Please help! Urgent! Pandinus Imperator....

Jaffster

Arachnoknight
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May 30, 2007
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Just went to check on my Pandinus imperator.

Looked around, couldn't see him. Looked inside his hide and he wasn't there.... lifted his hide out and he was behind it. God knows how he got there.

Anyhow, no movement or anything. Tryed to touch his pedipals (claws, if that's the right word) with my tweezers and I got a slight flinch but no real reaction.

Is this normal? I'm a bit worried that's all, being a scorpion owner for 3 days I'm not sure if this is normal!

Pictures:





See this topic for my other newbish questions...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=97000
 

Bayushi

Arachnoprince
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it's just cold. You heat it up a bit there and it'll start moving.
 

Jaffster

Arachnoknight
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it's just cold. You heat it up a bit there and it'll start moving.
Ok cool. I'm considering leaving the flourescant light on overnight, to keep the temperature up ever so slighty until my 75 watt IR heat lamp comes tomorrow.

I've moved his hide over the heat mat for now.

Thanks.
 

Bayushi

Arachnoprince
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yeah that 65degs is just a bit too low for the scorp to be active.

A bit of advice on your substrate choice. Vermiculite is gonna stick to your scorp like gum to the underside of a pew. it's great at holding in moisture but that's about it.
 

Jaffster

Arachnoknight
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yeah that 65degs is just a bit too low for the scorp to be active.

A bit of advice on your substrate choice. Vermiculite is gonna stick to your scorp like gum to the underside of a pew. it's great at holding in moisture but that's about it.
Should I go and buy some potting soil on the weekend and switch it over?

Anything I should look for, or any recommendations for what makes the best substrate. Money isn't really a problem so any recommendation is good, bark etc? Tell me what to ask for at the garden centre and I'll do it.
 

dangerprone69

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Heat it up and it should be fine.

Emperors LOVE to scoop out burrows also- I'd recommend having as much substrate as the overall length of the scorpion. As far as substrate types I would recommend a mixture of 60% coconut fiber, 30% vermiculite and 10% fine sand. I also would not recommend a lamp as it tends to dry things out; use an undertank heater instead. Partially cover up the screen top with packing tape to retain humidity and you're good to go!
 

Jaffster

Arachnoknight
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I already have a heat mat underneath. Unfortunately it just can't keep up with the temperatures over here in the UK.

It's summer yet for the past 3 weeks it's rained everyday, barely reaching 18 degrees at the hottest of times.

Where do you buy coconut fibre from?

Or anything suitable online? From the UK?
 
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Bayushi

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you can use non fertilized sterile potting soil for a sub or peat. cocofibre can be bought at almost any pet prison(store).
 

Michiel

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I stronlgy recommend you to not use undertank heating. Their natural tendencie to burrow to escape from the heat, will not work, because they will dig into the warmer area.

Your animal is shielding itself, as can be clearly seen in the picture. Large clawed scorpions, like Pandinus and Heterometrus shield themselves with their claws as a defensive mechanism. That is what's happening in the pictures and that's the first reason why it did not respond very active. The second reason, like others said before, is that the temp is too low and this makes the metabolism slower, resulting in a lower alertness/ activity.

Maybe my conclusion is premature, but given the fact that you do not have a lamp yet and you are keeping the animal on the wrong substrate (vermiculite can stick to your scorp and when it doesn't molt anymore, it will stay there), I think this is a classic case of " getting the animal first and ask questions afterwards", instead of "read a few books and ask questions and then get the animal".

The substrate mixture of humus mixed with vermiculite and a bit of sand sounds okay. Get the heat up, get some books about scorps (there a few good and cheap ones) and you should be fine! ;)
 

dangerprone69

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I stronlgy recommend you to not use undertank heating. Their natural tendencie to burrow to escape from the heat, will not work, because they will dig into the warmer area.
I've raised 3 generations of Emperors using heat mats, and I've never seen them burrow near the heat source. I place the heat mat on one side of the tank and the scorps have always dug on the opposite side of the tank or towards the middle.

Whatever works for you is fine, I'm just letting him know what's been successful for myself.

There's an excellent book called Scorpions by Manny Rubio--- I'd highly suggest getting a copy off of Amazon. Very informative.
 

Michiel

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Okay,

It is fine to explain some one what works for you, but you should also explain a possible risk and not only the "it works" side of it. He asks a question about stuff he is not yet familiair with and it is important to share good info with newbies, this means pro's and con's.

So maybe it works fine in your set-up, but in my example, most of the time at least, they dug into the warm area. Just to make sure it had no negative effects I switched to a lamp. You do have to monitor proper humidity levels, that's true :D
 

Jaffster

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Maybe my conclusion is premature, but given the fact that you do not have a lamp yet and you are keeping the animal on the wrong substrate (vermiculite can stick to your scorp and when it doesn't molt anymore, it will stay there), I think this is a classic case of " getting the animal first and ask questions afterwards", instead of "read a few books and ask questions and then get the animal".
I have read 'Scorpions by Manny rubio'. I have a copy.

