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- Apr 7, 2007
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Nothing says hiding spot like Birch bark! Looks good huh? Why spend $4-5 on hiding spots for your arachnids when you can make one yourself!
Hiding spots
- Thread starter slimtim454
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- Feb 18, 2006
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- 530
Not bad, if you have a source of clean wood around. I use bark and wood from the woods all the time.
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- Mar 9, 2007
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Looks like a hangar. We dont have birch here. But..yes, I use native tree barks quite a bit and hollow logs etc. Whenever I do a trip I always bring back, sand, bark, logs etc, even grasses and rocks. Love the native stuff. Far better than buying it.
Wow I would have never thought of that. :? LOL
The Birch bark would look nice on a light colored substrate. But after a while you realize they don't need asthetics to live healthy, a 69 cent clay pot, bottle cap and some cheap peat moss/sand is all any of mine get, the flatties scrapes are all leftover ceramic tiles. Regardless, don't buy anything at the pet store, hides, substrate, that's all a waste of money that is highly marked up.
The cleanliness and appearence of the Birch does look good though. If any of my scorpions ever deserve a display type setup, I'd probaly scout a birch rather than picking up any old thing that will do. Way to go. Too bad everyone can't enjoy these nice trees.
Edit, quick comparison, which is shocking actually, lol.
1lb pet sand- 4.99
10lb play sand- 4.99
3 bricks of substrate- 7.99
a bag which would provide you with the equivalent of nearly 10 bricks (or more)- (under) 7.99
Bark hide-5.99
Clay pot- 89 cents for large down to 49 cents for tiny. (Free if you do like you did,
)Smallest water dish at a petsore - at least 3.99
Bottle cap-free
See a trend? I mostly goto Home Depot, but Walmart works too and the final results can basically be very similar.
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- Apr 6, 2007
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It's amazing what u can find when u just go outside! most the furnishings in all my cages are things that I find out doors. u just have to be carefull that u don't bring any outside visitors with u .. i wish we had birch trees here.. but too hot -_-
.. i wish we had birch trees here.. but too hot -_-why give them something to disapear into? dont you enjoy the company? I know its what they do naturaly but i hate it when they disapear into the ground. i worry about her! i had a mexican red leg that is supposed to be a burrower, but she loved just being in her tunnels above ground that i carved out of a piece of volcanic rock!! I always had a birds eye view of her and i was as happy as she was!Nothing says hiding spot like Birch bark! Looks good huh? Why spend $4-5 on hiding spots for your arachnids when you can make one yourself!
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- Mar 9, 2007
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I know. I set up my burrowing scorpions so they are always visible and they think the environment is the burrow due to its climate.
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Yea pet store stuff is so expensive and we are brainwashed to think that's the only place to get things for animals. I try to get in the habit of keeping in mind what will work for the little dudes everywhere I go. But if I have a little money to chunk around, oh well.
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It might work for the tarantula, but scorps tend to prefer to hide somewhere dark and try to avoid light. If they have nowhere to hide it can be stressful to them. Also, they can position themselves better by burrowing to a level that provides an optimum humidity level. Combine this with a false bottom setup for maximum effect.
Mark takes this into account by sealing his enclosures to prevent moisture loss, but most hobbyists don't and have scorpions in aquariums with a few inches of substrate and a screen top.
Mark- Quick question- Are the sealed enclosures you use kept in a dark or low-light location, are they opaque or does light not bother the scorpions?
I'm tempted to try your housing method out with some other species we ave available here (Hadrurus in particular)
Cheers,
Dave Mc
I was one of those people at one time. Then I checekd my bank statement. Saving on setups helps you pay for all the electricity you use to heat the enclosures/room. I forgot to add to my list plastic bins. THe biggest one you will ever need for a single scorp is like 2$. As compared to a 8$ 10 gallon, which then you need a top for (more $$) and the glass gets so cold you need to use better heating methods and it just begins to be a pain. Plus I think the opague-ness of the plastics helps keep some of the light from bothering the scorp wiithout restricting viewing.
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Hi Dave
I keep most of my scorps in our kitchen, on top of the fridge, its like high rise apartments.
Each in a small plastic container. Our scorpions dont wander very far at all, so they seem quite content in a small environment. No direct sunlight, very little ambient light enters from outside, its just fluro and the scorpions dont seem at all bothered. Also I stack them, so most have another on top. When I feed them I rearrange this so a different one is on top. For instance my Lychas buchari of which I presently have 20 in one large container have the choice of a hollow log, but most prefer to sit on top of it exposing themselves. They also have thick native grasses to hide in, but often choose to sit out. My Urodacus are the same. Some containers I have enough dirt for them to burrow and they do, but still prefer to sit out of the burrow. I'm not into the display thing, for me its science so I have very basic housing, plus I wouldnt have the room.
babies and small scorpions like this :
Most of our desert scorpions lose water to the atmosphere at alarming rates, its just impossible to keep them in open situations unless you have a way of keeping the soil dry and the atmosphere at high humidity without sealing it off.
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- Feb 18, 2006
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Thanks!
I wasn't sure how the scorpions would react to conditions similar to their burrow but with higher light levels. I was assuming some stress from the light, but I supposed low-intensity fluorescent bulbs wouldn't have much of an effect.
As for the enclosures, they are some of the most uniform and organised I have seen. Much better than my own at least.
I think most hobbyist begin economizing on space when they start to accumulate new specimens. I started with a 38L (10 gal) tank on a table for a single Heterometrus to keeping them stacked in plastic boxes (and whatever else looks the right size and can hold moisture) on shelves. Not very organized to say the least!
Thanks again
Dave Mc
I wasn't sure how the scorpions would react to conditions similar to their burrow but with higher light levels. I was assuming some stress from the light, but I supposed low-intensity fluorescent bulbs wouldn't have much of an effect.
As for the enclosures, they are some of the most uniform and organised I have seen. Much better than my own at least.
I think most hobbyist begin economizing on space when they start to accumulate new specimens. I started with a 38L (10 gal) tank on a table for a single Heterometrus to keeping them stacked in plastic boxes (and whatever else looks the right size and can hold moisture) on shelves. Not very organized to say the least!
Thanks again
Dave Mc