often is peat mixtures, solid peat and others, to include vermiculite).


adios,
edw.


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## atavuss (Jul 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by BaconMan345 _
> *I am a total bigginer at scorpion collecting so I figured I would let the pro's anwser this question. I have a substrate prepared to house a desert hairy scorpion the only problem is that I don't know how large  the substrate should be. I really dont want it to be to small so the scorpion gets stressed but I also dont want a cage so big that it is hard to manage. So how big should the cage be? *


I keep my adult female H. spadix in a large kritter keeper with a hide and water dish.  I am using a 50/50 mixture of forest bed and play sand.  she only used the hide when she birthed her babies otherwise she is always out in the open.  there is probably two inches of substrate and she has made no effort to burrow at all.
Ed


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## jper26 (Jul 16, 2003)

Ed are your H.spadix babies still alive?


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## neveragain (Jul 16, 2003)

i keep one adult in a 5 gallon tank with 4 - 6 inches of 40% playsand, 40% peat, and 20% gravel.  i use a soda bottle cap for water, i have a piece of flat rock in one corner, a piece of corkbark that i broke so its a little cave type thing, and a piece of driftwood (which is basically just for decoration) and mine is doing perfectly fine.  it burrowed from around the 5 inch mark, almost to the bottom of the tank.  but the weird thing is, it dindt start the burrow under the rock or the corkbark, it just started it right in the open.


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## jper26 (Jul 16, 2003)

Pic of 2 of my H.spadix


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## atavuss (Jul 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by jper26 _
> *Ed are your H.spadix babies still alive? *


yes, three or four of them molted again, they are third or fourth instar now and they were born spring of 02. I had not seen them for months as they were burrowed and I was debating dumping out the substrate to see if they were alive or not.  I have lost two, probably when I let things dry out too much to try and get rid of phorid flies. interestingly the two that died were the ones that were always out in the open without burrows.
Ed


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## BaconMan345 (Jul 16, 2003)

Thanks alot for replying to my question. I have one more question about a desert hairy scorpion. The sand in the substrate that I am using is just regular play sand. should I alter the sand to make it easier for the scorpion to borrow?


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## neveragain (Jul 16, 2003)

youre gonna wanna try to do something with it to make it more stable so it wont collapse.  i tried just wetting it down and packing it in as tight as i could, but it wound up collapsing after a few weeks.  now my method (40% playsand, 40% peatmoss, 20% gravel, mixed in a bucket with water, then packed into the enclsosure) has worked great, and has been up for i dont even know how long without having the burrow collapse.

tehre is also something called "bentonite" (i know i butchered the word) that some people on these forums mixed with sand and are getting good results from it, but i'll let them tell you about it as they will be able to explain it better.


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