Aggressive Emps

[Sarahgus]

Hi all, I'm new to this and just had a quick question. About a month ago I picked out a male and female Emp hoping to mate them. A week later I saw them playing around holding claws. They've always gotten along. Tonight I just saw them both snapping at each other. There are more than enough shelters in the tank for each of them and always plenty of food and water. Any tips on why they're suddenly acting that way and what should I do?

 

[Reitz]

I'll post more later, I have to go. But for starters, give them at least 5 inches of substrate and make sure it's nice and damp.

 

[Bob]

It looks way to dry to me. These guys need a fairly damp substraight. They are not dessert species.

Bob

 

[Richard_uk]

Try your emperors on either sterilized sphagnum moss peat (heat it in the microwave, smelly but works) or you can buy forest bed substrate from your local pet store. This is great stuff and is what I use. Its a compressed brick of coir fibre that expands to ten times its original volume. It holds water well and my emps just love it!
As mentioned above sand is really unsuitable for these fellas as they are a tropical species wich like to be kept damp at all times.

 

[Sarahgus]

Thanks everyone, I'm looking around for another type of substrate, does anyone know if I can get this at Petco or Petsmart? Any reccomendations on what to get?

my aim is: sarahknowitall

please say hi

 

[Reitz]

Local chain pet shops are expensive. If you want to do it like the pros go to a lawn and garden center and get one bag of peat (%100 peat, no additives) and one bag of potting soil (again, sterile with no ferts or pesticides). Mix the two then add water. The dirt should be about as moist as the dirt you find under leaves in the forest.

They're probably fighting because the conditions do not suit them and they each want the entire territory for themselves in case a suitable hide comes along. You'll find that the more suitable the setup is, the less fighting you'll have.

Good luck.
Chris

 

[Kugellager]

You definitely want to get them off of that orange desert sand. Emperors are from the jungles of Congo in central Africa and therefore like high humidity and do best with a moist(not wet) substrate where they can burrow.

John
];')

 

[skinheaddave]

I like pure peat for my forest scorps. I've been using it for years now with no problems.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Baphomet]

I must concur with others who have responded in that you must remove the P. imperator's from the sand...especially that Calci-Sand.

In my experience, Calci-Sand is extremely desicating (drying) for arachnids as well as snakes, and isn't suitable for either, especially a species which prefers a moisture-rich substrate.

Judging by the photo, the cage is too small for multiple scorps, and they are fighting as a result of that and the lack of moisture...and as Reitz pointed out...survival in a harsh environment often times results in fighting and many times death for the co-dominant scorp.

I have had best results with ground coconut husks (much like forest floor, it expands to ten-times it's original size when moistened).

It retains moisture well, and is firm enough to allow even the most agressive of burrowing scorps the stability needed when burrowing.

Good luck, and keep us updated on your progress!

 

[Reitz]

To be honest, I use pure peat as well. I recommend the soil because some hobbyists are less dilligent about humidity than others. If peat is allowed to completely dry out it becomes hard to re-moisten. It has a natural waxy coating which normally allows for water retension, but if it dries out completely the fibers bond and it works like an old dryed out sponge.

Just thought I'd add that in case anyone was interested,

Peace,
Chris

 

[Sarahgus]

I saw a few pics on the other threads. I have a very good idea now, but the tube in the corner and the gravel at the bottom is interesting to me. Can someone give me a few more details so I can get this right. I'd like to have the perfect home for my Emps.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

Well, ppl, that's not calci-sand. The grains are too small. It is probably repti sand. Keep that sand! (not in the emp's tanks though) It's expensive! No need to be wasteful. It's great burrowing material for desert scorps and holds burrow considerably well. I use it with P. trans and quite a few others, and they love it!