The set I bought was complete, the store tried to give me dry substrate but I asked for something which will be moist for a forest scorpion.

Infact, if you look back through my posts you'll see that I've been wanting a scorpion for quite some time, reading questions and answers. I think you're being a little neive and mistaking being cautious and caring for being an ill-informed newb.

There's only so much information you can pick up on in books and the internet, the rest is experience and that I don't have.

The fact that quite a few websites say Vermiculite is a good substrate for forest type scorpions (such as http://www.easyinsects.co.uk/site/content/view/26/1/ ) shows that I have infact read quite a bit, but I've been given wrong information. Either that or you are wrong. But I'm not here to point fingers at what's fact and what isn't, I'm just here to learn a hobby which I've fallen in love with.

Other alternatives include: pure vermiculite, beech wood chips (bushland substrate) and corn cob granules (arid land substrate). As you will be adding water to the substrate the name is unimportant what really matters is its qualities in holding the water and releasing it at the right rate. I like to use vermiculite on its own as it is inert and wont harbour any mites, but it doesn't look very natural.
Yes I've read, but I think you're being a little harsh on a newb with a few questions. I'm not thick, but I thought a heat mat would suffice for the temperatures. I've ordered a heat bulb too, should be with me tomorrow. I listened to opinions, I got a UV red heat lamp.

Also, temperatures are going to drop even lower if I took the heat mat out, that would just be silly.
 

dogeatdog

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Ok cool. I'm considering leaving the flourescant light on overnight, to keep the temperature up ever so slighty until my 75 watt IR heat lamp comes tomorrow.

I've moved his hide over the heat mat for now.

Thanks.
Scorpions do not need fluorescent lights. If anything, this can harm them. They are nocturnal so if you're going to use a lamp for the enclosure I suggest getting a red heat bulb
 

Bayushi

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Scorpions do not need fluorescent lights. If anything, this can harm them. They are nocturnal so if you're going to use a lamp for the enclosure I suggest getting a red heat bulb
Uuuummm the only thing i see a fluorescent light doing is throwing off the day night schedule of the scorp. Yes in the long run that might do some harm, but it's probably very negligible if it does any at all.
 

BadBikaDamo

Arachnoknight
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Yeah, the U.K is cold for scorps. I use plant propergators for mine, the best are Stewarts from Homebase at £35 for a large one (abou 55x35cm). They have a bulit in heated base and you can get about 3in soil in( mix some sand in for Emps/Imperials, but not Asian forest) Get youself a temp gauge and humodty gauge. Mine get a misting everyday and they are breeding quite happily. One thing though, propergators do not have lockable lids, and whilst even Swammerdamis wont be able to lift the lid, as soon as you lift, thry may be over the side. Also, I keep a large piece of wood in mine the Scorps can climb onto if they want to cool down a bit, but dont place anything hard around a raised area as large scorps are quite clumsy and can fall, if they crack their shells on something hard, they can bleed to death, although dusting them with icing sugar can coagulate the blood.
 
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Jaffster

Arachnoknight
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Uuuummm the only thing i see a fluorescent light doing is throwing off the day night schedule of the scorp. Yes in the long run that might do some harm, but it's probably very negligible if it does any at all.
All that aside, I'd rather keep the temperature up by a few degrees until my heat lamp turns up with the flourescant light on than have even lower temperatures with no lighting.

It's only temporary.
 

Michiel

Arachnoking
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Wow, you read Manny Rubio's book! Now you know everything! :rolleyes: You are calling the people who give you feedback naive?
Who is asking all those questions and is keeping his emp in a not optimal setting?

I do not think you are thick or stupid and you are right not to trust information from stores or the site you mentioned, these people have commercial goals. But calling people who try to help you naive is kind of strange.
But hey, do as you please, there not my scorps :)
 

Brian S

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The fact that quite a few websites say Vermiculite is a good substrate for forest type scorpions (such as http://www.easyinsects.co.uk/site/content/view/26/1/ ) shows that I have infact read quite a bit, but I've been given wrong information. Either that or you are wrong. But I'm not here to point fingers at what's fact and what isn't, I'm just here to learn a hobby which I've fallen in love with.
As you get some time under your belt at keeping scorpions you will probably see that there are some really poor "caresheets" floating around on the Net. If you want a good substrate go with peat or that coco fiber. It holds moisture good.
You dont need a gauge that measures humidity. It seems that nearly all newbies think they need one but in all honesty, if your substrate is moist your humidity is fine.
If you really want to read a good article about keeping Emps, then this is the one you need to look at :)
Pandinus imperator ***** by jeroenkooijman*****
 
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