Emperor Scorpion Choosing Dry Cool Hide?

[Poffypoffa]

I've searched the forums and read Skinheaddave's Emperor Scorpion Care post. I'm aware that I should be aiming for 85 to 90 degrees on the hot side of the enclosure, dropping to perhaps 80 degrees on the cool side, and 80 to 90% humidity overall. I'm also aware the enclosure should have a hide on the hot and cool sides. Finally, I do know that some keepers do keep Emperors at room temperature, though most do not recommend that.

I have a new sub-adult male Emperor Scorpion, my first of any variety. The glass 10 gallon tank is set up with a heating pad on the far left side. I am keeping that hot half humid and moist with a heavy daily wetting down, and the other half pretty dry, with just a quick spray down on the moss on top. The hot side is around 80 degrees during the day (I just ordered a second heating pad for the back to raise it up a bit more). The humidity on that moist side registers between 85 and 90%.

After exploring the enclosure, the scorpion settled in to the hide on the dry, cool side of the tank. It seems perfectly happy, in that it hasn't come out except to poke its claws out from time to time at night, and to eat a roach I placed nearby. But I was just puzzled by the fact that it has chosen to exclusively live on the dry, cool side of the enclosure, where the hot side isn't even as hot as it should be.

Is this just a case of some scorpions like it hot, and some cool; some wet, and some dry? Should I not bother with the second heat pad, since it doesn't seem to want the heat, anyway? Just a bit puzzled by its life choices.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

How long have you had it?
I would think it either hasn't been there long enough to find its ideal spot,
Or the hide on the cool dry side is more ideal then the one on the hot humid side. They like hides with a tight fit that they can squeeze into, with only one entrance and an open bottom so that they can dig a tunnel under it if they want. Could just be that the hide is better on that side. You can experiment with providing more hides and seeing what happens.
Or, the last option I can think of, it just likes the conditions there. As long as the substrate on the humid side is appropriately moist, and there is a water dish available, I don't think providing choices is a bad thing, as it can always seek out the moisture it needs.

Pictures of the enclosure might help, but it doesn't sound like there is anything wrong necessarily.

 

[Poffypoffa]

How long have you had it?
I would think it either hasn't been there long enough to find its ideal spot,
Or the hide on the cool dry side is more ideal then the one on the hot humid side. They like hides with a tight fit that they can squeeze into, with only one entrance and an open bottom so that they can dig a tunnel under it if they want. Could just be that the hide is better on that side. You can experiment with providing more hides and seeing what happens.
Or, the last option I can think of, it just likes the conditions there. As long as the substrate on the humid side is appropriately moist, and there is a water dish available, I don't think providing choices is a bad thing, as it can always seek out the moisture it needs.

Pictures of the enclosure might help, but it doesn't sound like there is anything wrong necessarily.

Only a week and a half—the hot side hide is perhaps slightly more open, so I could always add a bit of dirt to fill it in. I’ll take a photo tomorrow when it’s light out—thank you!

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

They just need to be kept at 75F to 85F temps. A mild overnight drop off is fine. Keep a deep and always moist substrate. No need to mist the substrate itself takes care of the humidity plus a waterdish always filled and moss doesn't hurt either.

 

[Poffypoffa]

I'm running around 81 on the hot side during the day, 78 or so at night. Humidity is running around 80%. So, seems like I'm not far off. Here's the enclosure from the top, but it could be hard to see what's going on. There's a hide on the left and right, on either side of the water bowl, leading down towards the opposite wall. There's also an extra flat cork piece if for some reason he was interested in that instead. The top of the sub is dry on the right, but it's all moist about an inch below that.