New owner of baby Emps

gandalousb

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
2
I am new to the hobby, and have had two baby, captive bred Emperor scorpions for two weeks now. Arachnoboards has been my main source of info and I have read all of the basics, but I just wanted to throw out a few observations, and see if anyone has any helpful input. I do not know how old these two are, but one is significantly larger than the other; about one inch long, and the other is about half that length.

1. Do I need to be feeding them, or can I trust they will feed themselves? I bought the smallest crickets I could find and left them in the tank; but I have yet to actually witness with scorp eat, so I am not sure if they have eaten at all, or if the crickets have died. They have been in my care for 14 days, and I have only added crickets to the tank once ... I can see the feed can live several days in there.

2. How can I tell if they are 'happy'? I understand they are nocturnal, burrow, and sleep most of their lives, and several days will pass without seeing them at all. They seem active, healthy, and responsive when I do see them, but it is very infrequent. I have the heat pad on the side of the tank, and a few inches of bark ships, sitting on a layer of gravel, sitting in an inch of water, as I read on this board. One scorpion seems to like the tube where the water goes, and seems to have spend hours on end burrowing to or under the water... should I be concerned?

3. How often to I change the substrate? Again, I have left crickets in there, and am pretty confident they weren't all eaten ... whats the process for cleaning the tank, and how often?

Thanks for reading guys, just wanted to share my initial experience, and any sort of constructive feedback/advice/insight would be much appreciated!
 

DreamWeaver8

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 28, 2011
Messages
132
If you are feeding them baby crickets just make sure they actually capture their prey or you can feed them with tongs. Feed them once a week but this species can go great periods without eating so don't be alarmed if they go on a fast. As for the water dish and burrowing, make sure the substrate is moist not damp or wet! I Recommend using coco fiber for a substrate for these guys. Remember any organism knows what is best for itself so they are going to do whatever they need to take care of themselves and survive. Good luck and welcome to the hobby!
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 4, 2005
Messages
8,982
I'd put a pre-killed medium sized cricket in a corner. If they are hungry they will wander around, esp. at night, come across it as the follow the glass or plastic wall. If they are hungry one will pick it up, eat it, you won't see it or might see some of it later, then you know they are eating. I might do that once a week. I have 100s of things but no feeding schedule, just comes naturally after a while, they don't have a feeding schedule in nature either, they are opportunists in nature so it's a little random over here as well when it comes to feeding things.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
You can change the substrate about once a year, unless there's a mite infestation, then change the substrate immediately. Just dump the wood chips and rinse the gravel, then replace the set up.
 
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