Checking up on Davus pentaloris care

[Blackwind]

Hi everyone, I've kept scorpions for quite some time and just recently bought a young Davus pentaloris, approx. 1/2"- 5/8" long. I was reading up on the care and looking at weather patterns for some locations in its native range and just wanted to hear what those who have them keep them at, if there are any special tricks that anyone noticed to benefit them or, (hopefully not) if I'm doing anything gravely wrong in my setup.

I currently have it in a large sized candy tub (that has been washed and cleaned) in about 2 1/2" of cocoa fiber substrate, I read the young ones like to burrow as a kind of defence tactic, that I dampened slightly. I have the container partially under a heat lamp to try to maintain about 75F during the day, and ambient temps of 70-72F at night. While keeping the humidity at about 70% (trying to centre around there). I was reading that the container may be slightly big when it comes to it having to work harder for food, so I use a water bottle with both ends cut off, place it just over the burrow and drop a small(1/4") cricket into it to make it a little easier. It seems to have dug itself a nice little burrow about 1", maybe slightly over, deep.

Anyway just wanted to see if anyone notices any errors that I could be making or has any tips at all.

Thanks for taking the time to read, Mark

 

[Greasylake]

As long as the room that the spider is in is over 68 degrees in the day then you're fine. Humidity is irrelevant, don't chase the number. Just keep the substrate slightly moist, pour in some water when it starts to dry out, don't mist. You can feed once a week or twice a week, up to you. Also, feeding prekilled prey might be better since you have such a small sling.

 

[Arachnophoric]

I have the container partially under a heat lamp to try to maintain about 75F during the day, and ambient temps of 70-72F at night. While keeping the humidity at about 70% (trying to centre around there).

You've been reading online care sheets, I'm going to guess. Although read with good intention, a lot of them are sorely inaccurate and full of unnecessary information that causes people to keep their Ts sub-optimally.

The heat lamp is highly unnecessary and potentially dangerous. They are designed for reptiles, not tarantulas, and severely dry out both the substrate and air, and over time will dehydrate and desiccated your T. Unless the temps in your house are consistently below ~68 degrees, your T does not need a heat source - most species thrive between 70-85 degrees. Generally if you're comfortable, your T will be. I have over 50 Ts of various species, and not a single one has a supplemental heat source. All of them are thriving.

Humidity numbers should not be chased. Humidity itself is not what's important to your T, but the dampness of the substrate. Attempts to try and keep certain numbers can cause you to create a stuffy environment that will harm or kill your T. All you need is some damp substrate with plenty of ventilation.

 

[Blackwind]

Ok, that's awesome thanks.. I pulled him well away from the heat lamp and am allowing for more air circulation in its enclosure, and will focus primarily on keeping the substrate slightly damp for it Thank you for your information, I appreciate it

 

[Nightstalker47]

I pulled him well away from the heat lamp

You can go ahead and turn it off, your temps are completely fine...heat lamps will roast a sling in a matter of hours.

 

[buzz182]

Normal room temp is fine, I give a little more depth to substrate that my other NW terrestrials. All of mine like the substrate a little moist which I achieve by overflowing water dish every couple of weeks then leavng it to dry. They do tend to burrow until they put on a bit of size.
All of mine eat well and the bigger two web excessively. As for enclosure size I made the beginners mistake of giving my 1.5" D.pentaloris a far to big of an enclosure but this has not really affected her growth (she is more than matching my N.chromatus)
These are gorgeous T's and imo an underrated T especially for beginners.

 

[TLB]

Hi everyone, I've kept scorpions for quite some time and just recently bought a young Davus pentaloris, approx. 1/2"- 5/8" long. I was reading up on the care and looking at weather patterns for some locations in its native range and just wanted to hear what those who have them keep them at, if there are any special tricks that anyone noticed to benefit them or, (hopefully not) if I'm doing anything gravely wrong in my setup.

I currently have it in a large sized candy tub (that has been washed and cleaned) in about 2 1/2" of cocoa fiber substrate, I read the young ones like to burrow as a kind of defence tactic, that I dampened slightly. I have the container partially under a heat lamp to try to maintain about 75F during the day, and ambient temps of 70-72F at night. While keeping the humidity at about 70% (trying to centre around there). I was reading that the container may be slightly big when it comes to it having to work harder for food, so I use a water bottle with both ends cut off, place it just over the burrow and drop a small(1/4") cricket into it to make it a little easier. It seems to have dug itself a nice little burrow about 1", maybe slightly over, deep.

Anyway just wanted to see if anyone notices any errors that I could be making or has any tips at all.

Thanks for taking the time to read, Mark

 

[TLB]

I have 3 D. pentaloris and yes, they do like to burrow and they appreciate their humidity and water needs being met. The only suggestion is to turn off the heat lamp...bad idea for any T. They should be fine in normal home temps. If you ever need to raise the temp in a T's home, the best way is to use a small space heater...but only to raise the room temperatures...not to point directly at your T. Or buy a small reptile heater and put it on one side of your T's enclosure, never under it. But it sounds like you are doing a great job. The D. pentaloris are beautiful, hardy, spunky T's!!!

 

[Blackwind]

Thanks for all of the input everyone. Something new has come up, he wasn't eating when I put a small cricket in with him so I thought maybe he was nervous and not adjusted yet. I was reading that they stop eating when they are close to molting as well but I wouldn't have thought that would be the case. Turns out it was, just looked at him (not actually sure of sex yet, just possibly wrongly calling it a him) hiding under a leaf in his enclosure and he had a tiny molt behind him. Looks to be doing great, no damage to any part of him, just very pale for the moment as it must have just happened within the last 2 hours (last time I checked on him) so I'm assuming keep up with the proper substrate damping, avoid disturbances and avoid feeding him for a few days to a week?

 

[boina]

Thanks for all of the input everyone. Something new has come up, he wasn't eating when I put a small cricket in with him so I thought maybe he was nervous and not adjusted yet. I was reading that they stop eating when they are close to molting as well but I wouldn't have thought that would be the case. Turns out it was, just looked at him (not actually sure of sex yet, just possibly wrongly calling it a him) hiding under a leaf in his enclosure and he had a tiny molt behind him. Looks to be doing great, no damage to any part of him, just very pale for the moment as it must have just happened within the last 2 hours (last time I checked on him) so I'm assuming keep up with the proper substrate damping, avoid disturbances and avoid feeding him for a few days to a week?

Yep, exactly that

 

[Rittdk01]

Very good choice for the holiday

I have six, and none burrow. I treated them the same as all other slings: condiment container, 25% of the sub moist, feed every other week, and kept at 72ish. They Have a great feeding response, and grow pretty quickly. Ime they grow, behave and look like pumpkin patch t’s.

 

[FluffyTheSpider]

Same I got mine today super bolty but no burrowing around half a inch I think adding more substrate might work