# Is this a good enclosure for my Asian forest scorpion?



## Ginron (Jul 1, 2016)

Hi,

This is my first time keeping a scorpion so i just wanted to ask the experienced people of this forum if the enclosure i have created is well suited for my asian forest scorpion.

The substrate is Eco Earth. There are two heat pads (one on the back wall and one under the tank) on the right side, as well as a heat bulb which gets the warm side of the tank up to 88F. The left side (cool side) stays around 78 - 80F. Both sides have a hide for the scorpion to go to during the day. The middle light is a Zoo Med light that emits 10% UVB for the live plants. I spray the whole tank once in the morning and once at night to keep the humidity at around 70 - 80%. At night i turn off the heat lamp and replace the UVB bulb with a red party bulb for viewing the scorpion. i'm planing to feed the scorp two or three gut loaded crickets per week.

Some questions i have are:
- Is the UVB light very detrimental to the scorpions health even thought he is in a hide the whole day?
- Am i using too much light in general?
- Is the red party light the same as an IR red light, and are either safe?
- is humidity percent important or can i just go by the moisture of the soil?

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,


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## shining (Jul 1, 2016)

Ginron said:


> Hi,
> 
> This is my first time keeping a scorpion so i just wanted to ask the experienced people of this forum if the enclosure i have created is well suited for my asian forest scorpion.
> 
> ...


Looks great.
Ditch the heat pads, they could cook your scorpion if it burrows to get away from the heat.

Less light the better (they hate light) Your scorpion gets no benefit from a uvb bulb like a reptile would.

Also, ditch the rocks in the water dishes, it won't drown.

The red party bulb is not the same as an ir.
Heat lamps are safe so as long as you moderate it's temperature with a rheostat or preferably a thermostat to prevent extreme fluctuations.

What is the ambient temperature of the room it is in without heating?

You don't really have to gauge the ambient humidity, just make sure the substrate is always moist but not sopping wet.


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## Ginron (Jul 1, 2016)

Thanks for the tips!

The room temp right now is around 70F, in winter it will be around 60F. 

I don't know what to do about the lighting/heat situation though since you say the scorpion hates light, but without the heat lamp the enclosure doesn't get hot enough with just the heat pads (and getting rid of both the heat pads and the heat lamp is not an option since the room isn't warm enough on its own). I would get rid of the UVB light but i was under the impression that the plants in the tank need it to stay healthy. 

Any suggestions for a solution?


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## shining (Jul 1, 2016)

Ginron said:


> Thanks for the tips!
> 
> The room temp right now is around 70F, in winter it will be around 60F.
> 
> ...


Ahhh. The plants, you can use the light like you have been for the plants but get a legit ir bulb.


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## Ginron (Jul 1, 2016)

So ditch the heat pad under the tank and replace the standard heat lamp bulb with an IR one.

Any brand of ir bulb that you would recommend?


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## shining (Jul 1, 2016)

Ginron said:


> So ditch the heat pad under the tank and replace the standard heat lamp bulb with an IR one.
> 
> Any brand of ir bulb that you would recommend?


Ditch both heat pads, the side is unnecessary.

Keep your uvb for your plants during the day and trade the red party bulb for an ir bulb like this one....


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## Ginron (Jul 1, 2016)

Great Thanks for the help.


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## shining (Jul 1, 2016)

Ginron said:


> Great Thanks for the help.


No problemo....

I almost forgot about this. 

Where did you get those plants and did you "animal safe" them? 

If you are unsure of what I mean, here's a good read.

http://www.neherpetoculture.com/plantprocessingprocedures


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## Blackout14 (Jul 1, 2016)

You can also get a ceramic heat emmiter looks like a ceramic lightbulb they make em all the way up to 250 watts to supplement heat.  Like was mentioned scorps instinct when they are hot is to burrow so the pad underneath will cook em but a Che from over head puts out heat but not any additional light I use them a lot for specie  that need heating from the top


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## Ginron (Jul 1, 2016)

shining said:


> No problemo....
> 
> I almost forgot about this.
> 
> ...


I got two of the plants from the greenhouse at Lows and the other three from a local nursery. The only thing i did before putting them in the tank was wash off the foliage of each plant with warm water. Should i remove them and wash away the soil they came in?


