my first scorpion and i have some questions

[maqua]

hi my names Gemma and a few months ago i got Onika(have uploaded a pic to the gallery), i was told by the the shop that she is a female emperor so if im wrong then pls let me know, she is approx 1.5" in length from head to start of tail

ive got her setup in a 12"w 18"l 12"h glass enclosure with a heatmat and thermastat on the back set to 25c and humidity at 70-80%, a water bowl along with a broken pot and bark hide.

she spends most of her time under the bark hide and when she does come out 90% of her viewed time is spent trying to climb up the glass(mainly in the corners) useing her tail to get added height,

ok so my first and main question is about her carapace as is looks like there are quite large gaps especialy towards the tail end?

and secondly yes about her eating or lack of it, i feed her in the evening b4 i go to bed and she has never taken food from the tongs even though i have tryed so now i just drop in a cricket(ive tryed varius sizes) but for the last 3 weeks ive had to retrive the cricket uneaten, i have tryed giving her a wax worm with tongs but after grasping it she just droped it and wondered off?

she is very active and even spends a lot of time out during the day so i dont think she is unwell im just curious why she has decided to stop eating?

 

[Roblicious]

She might be getting ready to molt since she looks kinda fat.

What kind of substrate is that btw?

 

[jgod790]

Sounds pretty normal. If she is not in pre molt, she may have been over fed and is taking time to digest before she eats more. They have very slow metabolisms. Is there enough substrate for her to burrow?

 

[maqua]

the substrate is about 3" of the bloke stuff you soak in water but i carnt remember the exact name as i didnt keep the packet with a futher 1" of what im told is spider mulch,

 

[jgod790]

3 inches isn't enough. If you want your emp to be REALLY happy and healthy, you should give it at least 6 inches so it has room to dig and make tunnels. My emps have almost 10 inches of substrate.

 

[Ecstasy]

the substrate is about 3" of the bloke stuff you soak in water but i carnt remember the exact name as i didnt keep the packet with a futher 1" of what im told is spider mulch,

It's referred to as Eco Earth or bed-a-beast, I know it has other names as well but those are the ones where I live at. I would go a bit deeper, to 5" though.

Also if you can get a picture of your setup and of your scorpion we can give you more accurate statements as to what's possibly happening.

3 inches isn't enough. If you want your emp to be REALLY happy and healthy, you should give it at least 6 inches so it has room to dig and make tunnels. My emps have almost 10 inches of substrate.

If you have a hide that's tight fitting, an emperor will not burrow usually, I used to raise and breed Emp's and sell to the pet stores for years and I've never had one Emp burrow on me. Also 4-6 inches is sufficient.

 

[maqua]

i have added 1 pic to the gallery and will take some of the overall setup tomorrow

 

[jgod790]

If you have a hide that's tight fitting, an emperor will not burrow usually, I used to raise and breed Emp's and sell to the pet stores for years and I've never had one Emp burrow on me. Also 4-6 inches is sufficient.[/QUOTE]


Really? I have 4 hides in my enclosure, 3 emp's and they ignore the hides and just dig there own tunnels.

 

[maqua]

1 top view and 1 side view of the current setup

if i have it wrong then pls tell me what so i can fix it for her

 

[jgod790]

I would say, the only thing wrong with it, is that you spent more money then you had to. All the bells and whistles are not necessary. But it defiantly seems like a good healthy environment for a emperor scorpion.

---------- Post added at 01:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 PM ----------

Just be careful with the heating pad. If money is not an issue, you should get a heating lamp with a red/black/blue bulb.