First time emperor owner

[Egyptian]

Hey guys, I am about to buy my first ever scorpion (and pet for that matter) and it is an emperor scorpion. I just had 2 questions:

1) I have a heat pad and I was told to put it on the side because scorpions love to burrow and putting it on the bottom is not ideal. So I was just wondering, does it go on the inside of the tank or on the outside? Again, I am putting on the side wall which is glass

2) As for keeping crickets, is water and slices of carrot just fine? Or do I need to buy this commercial cricket food they sell? I've seen people just use carrot or potatoe slices so I was just wondering.

Thanks a lot!!

 

[Erebus]

You don't really need a heat pad unless its super cold in your house. But, all heat pads go on the outside of the cage.

And, yes, you can use carrots and water for crickets. I usually soak a paper towel in water to be sure the crickets don't drown.

 

[Egyptian]

You don't really need a heat pad unless its super cold in your house. But, all heat pads go on the outside of the cage.

And, yes, you can use carrots and water for crickets. I usually soak a paper towel in water to be sure the crickets don't drown.

Yea my room gets super cold so I will definitely use the pad. Thanks a ton for the advice!

 

[wayner]

put your crickets in a Rubbermaid container with either cardboard egg carton pieces or some toilet paper rolls, it provides them with a surface so they are not being smothered by standing on one another and it helps them hide and provokes them to breed, a wet sponge gives them plenty of water for days, throw in some cricket food or crushed cat or dog food works fine and a couple pieces of fresh fruit put you a small container with dampened cleaned soil or (I use damp coco fiber) crickets will lay their eggs on and in it, take out the soil abt every week dampin it then incubate them, don't forget to replace more soil. follow these steps and you should have no problem keeping a cricket colony, if your wanting to just keep some alive do the same things but leave out the soil...you don't really have to worry much about a substrate, if you are wanting to breed your crickets I would recommend either using cloth or nothing as crickets prefer to lay their eggs in the dirt and they will be more likely to use your soil...

 

[Egyptian]

put your crickets in a Rubbermaid container with either cardboard egg carton pieces or some toilet paper rolls, it provides them with a surface so they are not being smothered by standing on one another and it helps them hide and provokes them to breed, a wet sponge gives them plenty of water for days, throw in some cricket food or crushed cat or dog food works fine and a couple pieces of fresh fruit put you a small container with dampened cleaned soil or (I use damp coco fiber) crickets will lay their eggs on and in it, take out the soil abt every week dampin it then incubate them, don't forget to replace more soil. follow these steps and you should have no problem keeping a cricket colony, if your wanting to just keep some alive do the same things but leave out the soil...you don't really have to worry much about a substrate, if you are wanting to breed your crickets I would recommend either using cloth or nothing as crickets prefer to lay their eggs in the dirt and they will be more likely to use your soil...

Thanks....I seen a video on this and just might do it myself

 

[wayner]

yep no problem, its totally worth it, youll have more than you need for your scorp but you can always find someone else that may need some to

 

[Egyptian]

yep no problem, its totally worth it, youll have more than you need for your scorp but you can always find someone else that may need some to

Nice....I'm on a tight budget so that would definitely help

 

[Egyptian]

I have another question:

I'm going to be going on trip over the weekend from Thursday night untill Monday afternoon, but no one will be looking after my scorpion during that time.

Would it be ok if I leave a few crickets in the tank (like 2 or 3) before I leave? And also, what could I do about the humidity?

 

[ShredderEmp]

Pandinus sp. are known for going on long fasts at random times, so you shouldn't need to worry about food. Most scorpions can go a week or two without food anyway. If your scorpion is a baby, just leave 1 cricket in and take it out when you get home.

As for the humidity, P. imperators are a tough species, and can take short periods of dryness. Just keep as much humidity as you can in.

 

[Egyptian]

Pandinus sp. are known for going on long fasts at random times, so you shouldn't need to worry about food. Most scorpions can go a week or two without food anyway. If your scorpion is a baby, just leave 1 cricket in and take it out when you get home.

As for the humidity, P. imperators are a tough species, and can take short periods of dryness. Just keep as much humidity as you can in.

Alright thanks man...I'll try to maybe leave some water in there in an unreachable spot to keep it humid for as long as possible

 

[Smokehound714]

Give em a large water dish, so they can fully immerse themselves, these love to bathe.

 

[Egyptian]

Give em a large water dish, so they can fully immerse themselves, these love to bathe.

Isn't that a drowning risk? Some people were telling me not to put too much water in the dish or they can drow, some people even use water gels instead of water....I'm confused :S

 

[wayner]

a large dish as in round but not to deep cuzz they can drown easily I have pebbles in mine to help prevent that, just put a bit of water in your substrate not so much that you have puddles or anything like that but it should give you enough humidity to last a day or two