Do Scorpions Really Need a Water Dish?

[The Toecutter]

Any opinions on the gel like solidified water stuff I've seen in some videos... They seem like a good option but I'm new myself. I have a small water bowl that my h. spinifer uses pretty well

That's what I use for mine. In a bottle cap. I've never had a problem with any of my scorps with it. My arizonensis would gobble it frequently. My tamulus will sit in it.

I also use it in my critter keeper for the crickets. No drowning happening.

My large forest species I will use an actual shallow water dish.

Even desert species will drink now, and again. I find with water available it helps keep any crickets that have been dropped in alive a bit longer if the scorp hasn't chowed down yet.

Everyone has their preferred method that works for them. We all trial, and error our way through this hobby.

 

[Redjunior]

I haven't had problems, depending on the species I personally change the size. For my Deathstalkers I have a small water bottle cap (maybe a quarter to half oz) that I fill usually every 1 and a half weeks, and for my more humid dwelling scorpions like Jacksoni, I use a very small reptile worm dish (keep in mind its a 15 gallon tank) that I burry into the substrate till its nearly flush, so when filling it, I spill some and it helps keep moisture in the substrate.
This is my experience with water dishes though, results vary. I'm in Alberta, Canada so the humidity can change rapidly in the day and it does affect my setups humidity levels. So for me personally, water dishes have been very handy from time to time.

 

[Arachniboy]

Typo

 

[Arachniboy]

I have a chaerilus sp java and I wonder does it need a water dish? Im afraid it will drown because its a small species

 

[The Snark]

In my meanderings over the years, Sonora to Searchlight to Bishop to Tehachapi and down through Palmdale I've yet to encounter watering dishes. And so two logical conclusions can be drawn.
1. Providing that habitat is suitable they don't need water dishes. If they need watering dishes there is something wrong with their environment.
2. Watering dishes may help prolong their life spans. This would vary from species to species and native environment to native environment. It would be a mistake to give a blanket rule for all scorpions A case by case, species by species scientific study should be done on each.
3. And of course, scorps that have become display objects, forced to subsist in less than ideal conditions and subjected to situations like nocturnal species finding themselves in bright light day and night, they may need all the help they can get.

Please keep in mind when it comes to the vast majority of scorpions, out in the open during the day they are no longer scorpions. They are bird snacks. Omnivorous and carnivorous Aves appetizers. Completely helpless and defenseless. This should clue people as to their general preferred environment - habitat.

 

[Dry Desert]

In my meanderings over the years, Sonora to Searchlight to Bishop to Tehachapi and down through Palmdale I've yet to encounter watering dishes. And so two logical conclusions can be drawn.
1. Providing that habitat is suitable they don't need water dishes. If they need watering dishes there is something wrong with their environment.
2. Watering dishes may help prolong their life spans. This would vary from species to species and native environment to native environment. It would be a mistake to give a blanket rule for all scorpions A case by case, species by species scientific study should be done on each.
3. And of course, scorps that have become display objects, forced to subsist in less than ideal conditions and subjected to situations like nocturnal species finding themselves in bright light day and night, they may need all the help they can get.

Please keep in mind when it comes to the vast majority of scorpions, out in the open during the day they are no longer scorpions. They are bird snacks. Omnivorous and carnivorous Aves appetizers. Completely helpless and defenseless. This should clue people as to their general preferred environment - habitat.

Exactly so - in all my 10 years in the Middle East I never came across one water dish, but many healthy, flourishing scorpions of all sizes and species.
I don't know how they survive.

Yes I do - they survive with the help of the environment.
They obtain most of the required moisture from their prey items, they obtain moisture from the burrows/ tunnels they live in, they may even obtain moisture from surfaces that have been covered by the early morning mist.
Tropical forest species just live in environments that are permanently damp and moist.
Simple really.

So therefore people - the common basic scorpion is far, far cleverer than the majority of their keepers, sadly.
The best way to encourage Mycosis in arid species is to use a water dish and keep topping it up when it evaporates,or gets tipped into the substrate.

No scorpion needs a water dish, and as @ The Snark says, if they do use a water dish then their environment is incorrect.

I lost 4 Hadrurus back in the 80's through Mycosis by
supplying them with a water dish, that slowly seeped into the substrate un- noticed.

 

[The Snark]

@Dry Desert Not to mention this obsession of supplying water and heating the containment. In bio labs those are called organism incubators.

 

[darkness975]

H. arizonensis Drinking

• darkness975
• Apr 27, 2017
• 6

 

[Joey Spijkers]

I have a chaerilus sp java and I wonder does it need a water dish? Im afraid it will drown because its a small species

For this species I wouldn’t provide one. They are small enough to drink from water droplets/condensation. Of course it is important to keep the environment humid enough.

On the general scorpion-water bowl discussion, it is a case-to case thing for me. Depends on species and size of the individual. In some cases, it causes more harm than good, but in some cases it’s good to have. The argument of ‘there are no water dishes in the wild’ is flawed in my opinion, because in some environments, scorpions can get moisture very regularly in ways that aren’t possible in captivity. So that’s why I just look at it on a case to case basis. As for water dishes causing mycosis, I wonder if there is enough ventilation in that instance.

 

[Arachniboy]

For this species I wouldn’t provide one. They are small enough to drink from water droplets/condensation. Of course it is important to keep the environment humid enough.

On the general scorpion-water bowl discussion, it is a case-to case thing for me. Depends on species and size of the individual. In some cases, it causes more harm than good, but in some cases it’s good to have. The argument of ‘there are no water dishes in the wild’ is flawed in my opinion, because in some environments, scorpions can get moisture very regularly in ways that aren’t possible in captivity. So that’s why I just look at it on a case to case basis. As for water dishes causing mycosis, I wonder if there is enough ventilation in that instance.

Thank you!

 

[cvu524]

I use a bottle cap w a small rock/pebble to prevent my scorps from drowning. It never hurts to have some sort of hydration. Plus ive seen the crickets and roaches drink from it

 

[ScorpFreakKing666]

As mentioned above numerous times, a water dish is an absolutely must! with my desert species i use a small bottle cap and i fill it once every 2 weeks. I have observed the desert species drinking from the bottle cap but it is a rare sight.

 

[Dry Desert]

As mentioned above numerous times, a water dish is an absolutely must! with my desert species i use a small bottle cap and i fill it once every 2 weeks. I have observed the desert species drinking from the bottle cap but it is a rare sight.

A water dish is Not an Absolute Must, if the corner of the enclosure is gently misted once a week.
This is the way they obtain their moisture in the wild, and as most scorpions are wild caught, some never drink from a water dish and will sometimes perish, it's unnatural for them