Looking to Start

DM05

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
7
First, let me say Hi! I'm new to the Scorpion world.

I also posted this on VenomList so please don't be mad if you see this again lol. I'm just not sure if both communities cross over or what... heh.

I've spent the last 2 months or so reading up on scorpions, scorpion care, etc. And I've finally made the decision:

I want to get started in this fascinating hobby of Scorpion..ism? lol.

My First Species

From my understanding, most people will agree that the Pandinus Imperator is a great starter species? I have seem to become quite fond of reading about this species, and to be honest, it has grown on me lol. Is this a wise selection or should I reconsider? What do you recommend?

Habitat

Under the assumption that P. Imperator is one of the best species to start out with, where can I get the materials needed to construct a high humid and heated environment?

The substrate(I assume this is a technical term for the ground? lol) is to be made up of a layer of gravel/small rocks with a tube feeded down to it from the top, and then a layer of ________ (what here?) and something else. What do you recommend?

I was speaking to a coworker today about my interest, and told him I was going to go find an aquarium to get started on constructing a habitat for one. Instead, he offered to give me his 20 gallon aquarium for free. (he used to keep turtles in here, I'd definently clean and wash it out good before putting anything in it heh). How many P. Imps could I house in a tank of this size?

How do you control the heat/humidity of an aquarium? I imagine I would need to get a thermostat and a device to measure humidity(not sure what it is called lol). Can I get them in digital readouts? (I like digital stuff lol). I've read about putting a constant light ontop of one side of the aquarium, to give a more gradient of temperatures across, but what about night cycles? If I leave the light on 24/7, how will the scorp know the difference between night and day? I read they are nocturnal so.. would they not come out in the constant light? I'm a bit troubled here. How would you simulate this while keeping the temp up?

I'd like to get a habitat setup and be able to maintain the humidty and temp before buying the scorps. They deserve it :)

On a side note, if I recall, having a few roly polys, pill bugs, etc put in the habitat, can actually help you keep the place cleaner, developing it more into a mini-eco system. They eat the leftover pieces, etc. Is this true? Will the scorp attack the little bugs?

Food

I've seen most people feed their scorps worms, crickets, etc. I don't see myself feeding scorps any kind of mice, although this seems to be very popular on youtube. Just seems like people do it see an animal suffer and die, and see their scorp kill something. Makes me wonder what the motivation these people have for keeping scorps. Something tells me it isn't for the preservation, study, or even enjoyment of having them. Just to see them kill things. But I could be wrong.

Anyhow, back to food. Sorry for that tangent. I'd be really interested in keeping my own supply of food. How hard is it to keep a colony of crickets? My worry about this is the fact that they may be really loud. I can't do cockroaches. Childhood fear lol. Worms might be acceptable.

Where To Buy?

I live in Knoxville,TN and I can't seem to find a place that I trust buying them from. One store I did find that sold P. Imps seemed to have no idea what I was talking about when asking questions. I tried asking where they came from, how old are they, what instar, etc... and they couldn't answer any of my questions. They kept giving me vague responses such as " we get them from all over" , "They are average age". wtf is average age lol. What do you compare it to? Also, they kept about 20 of these guys, which I would say were 3rd Instar from my own personal guess( About 2 inches long, already black in color), and kept them all in one little heated bin, on sand. They didn't seem to knowledgeable about them.

Does anyone recommend a reputable P. Imp breeder? How safe is shipping scorps? How would I go about unpacking them? lol.





I'll post more questions as I come up with them, but for now this will do. I just want to be fully prepared before I undertake the task of raising and hopefully even breeding scorpions one day. It wouldn't be fair for the little guys to be mistreated etc, just because of their owners ignorance.
 

~Abyss~

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
2,980
H-For substrate I use eco-earth you can buy it at petstores but it might be a little pricy. I like it best because it retains a lot of water. If your wondering what it looks like it's a small brick that expands when put in water. You can also use potting soil. Tolly pollies do help and I recomend it. As for heat I use a undertank heater and place it on the side of the tank. The false bottom set up your talking about (pebles and tube) should maintain humidity.
F- if you do a search on my previous post you'll see how I have a roach phobia as well. But i recently shook it off a little and am keeping some B.dubias. They are great feedes no noise or nasty cricket smell. They really don't look like your typical roaches so it's not that bad to handle them altough i suppose you can buy a feeding tube so as not to touch them. I tried crickets for a while it's just bad all around.
B- You can buy p.imps at almost any petshop. But if your looking for captive bred ones try a dealer on-line. Look in the For Sale section of this forum.

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask or you can PM me.
 

DM05

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
7


My intestines and stomach all tightened up just at looking at that. I don't think I could handle a roach lol. However... they do seem really easy to care for, and no smell is a plus. But, the no-flying no-climbing thing.. that is a good plus too. But.. I don't know.

How many P. imps could I keep in a 20g aquarium? I was thinking two, comfortably. So how many roaches would I need to upkeep? I was reading some guy with a 300-400 populated colony. That's... alot of roaches. Heh.
 

tabor

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Messages
1,620
I keep 4 spinifers together in one 20g with tons of room to spare, with imps I would go 6-8 if they are adults.

;P ;P Welcome to the hobby !
 

~Abyss~

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
2,980


My intestines and stomach all tightened up just at looking at that. I don't think I could handle a roach lol. However... they do seem really easy to care for, and no smell is a plus. But, the no-flying no-climbing thing.. that is a good plus too. But.. I don't know.

How many P. imps could I keep in a 20g aquarium? I was thinking two, comfortably. So how many roaches would I need to upkeep? I was reading some guy with a 300-400 populated colony. That's... alot of roaches. Heh.
I just pertend there beatles. They have more of a grey tone to them. I admit I was a little iffy on getting these but it was all in all a good decision. I have 2 Pimps+ 2 H.spinefers in one 10 gallon tank.
 

tabor

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Messages
1,620
I just pertend there beatles. They have more of a grey tone to them. I admit I was a little iffy on getting these but it was all in all a good decision. I have 2 Pimps+ 2 H.spinefers in one 10 gallon tank.
LOL about the beatles, thats the same thing i do. When people ask what they are i just say "really big tropical beatles" ;)
 

~Abyss~

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
2,980
Yeah my friend came over an my lil bro told him we had roaches. I told him to hold one and he said "well, they don't look so bad but you shouldn't have told me they were roaches"
 
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