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## Ginron (Jul 1, 2016)

Blackout14 said:


> You can also get a ceramic heat emmiter looks like a ceramic lightbulb they make em all the way up to 250 watts to supplement heat.  Like was mentioned scorps instinct when they are hot is to burrow so the pad underneath will cook em but a Che from over head puts out heat but not any additional light I use them a lot for specie  that need heating from the top


I would, but i want to be able to see the Scorpion at night. I just got the IR bulb mentioned by shining.


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## shining (Jul 1, 2016)

Ginron said:


> I got two of the plants from the greenhouse at Lows and the other three from a local nursery. The only thing i did before putting them in the tank was wash off the foliage of each plant with warm water. Should i remove them and wash away the soil they came in?


It would be a good idea. There's no telling what they were sprayed with or what was in the soil. In that link I shared they give a good detailed step by step procedure to make them safe.

The next problem after rinsing all the old soil off is there won't be enough nutrients for your plants on straight eco earth. To remedy that problem you'd need to find an organic potting soil. Instead of tearing the enclosure apart you could just put that organic potting soil in the areas where your plants' roots are going to be/grow.

Alot of people have used different organic potting soil and can suggest certain brands other than the one I use.

The organic potting soil I use is this..


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## Blackout14 (Jul 1, 2016)

Ginron said:


> I would, but i want to be able to see the Scorpion at night. I just got the IR bulb mentioned by shining.


Still can this was to replace the heat pads.  You were saying without both heat pads and the lights you couldn't get the right temps.  This will replace the heat pads on the warm side of the tank you leave it on 24 hrs a day and this way it's more naturally heat if they get hot they can burrow away from it. Doesn't have to be right now but if you are having problems maintaining heat I like them so much better then pads for scorpions.  By they way that tank looks awesome great job!


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## Ginron (Jul 2, 2016)

shining said:


> It would be a good idea. There's no telling what they were sprayed with or what was in the soil. In that link I shared they give a good detailed step by step procedure to make them safe.
> 
> The next problem after rinsing all the old soil off is there won't be enough nutrients for your plants on straight eco earth. To remedy that problem you'd need to find an organic potting soil. Instead of tearing the enclosure apart you could just put that organic potting soil in the areas where your plants' roots are going to be/grow.
> 
> ...


Okay, i got some organic soil: 





I'm just going to wash the plants down to their roots and replant them with it. I don't think i want to do the whole bleach thing mentioned in that link you posted, since i don't know if my plants fall under what they classified as too sensitive.


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## Ginron (Jul 2, 2016)

Blackout14 said:


> Still can this was to replace the heat pads.  You were saying without both heat pads and the lights you couldn't get the right temps.  This will replace the heat pads on the warm side of the tank you leave it on 24 hrs a day and this way it's more naturally heat if they get hot they can burrow away from it. Doesn't have to be right now but if you are having problems maintaining heat I like them so much better then pads for scorpions.  By they way that tank looks awesome great job!


Yeah i will keep it in mind when winter roles around if i'm having trouble with heat.

Thanks.


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## shining (Jul 2, 2016)

Ginron said:


> Okay, i got some organic soil:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cool, your plants will thank you for it.

I don't know what your plants fall under either. Maybe just following those steps without the bleach part would be safe enough as your scorp hasn't been spazzing out having been in there with them already.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ginron (Jul 2, 2016)

shining said:


> Cool, your plants will thank you for it.
> 
> I don't know what your plants fall under either. Maybe just following those steps without the bleach part would be safe enough as your scorp hasn't been spazzing out having been in there with them already.


Yeah she seems to be fine even after sleeping next to some of the plants for a few hours, better safe than sorry though. It could be bad if there was spray on the plants and a cricket decided to have one last snack before becoming one

Thanks again.

Reactions: Like 1


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## darkness975 (Jul 4, 2016)

Potting soil?  Are you sure there are no chemicals in it?  Organic for plants does not mean the same for animals. That is a big risk that I would not want to take. 
I would not want ultra violet bulbs anywhere near my scorpions as they are detrimental to their health.
That is a fantastic looking enclosure but the potting soil is a concern.