Well, some of the others already set you right on the substrate. You may find a nice, partially rotted log in your back yard or so (considering your north of me by not so far). Nuc it for a few minutes or pop it in the oven on a tray with a descently low temp so it doesn't catch fire! I think it was 150 wet! (I use purified water only and I boil it also, to be safe [keep it hot, otherwise, it wont kill bacteria and other critters]) I used last time with very often water pouring to the log. Just keep a close eye on it as to make sure you see nowhere it could be igniting. Once it dries out a little, re-wet it and introduce it to your enclosure. The emps will dig out the center of it if it's rotted enough and they'll love it because it'll hold humidity better than enything else you can think of when on a damp substrate. I use this on quite a few rainforest scorps and they all "dig it". heheh... You can also go the traditional way and just use a piece of wood or rock layed flat so they can burrow underneath it. If we miss any info you want to know, just ask and someone will get back to the post ASAP.

we'll do our best so you knowitallsarah... heheh... or at least knowsalmostallsarah

adios,
edw. =D

edit: Oh yeah, Hi, Sarah! Welcome to the group!

 

[kellygirl]

A couple of questions for you Emp owners....

1. Why so much substrate? Will they burrow? The local pet store has 5 scorps in a 10 gallon tank with a thin layer (maybe an inch) of Repti-Bark as substrate... is this bad for the scorps?

2. Do scorps prefer a heat lamp or pad for a heat source?

3. This is a species that glows under black light, correct?

kellygirl

 

[Kugellager]

Sarahgus,

The gravel layer acts to allow water, that is poured down the tube in the corner from time to time, to flow evenly under the substrate(I prefer 100% peat) and humidify it from below. I find that for my 20 long H.spinifer enclosure, adding a little more than one quart/liter per week down the tube and a heavy misting at the same time keeps the humidity in the enclosure at 70%-85% for an entire week. The top is mostly closed off w/ plexiglass to help hold in the moisture.

kellygirl,

1. Yes, for burrowing as they would in nature...it is better for them though they can live without it...not my preference to go w/o though.

2. They don't care what source the heat comes from but it is a bit easier to keep humidity up with a pad on the side(NOT bottom) of the tank. That said; I prefer lamps as they serve a dual purpose of providing warmth as well as a day/night diurnal cycle.

3. nearly all species of scorpion will fluoresce/glow under a black light or UV light. There are a few(2-3) species that to not exhibit this effect.

John
];')

 

[Valael]

I just bought 3 Emps and they're nice as hell to each other. (Well, they were in horrible conditions: Sharing a hide on lizard litter (that course sand) with a basking light and no water -- but in the months he owned them, he never had one eat the other. I finally gave in and bought all of them.)

But they're freaking vicious to anything else in their area. I can hold one *sometimes* but I can only liken it to holding a "calm Usambara"

 

[Godzilla2000]

I own a really huge Female Emperor Scorpion so of course I keep her in a single tank. Should I get more once I put her in the 5 1/2 gallon tank? She seems pretty aggressive. But Emps are so inexpensive and they're my favorite breed of Scorpion.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

Even the most communal of scorpions can get to some degree, aggressive in a small enclosure, so I will just say you could, with the advisory of keeping a watchful eye on them to avoid cannibalism. They do often result to this, even in as large as a ten gal tank (I had five burrows in the tank mentioned). I would not recommend to go higher in numbers than one more scorp, for that size of a tank. I keep two in one of my ten gal tanks now because they were often fighting and I felt that I didn't need to see any cannibalism out of my largest of the species in name.


adios,
edw.

 

[Valael]

I've got 3 emps in a 10 gallon. I have 3 broken clay pots in it (I busted a hole in one side of each one so they could dig deeper into it.) and I put a large piece of slate in it. They're ALL sharing the slate and ALL sharing the same burrow they dug....


Is that normal? Heh.


They did the same thing at the petstore.

 

[chau0046]

I own a pair at the moment in a 20 long . I used a mixture of 1 part soil, 1 part sand and 1 part multch mix on top of gravel and a series on rocks . Theve dug out under the largest rock on the surface and are gettin further and further into it. The male still climbs the corner at night but i`m only gonna add another female maybe later on.There both 6.5 -7.0 " adults.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Perhaps I should buy another female Emp of comparable size rather than a smaller one to put in the tank with the one I bought.