# heterometrus swammerdami scorplings advice



## cannabeast (Sep 20, 2010)

im wondering about these 3instar scorplings i have. what is the minimum tank space i can use to store them in? they are a couple of inches long. how deep should the substrate be?


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## Galapoheros (Sep 21, 2010)

I have 5, 4th instars I'm keeping in a Container Store product, all in the same container with plastic walls, each compartment is 2 inches X 9 inches.  All are very healthy.  One more molt and I'll move to bigger containers.  Would you post pics of yours?  To me, yours are the size of the ones I have but I know mine are 4th instar.  I received mine at 2nd instar and have molted twice since but are around 2 inches.  I don't doubt I have swammerdami(as of now) going by the look but something seems off with the size diff between yours and the ones I have.


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## cannabeast (Sep 21, 2010)

HEY i got the pictures uploaded. i uploaded with imageshack so i hate that their upload speed sucks... anyway they are of high enough quality I think. the name of the picture is in the url of each one and can be used to identify them

ANYWAY... the females are in the octagon terrarium(2 mature one pre-adult living communally. they all go under the same hide during the day, and seem to get along with each other).








the male is in the rectangle terrarium by himself because he would start fights with all the females i tried to put him with:










the juveniles are 3instar, in a small deli cup. there are 3 of them:








 i also have sooooooo many candy containers from the local candy stores they give away for people to pick berries, i think those are 9"X9" or 8"X8"! perhaps that is enough for one juvenile. im going to just go ahead and upload a picture of these candy containers, on top of the uroplectes olivaceus container. examples of some of the containers are in the picture, being occupied by a uroplectes triangulifer, and just to the right of that a parabuthus transvaalicus: 



Uploaded with ImageShack.us<kinda slow arent they? look how long the pics take to load up on this page.... naw but they're pretty cool with no registration..


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## insect714 (Sep 21, 2010)

The images would load MUCH faster if you reduced the size of the image. I am on a 26" monitor and I still have to scroll right to see the images.


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## Avery (Sep 21, 2010)

Images are too big!!


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## insect714 (Sep 21, 2010)

Avery said:


> Images are too big!!


+1 See above post


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## Avery (Sep 21, 2010)

I felt the need to affirm your post so he'll have no doubt in his mind that the images are in fact too large to view comfortably.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 22, 2010)

If you use photobucket, the site automatically fits your pics for forum use.  I like big pics but ....  maybe on a movie screen  Kind of looks like your swammers aren't comfortable, trying to climb on the glass like that.  I'd put more things for them to hide under, like a big flat rock propped up on one end and placed next to the glass so they are corralled to the hide when they are walking around next to the glass.  Maybe if you put a piece of wood in there on the larger side they might dig underneath it.  Mine dig holes, turn around and sit there.  They seem very leery and run in their holes at the slightest vibration.  I read that there is a nocturnal bird, an owl they have studied the contents of it's stomach and found a surprising amount of swammerdamis in it's gut.  I was thinking/speculating that it could be that the ones more sensitive to vibrations and run in their holes are the ones that survive the birds attack and might explain the leery behavior if they have evolved with this bird for a long time.  So they may reeeeaaaly like a better place to hide and dig.


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## cannabeast (Sep 23, 2010)

eww... thats totally right. i would take all those goofy pictures down now with a post edit, but i guess it wont let me edit an old post.... heres the same exact pictures in a viewable album.. i should have just posted this link in the first place: http://img227.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=femhetswa2.jpg

click the picture you want to see in the link above, then click it again to resize it to your full screen.

or... click the pictures below, then click the picture on the page it takes you to to view the pictures fit exactly to your screen.


hmm. mine are starting to make those holes and sitting in them like that. but i should get pieces of wood and rocks and place them against the glass walls... what kind of wood should i use? i imagine they may be irritable or allergic to pine or something.i dont want to get so heavy rocks that the glass breaks. could i just use wood as an alternative? ill take more pictures when ive done something more to their tank. 


yeah and forgive for the huge pics..


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## DireWolf0384 (Sep 23, 2010)

Wow, those images were huge! I would too add some hides for them.


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## cannabeast (Sep 23, 2010)

DireWolf0384 said:


> Wow, those images were huge! I would too add some hides for them.


ha. what kind of hide? what kind of wood is safe to use as a hide? maybe its allergic to pine? i heard some woods like that are like insecticide some species. but i dont know much about het swa


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## Galapoheros (Sep 23, 2010)

I catch myself taking on more and more of this kind of research on my own.  I read other people's caresheets but I realize some of the info might be wrong, even the most experienced make mistakes and anybody can make a "caresheet".  So take the case of swammerdami, you can find out what cities and towns some have been found close to by googling, looking at pdfs, things like that.  Then you can google weather forecasts for the area and look up weather cycles, temps, rainfall for the area.  Type in the names of local sanctuaries and parks and click on "images" at google, hopefully you can look at pics of where they might live (http://www.auroville.org/journals&media/avtoday/Dec_2008/Aranya.htm  ...bottom of the page.  This is probably how most try to get info for caresheets anyway.  But maybe they missed something, so I try to check it out myself if I care enough.

A little more enviro info:  http://m.mustseeindia.com/Pondicherry-weather


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## Nomadinexile (Sep 24, 2010)

cannabeast said:


> ha. what kind of hide? what kind of wood is safe to use as a hide? maybe its allergic to pine? i heard some woods like that are like insecticide some species. but i dont know much about het swa


Well, I can't top Galo on this.... Thanks alot Galo!!!   ;P;P;P

Anyway,...

Never use pine....except for species specific... Otherwise use known non-toxics.   In the U.S. Local Pet Stores, (LPS), Cork Bark is a common Hide for sale.   If that is available, it is always highly recommended, because it doesn't leach chemicals or natural pesticides, nor sap...   Plus, it holds up well in High humidity.   Of course, you can use rocks as well, but they are heavier, can break glass, have to be glued (and dried), nor can the rock type dissolve quickly...   

Of course, this is easy to accomplish with a little reading online, but if you are too busy, buy cork bark, and then problem solved.   That stuff is amazing.   It's a bit more expensive than Oak firewood, but dang, it's got all the properties we want/need!!!    

Feel free to read up on relevant info, but from my limited experience, I don't think most scorps know the difference between a rock and a piece of cork.   

It's lighter, cuttable (sp?), and no worries.   Rock is a bit more complicated, but that is up to you....


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## cannabeast (Sep 24, 2010)

these have been very helpful. so the only trees they have around here are pine... and pet stores here never have anything you need unless you looking for a 300 dollar 3 gallon aquarium.. im not going to use rocks, they are a pure liability. i want to construct a wooden hide myself. cork is an expensive tree but it sounds like it is worth it if thats my only option. i would like to use something else though. maybe birch or mahogany or cherry. the last 2 posts have been extremely helpful for any het swa owners. thanks for that, its much appreciated. i still havent moved the slings, but.. i moved the females into the sun.. winter is coming and soon there will only be an hour of sun here so i will add grow lamps anyway..their tank is dirty i know. the plants in the male terrarium look dangerous and pokey, but they aren't. no proper hides have been added to any tanks. here's some updated pictures:





yeah, the picture on the laptop is to show how he looks, even though its the same huge pic below...


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