concerning behavior? Did I make a mistake?

Redslither

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
2
I have a Asian forest scorpion I bought from PetSmart 7 days ago. They gave him to me in a little plastic cage you often get hermit crabs in with some dried up eco earth looking substrate and a sponge in a shell. He was super active trying to get out. 2 days ago I made him up an enclosure with my spare 40 gallon Breeder. I think I did a great job but now I’m not so sure. Ever since I moved him into it he sits under his hide all the time. I’ve tried turning all the lights off and watching him. Most he’s ever moved is to his water bowl which has rocks in it so he doesn’t drown himself, he drank a lot it seemed when I first switched him I don’t think the sponge was doing it for him even though the girl insisted that’s how he got his water. I have a heat emitter with no light, I used a mixture of forest floor zoomed, eco earth zoomed, and creature soil by zoomed. I also bought sphagnum moss and mixed it in there and used warm water to get the humidity started. I added rocks and some rock carpet as well. He hasn’t even attempted exploring the entire right side of the tank and I put a lot of time and effort into his little hide cave I’ve never heard of anyone giving a scorpion that much space to himself, did I do a good thing or should I have given him a smaller enclosure? I tried moving the heat to different areas and it doesn’t seem to make a difference to him. I’ve checked on him different times of day and night he’s always under the one hide in the back left corner, regardless of where the heats at. I took a picture with the black light on for a few seconds so you could see him drinking. And I’ve included a photo of him in the little container before I moved him.
 

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Albireo Wulfbooper

Arachnoprince
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Messages
1,606
The tank is bigger than it needs, for sure. Regardless, they tend to hang out in their hide or burrow most of the time, so what you're seeing is normal behaviour. I have 3 Heterometrus babies that I pretty much only see when I lift their coconut dome.
 

Lubed Tweezer

Arachnolord
Joined
Dec 3, 2019
Messages
634
These conditions should give you a maximum active scorpion;
Keep the temperature in the 25-30°C (77-86°F) during daytime, pour water onto the substrate because it looks dry in the picture.
Give the enclosure a daily spray to increase relative humidity.
Relative humidity should be above 65%, preferably 70-90%.
This will sometimes fog up a part of the glass (unless the rest of the room is near that same temperature).
Your AFS also need a lot more substrate ! They need to be able to dig a burrow in their hiding spot.
The term 'maximum active' is a bit of a joke, you will not see this scorpion very often, Mine are also 99% of the time out of sight.
User @Poonjab calls his Heterometrus species (AFS) 'essentially a pet hole'. :rofl:
You won't see the scorpion searching/hunting for it's food, if it's hungry it will sit at the entrance of it's hide with claws open.
They are 'sit and wait' predators and have record breaking patience ! (days/weeks !!)
I don't know how much experience you have with scorpions, but most species ain't much to look at because a happy scorpion is sitting in it's hide in total darkness.
If you would like a species that is a bit more active, you might want to investigate in Hadrurus Arizonensis or Scorpio Maurus.
They are burrowing types, but of course once they made their burrow also those will be out of sight most of the time.
I think your enclosure really looks beautiful and sure is very big, it's perfect for many desert/arid/dry species of scorpions, not so much for a Heterometrus species.
:smug: So a big thumbs up for the effort of the enclosure! But you may want to trade the AFS for some other scorpion if you decide to stick with this setup.
Keep in mind that almost all of those desert/arid/dry type scorpions require far less humidity but higher temperature during the day.
You ain't doing so bad, Heterometrus is in the top 3 of beginner scorpions, everyone starts of with a enclosure that is slightly off and learns from there...
Keep it up !
 

Dr SkyTower

Arachnolord
Joined
Dec 21, 2019
Messages
660
it's a nice big enclosure with lots of interesting things inside of it! Your scorpion could do with a bit more substrate (maybe 3-5 inches) and I've heard they don't really need the pebbles in the water bowl, they won't drown, the pebbles might encourage fungus/mold to grow. If you see the scorpion out during the day wandering around the cage, that could be a sign its not comfortable with its enclosure but if it's hiding and barely comes out, it feels comfortable. If you see open claws at the entrance to its hide, it's hungry and waiting for prey to walk into it's embrace (they're a sit and wait predator).
 

