PVC Pipe okay for hide?

[kellysaxez]

Hello all,

I have a question about appropriate hides for my P. imperator and my P. cavimanus. I find that keeping the humidity up in their enclosure can often lead to the substrate becoming much too wet and I recently lost one of my two Emp scorplings (2 inches from head to telson) to the toxicity of an undiscovered growth of anaerobic bacteria, at least that is the only thing I can attribute to his unexpected demise.

Last week, I went to do a cleaning and, after digging into the soil to aerate it somewhat, got hit in the face with a terrible sulfurous odor. I soon found the much smaller of the two Emps (though they were the same exact size when I acquired them, the difference in size after molts and growth etc. leading me to think I had a male and female) very lethargic without the strength to even pull apart a cricket . It passed a few days later. It's tank mate is fine and healthy and she is as plump as a Christmas goose and I'm relieved for that.

Anyway, I now have on the way from Ken the bug guy a red claw about 3/4" (w/o tail) as Emps are almost impossible to find now. To prevent yet another loss I've reduced the amount of substrate from about 8 inches to only a few inches (while they are still so small) and placed in their individual hides a long piece of PVC piping. I'm hoping they can utilize it as a hide w/o the threat of any toxicity if the substrate doesn't dry out enough. I am worried, though, that the PVC will prevent any benefit the moisture from being physically in contact with the substrate might provide for them.

I've enclosed some pics to help.

I've also sectioned off the tank into two separate enclosures with a short piece of Plexi for now, in case the two would fight, the P. cav being more aggressive than the P. imp., although I did make some calls to LLL reptiles and JR and both told me that the two can co-habitate communally if numbers are low and enough hides and food are available. I don't plan on adding any more to my collection anyway, well, that's a lie. lol. Maybe a bark or a desert scorpion of some type, (any suggestions for a good first variant would be appreciated). Anyway, pics included and any and all comments presented are welcomed and appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Kelly

The PVC hide (covered in a cork bark tube)




The scorpion enclosure as a whole

 

[skippydude]

I use 1" PVC pipe cut into 1 1/2" lengths for hides with my 2" and under tarantulas, they work quite well.

 

[darkness975]

I personally cannot think of any reason why PVC pipe would not work, but what I do want to point out is P. cavimanus is more aggressive and I am not sure I would risk keeping them together.

 

[kellysaxez]

I personally cannot think of any reason why PVC pipe would not work, but what I do want to point out is P. cavimanus is more aggressive and I am not sure I would risk keeping them together.

scorpion975. Thank you for that advice regarding temperaments and not keeping them together. If I section off the tank with a higher "wall" to prevent either from climbing over into the others territory, do you think the separate enclosures, so to speak, would afford each enough room/space to live comfortably? Of course I'll use a larger PVC as they grow or perhaps something else entirely, but sectioning it in the middle would give them maybe a 15L X 12W space to live in. The Emp might get to be anywhere from 6-8 inches when matured, and I'm concerned a space only twice or so it's length might not be enough. Thank you in advance.

 

[viper69]

PVC should be fine, unless of course you heated it significantly, that causes release of gas, chlorine in origin if I recall correctly.

 

[-=}GA']['OR{=-]

PVC should be fine, unless of course you heated it significantly, that causes release of gas, chlorine in origin if I recall correctly.

Yeah, you don't want to burn PVC, doing so will release dioxin's {think agent orange},phthalates, and BPA. Nasty stuff!

 

[Scorpionluva]

id say pvc pipe would be fine also unless it was a used piece or had any type of plumbing glue on it - then I wouldn't use it
to me that's just common sense but seems like in these days common sense is as common as a 1943 copper penny

 

[anoteng]

PVC in room temperature is very brittle unless ftalates are added to soften the material. There is a theoretical possibility of the ftalates leaking into the moist soil, but I believe the risk is small. This is the reason PVC is not approved for food and beverages while PP and PE is. The chlorine will not leak as long as you don't burn it.

Sent fra min GT-I9506 via Tapatalk

 

[Bill Myers]

id say pvc pipe would be fine also unless it was a used piece or had any type of plumbing glue on it - then I wouldn't use it
to me that's just common sense but seems like in these days common sense is as common as a 1943 copper penny

Hey, I have a 1943 copper penny! Well... It's steel, but it's been plated with copper. It's part of a magic trick I picked up when I was younger.

http://www.ronjo.com/magic/44copperplated.html

Cheers

 

[Scorpionluva]

Hey, I have a 1943 copper penny! Well... It's steel, but it's been plated with copper. It's part of a magic trick I picked up when I was younger.

http://www.ronjo.com/magic/44copperplated.html

Cheers

Glad to see some humor there

we gold plated pennies in high school. Wish I would thought of using a 1943 steel penny for it but I used my birth year instead