Need Maybe Critical Advice!

[RECK7ESS]

Hello. I am new to arachnids lol. I got my first emperor scorpion, a female poss pregnant. I have a nice tank with screen top lid. Not light or lamp. Heat pad on one side.of tank. Two hide outs one each side. Couple of climbing rocks and a water dish. I mist once or twice daily. Cover one side of.lid for humidity. Soil like substrate. I feed her mealworms, crickets, and will try Dubai roaches soon. At first I had heatpad on bottom. She would stay in hideout that was directly above it( I do have spil substrate stuff.). But after researching I freaked out and put heatpad on side. Def not as warm in there. But dont want my scorpion to burn itself to death lol. It's now burrowed under rock to heatpad glass side and sits there hugging glass as if for warmth. My question.... what should I do? Should u put heatpad back? Get a lamp? If so what wattage etc.? Any advice helps. I dont want my arachnid to suffer a bad life or die!

 

[FrankiePinchinatti]

The short answer is add more substrate in there.

The longer answer is that right now 95% of your heating pad is across from open air. Air has an extremely low heat capacity so all of that heat basically vanishes as soon as it is generated. Substrate has a higher heat capacity, and moist substrate as even more due to water's extremely high high capacity. If you pile up moist substrate about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up on that wall (you can have it deeper on that end and a bit shallower on the other end if you'd like) then a lot more of that heat will be retained. I'd probably also suggest swapping the hides, or even just laying the cork flat right near the heat mat, this will allow the scorpion to create a burrow against the glass and will keep it even warmer.

 

[Ferrachi]

Definitely need more substrate...

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

@FrankiePinchinatti Yes !! Moist substrate is far better at retaining heat energy than just air.
This is a big enclosure for such type of heat mat. If your heat mat is on the outside then remember that glass is a lousy heat conductor.
If you use a heat mat that works directly of mains voltage (like most of them) you should keep it on the outside of the enclosure for safety.
Of course a mat that is on the outside is also wasting a large part of heat by heating the air in your room.
There are mats that works on a lower/stepped down voltage which are safe to use inside a humid enclosure,
they have a power brick outside the enclosure that lowers and regulates the voltage.
Those mats can go inside the enclosure, so you are wasting less heat energy, all of it directly into the enclosure without the glass barrier.
But right now the amount of substrate has a higher priority.
Place a bucket load of it against the side of the heat mat like @FrankiePinchinatti explained.

 

[darkness975]

@RECK7ESS

Good thing you got the mat off the bottom of the tank, that is a recipe for disaster.

As others have said, more substrate will help.

The hides are fairly large. When you add more substrate, bury them half way so that they are more snug and the Scorpion will burrow into them. They prefer to squeeze into tighter spaces than to be in a cavernous open area.

 

[RECK7ESS]

Thank you very much for all info. I have bought a large bag of substrate and just got off work. When I get paid in week I will buy a second heat pad for back side. House is never lower than 75 degrees. But I am concerned lol but fr as I kinda really want this creature to live as natural and comfortable as possible.

 

[RECK7ESS]

Is this better? And I accidentally buried her in lil dirtnlike inch or so... will she be okay? Also will buy another heatpad for backside next week.

 

[Dr SkyTower]

yes she will like that. a couple of suggestions - bury the hides a little more and you can add a water bowl for her to soak in - that will help retain humidity.