Correlation between heat and activity within Arid Buthids

[Lewis Catlin]

This is just a little post to help others who may have a similar issue to me.
My buthidae sp. very rarely ate and when they did it would be in the dead of night after I chucked a roach in the day before. I was using heatmats to heat everyhting which was doing okay with max temps reaching 26-27 which is only really 5c above room temp so wasn’t doing much . I recently bought a Arcadia reptile 75w infrared basking bulb that now reaches temps to around 30c at the very most. It heats the whole space pretty evenly with the nearest enclosure (18 in away) is heated at 35c. Ever since I did this activity on all my animals has increased. Obvious always use a thermostat and have thermometers to check different enclosure temps.
In the words of TheDarkDen:
“They need some desert sun”

 

[Arthroverts]

I know a guy who had his "hot tent" spike to around 40C...most of his buthids were right up there as close to the light as they could get. You really can't underestimate the need many desert buthids have for heat, otherwise they will not do so well.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Lewis Catlin]

Mines now a hot office desk! Absolute pain when you need to work but who doesn’t love a nice boiling hot bulb in their face

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

Totally agree, my desert buthids love the heat.
I have my Hottentottas, Leiurus, buthacus and androctonus species at 30-34°C at mid day, and they still want to hug the infra-red bulbs I use for them.
They can take 40°C easily. In the past I've tried running these enclosures at lower temperature but the scorpions aren't as active/hungry.

 

[Lewis Catlin]

it’s quite amazing how even nocturnal species still need the heat. I remember when I was in North Africa this time last year the temperature dropped never below 25 at night usually remained in low 30s. I have all my species in the ones space looks to be my Heterometrus sp. don’t mind a bit of sun either.

 

[ignithium]

by no means am disagreeing however i notice that when kept on lower temperatures the animals grow larger (but much slower) and live longer while being less active. I prefer to keep them on lower end of acceptable temperature range for this reason. of course the temperature affects brood size and gestation period as well. These affects vary so greatly across species that it is hard to make a concrete statement of for universality (english issue). I think with L Q for example hotter is always better. For Parabuthus I would keep cooler unless trying to breed.