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## Ginron (Jul 4, 2016)

darkness975 said:


> Potting soil?  Are you sure there are no chemicals in it?  Organic for plants does not mean the same for animals. That is a big risk that I would not want to take.
> I would not want ultra violet bulbs anywhere near my scorpions as they are detrimental to their health.
> That is a fantastic looking enclosure but the potting soil is a concern.


Here is the list of ingredients from G&B's website: 
*Peat moss, recycled forest products, coir, pumice, rice hulls, composted chicken manure, bark fines, hydrolyzed feather meal, dried poultry manure, bat guano, kelp meal, worm castings, alfalfa meal, dolomite & oyster shell limes (as pH adjusters)*
I don't see anything that isn't organic.

As for the UVB bulb, it only has 10% UV light so its not like a blacklight which has much more. I turn it off before the scorpion leaves its hide so i don't see how it could have much of an effect on her (i could be wrong though). I'm still not sure if plants even need UVB light though.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Ginron (Jul 4, 2016)

darkness975 said:


> Potting soil?  Are you sure there are no chemicals in it?  Organic for plants does not mean the same for animals. That is a big risk that I would not want to take.
> I would not want ultra violet bulbs anywhere near my scorpions as they are detrimental to their health.
> That is a fantastic looking enclosure but the potting soil is a concern.


Well i just did some more research online and found that UVB/UVA light is damaging to plants in high quantities, but a small amount can be good.

- Article on UV light and plants: http://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstit...nkins/researchinterests/plantresponsestouv-8/

As for what is a high vs low amount of UVB light i looked on Wikipedia for sunlight's spectrum and apparently before entering the earth's atmosphere sunlight has around 8% UV light and 3-5% by the time it reaches the earth's surface. So the 10% UVB from my bulb is probably too much for the plants i have in there, let alone the scorpion.

- Wiki Article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight

I'm replacing the UVB bulb with a low watt incandescent bulb like this: 






...since it has a light spectrum closer to that of the sun's.


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## shining (Jul 4, 2016)

Ginron said:


> Here is the list of ingredients from G&B's website:
> *Peat moss, recycled forest products, coir, pumice, rice hulls, composted chicken manure, bark fines, hydrolyzed feather meal, dried poultry manure, bat guano, kelp meal, worm castings, alfalfa meal, dolomite & oyster shell limes (as pH adjusters)*
> I don't see anything that isn't organic.
> 
> As for the UVB bulb, it only has 10% UV light so its not like a blacklight which has much more. I turn it off before the scorpion leaves its hide so i don't see how it could have much of an effect on her (i could be wrong though). I'm still not sure if plants even need UVB light though.


Dude, you are good. *thumbs up*

Reactions: Agree 1


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## shining (Jul 4, 2016)

darkness975 said:


> Organic for plants does not mean the same for animals.


What does that even mean?


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## Ginron (Jul 5, 2016)

shining said:


> Dude, you are good. *thumbs up*


Lol, thanks. I'm not trying to prove them wrong, just saying it how it is.

That being said; i have never heard of organic meaning different things for plants and animals.


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## shining (Jul 5, 2016)

Ginron said:


> Lol, thanks. I'm not trying to prove them wrong, just saying it how it is.
> 
> That being said; i have never heard of organic meaning different things for plants and animals.


Their intentions are well. We can't be throwing anything in there all willy nilly. If you read up on a little horticulture and dig through the ingredients of a bag it's safer for everyone.


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## Ginron (Jul 5, 2016)

shining said:


> Their intentions are well. We can't be throwing anything in there all willy nilly. If you read up on a little horticulture and dig through the ingredients of a bag it's safer for everyone.


Yup!

Oh yeah one more question, Last night my scorpion didn't leave her hide and walk around like she did the past couple of nights i've had her. Is that any cause for concern?


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## shining (Jul 5, 2016)

Ginron said:


> Yup!
> 
> Oh yeah one more question, Last night my scorpion didn't leave her hide and walk around like she did the past couple of nights i've had her. Is that any cause for concern?



Not at all. It just decided to stay in for the night.


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## Ginron (Jul 5, 2016)

shining said:


> Not at all. It just decided to stay in for the night.


Cool.


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## JoshBC (Jul 7, 2016)

Man oh man, some awesome info in here. Thanks @Ginron & @shining. My head is swirling with ideas for my emperors terrarium.

Reactions: Optimistic 1


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