Emperor scorpion - Trying to make sure I'm doing it right

[TechnoGeek]

I have been looking for an adult or subadult emperor scorpion for quite some time, so when I found a guy willing to downsize his collection I immediately bought the scorp. I'll post the enclosure and I just wanna make sure I'm keeping it right. I used a mix of mostly cocoa fiber with some topping soil and forest moss for substrate, provided a hide, and a water dish. Anything I'm overlooking? I have been told by the seller that they need a heating matt but honestly that sounds like nonsense to me tho I could be wrong.

Substrate covers 70% of the height of the enclosure and the hide is dug into the substrate at an angle cause I been told they might like to dig.

An hour ago she suddenly decided to pace around the enclosure and then started trying to get out and climb the walls which concerned me. I then thought she might be looking for food and when I offered her a superworm, this happened:

She attacked the tweezers so bad that she held on and almost got dragged out of the enclosure. I had to convince her that only the worm is edible. It seems she was starving? Or could something else have been driving her to try and get out?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[zyphonix223]

To me that's good. Imo u want an aggressive scorpions because my emp is around the same size and never eats.

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

Nice looking scorpion ! About the heating; Most Emperor care sheets recommend temperature of about 26-30°C (80-85°F).
The need for heating all depends on your ambient temperature.
Personally i don't (like to) live in a temperature of more than 25°C, I maintain 21°C in my house so my scorps do need extra heating.
When in doubt i usually create a 'hot' and a 'cold' zone in the enclosure to let the scorpion decide or self-regulate.
The difference between hot and cold should only be a few degrees of course.
It also means the scorpion needs at least 2 hides, 1 in the hot and 1 in the cold zone.
It's also pretty normal for scorpions to be trying to climb up the walls of the enclosure during the first 1 or 2 weeks, eventually it will calm down.
And don't forget to read this: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/basic-emperor-scorpion-p-imperator-care.11336/
Good luck and enjoy your emperor!

 

[TechnoGeek]

Nice looking scorpion ! About the heating; Most Emperor care sheets recommend temperature of about 26-30°C (80-85°F).
The need for heating all depends on your ambient temperature.
Personally i don't (like to) live in a temperature of more than 25°C, I maintain 21°C in my house so my scorps do need extra heating.
When in doubt i usually create a 'hot' and a 'cold' zone in the enclosure to let the scorpion decide or self-regulate.
The difference between hot and cold should only be a few degrees of course.
It also means the scorpion needs at least 2 hides, 1 in the hot and 1 in the cold zone.
It's also pretty normal for scorpions to be trying to climb up the walls of the enclosure during the first 1 or 2 weeks, eventually it will calm down.
And don't forget to read this: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/basic-emperor-scorpion-p-imperator-care.11336/
Good luck and enjoy your emperor!

The temperature in my house is 23c on avg year round. Is that enough for the scorpion?

This is my new fav arachnid pushing my pricey grammostola pulchra to 2nd place lol

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

The temperature in my house is 23c on avg year round. Is that enough for the scorpion?

Your scorpion can answer that question and here's how;
Place a low heat source to one side of the enclosure e.g. small heat mat, old computer router, power supply of a laptop etc.
If your scorpion chooses to hang out near that heat source you might want to increase overall temperature of the enclosure
If your scorpion chooses to get away from that heat source then you might be fine without any heating. (but i doubt it, 23°C is a bit low)
There are scorpions that do well at that 23°C, Euscorpius sp. for instance will do fine because that is similar to it's wild environment.
Your Pandinus Imperator is from Africa, much closer to the equator, higher average temperature year round.
Just temporarily create a 'hot' zone (including a hide) for a few days and let your scorpion show you what it wants.
A scorpion that has been too cold for too long will become inactive and might refuse to eat.
I killed my first Heterometrus species scorp because of too low temperature.
Experienced people don't share care sheets for nothing, it's very useful info !

 

[FrankiePinchinatti]

I almost completely lost my emperor colony when my heat mat went out without me knowing. I had scorpions dying mysteriously and they had all basically stopped eating and growing. This was after keeping them at roughly 20-21C for probably 6 months or so.

 

[TechnoGeek]

I almost completely lost my emperor colony when my heat mat went out without me knowing. I had scorpions dying mysteriously and they had all basically stopped eating and growing. This was after keeping them at roughly 20-21C for probably 6 months or so.

So did you lose them after temperature dropped below 21 or at a temperature of 21?

 

[FrankiePinchinatti]

I don't know exactly when the heater went out, I just know that I saw a gradual decline in their health and it all completely reversed itself once I installed a working heat mat.

 

[TechnoGeek]

I don't know exactly when the heater went out, I just know that I saw a gradual decline in their health and it all completely reversed itself once I installed a working heat mat.

Thanks! Already bought a heat mat and a thermostat.

This is the heat mat that I picked. Planning on taping it to the side right where the hide is.

 

[TechnoGeek]

I don't know exactly when the heater went out, I just know that I saw a gradual decline in their health and it all completely reversed itself once I installed a working heat mat.

Btw, I really want to get another emp and from what you posted seems you keep them communally?? Can I do that with 2 scorpions around the same size (or maybe 1-2" apart)? If I feed them frequently they won't resort to cannibalism??

 

[TechnoGeek]

Ok, I need to thank everyone for the kind help. You guys rock

Secondly, I decided to grab 2 or 3 emps and keep at least 2 communally so I moved the one I already have to a bigger enclosure which required a bigger 20 wat heat mat and ofc a thermostat, keeping temperature between 83-86F during the day (thermostat sensor slightly embedded in the substrate) and 75-81 at night. There are 2 hides as well and I might add a 3rd one.