Redslither

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
2
Thank you everyone for your input, this morning when I turned on my light I saw him back up under a different hide on the other side of the tank, I’ll raise his heat and humidity a bit like suggested, he was so active in his little container I thought something was wrong but perhaps he just wanted to get out of his tiny no hide prison lol And as far as switching species goes it’s very unlikely possible I couldn’t take him back to PetSmart, poor little guy, couldn’t make him go back to that (and the sponge!!)lol also I do have extra substrate I could add . Idk anyone else who would ever consider owning a scorpion lol my co workers looked at me like I’m insane lol I have no prior experience with scorpions he was a bit of a impulse buy but I knew I alrdy had a lot of stuff at home could use for him.
 

Lubed Tweezer

Arachnolord
Joined
Dec 3, 2019
Messages
634
I like that you're doing the right thing by keeping it, taking it back to PetFart is like flushing it down the toilet.
Yes, please add some more substrate and put a hide on top of that.
Empty your evening schedule on the day you add the substrate.
If the temperature and humidity are high enough you will notice your scorpion will start to make a little burrow under it's hide dragging some of the substrate outside of the hide.
They are great little workers, and it's a joy to watch if you are patient enough. Try not to startle/scare him because that will make him hide for at least 30min.
Another nice activity is to see him taking a bath. This all happens after sunset in darkness of course.
People no longer will call you weird because you are just chillin´ in the dark because now you own a scorpion, it's a great excuse. ;)
It sure beats watching TV if you ask me. They are special little buggers, have been around longer than even dinosaurs (420 Million years!).
They are among the very first to come out of the seas onto land and properly surviving multiple ice ages and meteor impacts, these days humans just happen to live in their back yard.
I apologize for calling it 'him', it might be a 'she' as well. I guess you still have to determine that ?
Your enclosure decoration skills are to be admired, enjoy your day.
 

Rhino1

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
490
It wasn't comfortable and probably stressed in the first tank that's why it was actively trying to get out, in the second tank it finally got a decent spot to hide and could finally relax.
Sitting in a hide or burrow is normal behaviour, constantly wandering around especially during the day is cause for concern.
 

Feral

Arachnobaron
Active Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
407
I can't comment on other aspects of husbandry, but no one has mentioned the UV light yet so I want to mention- My understanding is that arachnids see really well in UV light, and it's been shown that scorpions have a strong avoidance response to UV light. So i don't know how much you use the UV light, hopefully very minimally to not at all, but if she/he is hiding when the UV light is on, their sensitivity to it is probably why.

Congrats on your new friend!
 
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SonsofArachne

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 10, 2017
Messages
961
I can't comment on other aspects of husbandry, but no one has mentioned the UV light yet so I want to mention- My understanding is that arachnids see really well in UV light, and it's been shown that scorpions have a strong avoidance response to UV light. So i don't know how much you use the UV light, hopefully very minimally to not at all, but if she/he is hiding when the UV light is on, their sensitivity to it is probably why.

Congrats on your new friend!
Not only do they avoid UV, long-term exposure is dangerous to them. UV should be used sparingly or not at all. I personally only use it to find some of my more well camouflaged babies.
 
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Dr SkyTower

Arachnolord
Joined
Dec 21, 2019
Messages
660
Thank you everyone for your input, this morning when I turned on my light I saw him back up under a different hide on the other side of the tank, I’ll raise his heat and humidity a bit like suggested, he was so active in his little container I thought something was wrong but perhaps he just wanted to get out of his tiny no hide prison lol And as far as switching species goes it’s very unlikely possible I couldn’t take him back to PetSmart, poor little guy, couldn’t make him go back to that (and the sponge!!)lol also I do have extra substrate I could add . Idk anyone else who would ever consider owning a scorpion lol my co workers looked at me like I’m insane lol I have no prior experience with scorpions he was a bit of a impulse buy but I knew I alrdy had a lot of stuff at home could use for him.
yeah its good you rescued the innocent little critter from that horrid petshop, it would've died had it been left there. I can't imagine how the girl expected the scorpion to drink from a sponge... she obviously doesn't know scorpion husbandry and giving customers wrong info. You'd think they would at least try to research scorpion care a little before they sell them :bucktooth:
 
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