# Emperor Vivarium input needed please!!!



## Vaughan69 (Dec 18, 2007)

Im looking at doing some sort of viv for my emp jouvey  . i was looking at something like this 
http://www.bio.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~ssugiya/90cm.recent.JPEG

but with a waterfallish set up like this 

http://www.blackjungle.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3429

just not with the massive pool area. im going to be setting it up iin an exo terra terrarium 18" x 18" x 18"  which is the 25 gallon cube shaped one (http://southernaquatics.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=38_69_84&products_id=520) with a false bottom setup and try and get quite a few plants in there as well. any experience on pumps, waterfall setups or how the scorp would react to running water would be maaaaasively appreciated. :worship: I would love to hear everyones comments though and input as this is a massive jump for me being as ive never done anything like this before... chances are ill be getting annother emp to go in with her as well... any ideas people?


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## Vaughan69 (Dec 19, 2007)

22 views and not ONE idea?! come on guys! lol


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## PhilK (Dec 19, 2007)

I would steer clear of the running water, as all the pumps and stuff make noise and vibrations that may disturb your scorp. Especially if they're constantly on.

Cracker of a viv though, I'm very jealous! It's gonna suck when you set it up beautifully and put your scorp in only to realise you're never going to see it again because it will just hide hahah.

Another thing that (personally) would annoy me is that prey can very easily escape by climbing etc, and it'd be very hard to find dead prey to remove. This could lead to mite issues etc, especially because of the heightened levels of humidity.

My two cents.


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## Vaughan69 (Dec 19, 2007)

When it comes to prey, i was going to try and stick to Roaches as much as possible, especially as they like dark places they will just wander into the scorp burrow  

As for the running water, im going to get a very small pump, it only has to raise the water about 12 inches, so it is going to be pretty much silent as far as they go. Ive read other peoples experience with them and their scorpions are not bothered by them, but i figure the smaller the pump the better... right? lol

Thats why the big viv though, i figure if im gunna have a "pet hole", it might as well be a good looking one lol


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## Choobaine (Dec 19, 2007)

One day. That's gonna be every tank in my possession...


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## b rob (Dec 19, 2007)

Vaug - 

I intend to do something very similar. Except I was going to use a 30 - 50 gal. breeder tank (I wants LOTS of plants) and make a stream rather than a waterfall. I think the only thing to worry about with this is that if you're going to have any sort of "pool" of water, you need to keep it very shallow and fill it with rocks so your scorpion doesn't drown.

Another thing I was going to do is use "great stuff". I dunno if you've seen this but it's door/window insulation foam and once it hardens you can make it any shape you want it. (and I believe it's non toxic) I was going to use this to carve out holes for potted plants and poke holes in the bottom to allow moisture to get to the plants. By using this method, if my plants get too large for the tank I can swap em out for smaller ones or a different plant. I'm kinda concerned the scorpion will try to burrow through this stuff and leave chunks of foam all over the place. I was gunna toss an inch or 2 of soil on top and grow moss and ferns all throughout the tank in hopes he won't go digging. Do you think having an under ground tunnel system, rocks to hide under, cocohut, ect. would prevent this? (Any ideas/somments from experienced emporer/red claw keepers would be greatly appreciated.)

And as far as finding dead prey in your jungle of plants... From what I've read you can use "potato bugs" to clean up. They'll also take care of fungus and stuff to keep it clean. I dunno how well of a job they'll do but I figure it's better than nothing. And if all else fails they'll be good food for my plants  

Have you found any really good resources for this? I'm having a tough time finding ANYTHING on a plant/scorp combo. Looks like we'll be pioneers


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## skinheaddave (Dec 19, 2007)

The pump shouldn't be a problem provided it stays submerged.  I ran a Heterometrus enclosure with a waterfall for years and it worked wonderfully.  The waterfall was fed out of a sump in the false bottom and helped to keep the water down there from becoming stagnant.  

The enclosure was downright mucky but never had any big problems.  What I've found with extremely humid enclosures (granted, you won't want things quite as mucky for your P.imperator as I did for my H.spinifer) is to get them nice and wet and then throw in a bunch of crickets.  They will die and rot and mould up etc. and then once that has died down you will rarely, if ever, have any sorts of problems.

The great stuff foam + scorpions can definitely be a problem, as they can generally work their way through it.  I've found that foam + water based contact cement + black water-based spray-paint + black silicone is a good combo, though.  You can work some coco fibre or peat moss into the last layer of silicone too to give it that dirtish look.  The last enclosure I did like this, I dispensed with the great stuff foam and used some celfort scraps I had instead.  Carved them with a dremel and then finished as usual.  The enclosure was slightly specialized, though, so it lent itself to this process.

As to why you will find an absense of info on scorpions + plants, the real issue is lighting.  Even the low light plants require a highish level of light.  Scorpions generally do not like that.  There are definitely ways around that becoming a problem, but that + the tendency of scorpions to tear into their surroundings tends not to lend itself ot this sort of enclosure.  Your best bet would be to set it up and run it with plants alone for the first while (months, maybe a year) until it was well established and all the plants were well rooted in.  Then introduce the scorpions who should enjoy the ample cover you would have by that time.

Cheers,
Dave


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## Vaughan69 (Dec 19, 2007)

Not neccesarily a plant scorp combo but this site shows you basically how to do everything from scratch: http://www.blackjungle.com/ All that needs doing is a few modifications for scorpion habitat. As far as everything on the bottom of the viv goes im doing a raised (2") false bottom with a water res underneath leading out into a small pond, with rocks and stuff in obviously. I will have the reservoir blocked off with stones siliconed in place so that the scorp cannot get underneath (but the water will flow easily). On top of the false bottom im pretty much going to set it up as normal with about 4 or 5 inches of substrate and plant into that and up the back wall have air plants and spome on the waterfall as well. Should work out quite well im thinking.

With the emps tearing into the great stuff (called something else over here but does the same job) im going to seal it all with black silicone and coco fibre all over that. hopefully the black silicone will be a bit tougher to get through for the littlen lol


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