Should I redo my scorpion tank?

[Philo C]

I have a healthy looking Malaysian Blue claw (Heterometrus spinifer, I believe) and I had set his tank up in more of a natural vivarium setup, I got him around the beginning of August so from this point I have had him in this setup for almost 3 months.


I have a pothos vine and had live moss but the moss did not take.
I set the base layer of the tank with small rocks for drainage, 2 inches of the coconut husk soil you can buy at pet stores in the front and 4 inches in the back with the top layer being woodchips and moss. I built the terrain on a hill with a clay hide embedded into the side of the hill so there was an immediate hiding spot until he started to burrow. There is also a wood piece that he has climbed over and attempted under in the tank as well as a fox skull and some crystals for additional decoration (all sanitized before placing in of course), so for one scorpion I thought I had set up a decent, natural feeling, terrain for him compared to the 1/2 inch flat coconut husk soil with one hide and flat water dish that they use in pet stores. From my research a MBC scorpion is similar to a dictator but more aggressive, also an asian forest scorpion, so liking warm high humidity forest type setups, and burrows when it feels comfortable enough to do so.

The good news is . . . He has made a burrow! and I rarely see him anymore lol, the confusing news is that he has dug up all of the layers including the rock base and expelled it out the front of the ceramic hide and most of the soil underneath it so that the rear of the hide is no longer submerged in a hill but looks more like it is sinking. He exits and enters from both the front and rear spot of the hill and I am now concerned that I may not have put in enough substrate as I had originally thought.
His tank maintains a lower humidity than I would like, I mist both his and my giant green day geckos tank daily, with all the live plants in the gecko tank helping maintain the humidity levels I knew I wanted something similar for the scorpion. but his tank still dries up fast and the humidity drops even though you can see moisture in the substrate layers through the glass.

I am wondering if I should redo his tank and add more depth to each layer. larger clay balls, the smaller substrate black rock that I had used initially, much more soil, and about the same for the top layers. Like I said he rarely leaves his burrow now but he will exit and take a few laps around the surface, climbing the skull, walking through the shallow dish, climbing up over the ceramic hide, entering through the rear side and exiting through the front and then making his way around the wood log piece occasionally tapping into the glass which is when I am alerted and turn on the uv bulb to view him out and about. While he isn't climbing the glass like he had tried the first few days after I got him, I am still unsure if this behavior is a sign of stress. He has not let me tong feed him bugs so I let them lose in his tank and they are usually eaten within 1-4 days.

This was before I planted the vine and moss. Like I said the live moss did not stay alive but the vine is now located in the back right corner behind the log.

I want to make sure I am doing things right so any advice is appreciated, Thanks!

 

[Veno Manus]

The more coverage you have the better. Add some plants! They really like to dig so keep depth in mind. Just add some substrate to one side so it can do the deal and it should settle nicely. I literally just redid mines enclosure and I stuff a cork bark half round with dirt so it can dig underneath.

 

[Veno Manus]

They like tight spaces so once you let it fig it will settle and should take food within a few days. But glass climbing and excessive movement does seem to be stressed.

 

[Dry Desert]

I have a healthy looking Malaysian Blue claw (Heterometrus spinifer, I believe) and I had set his tank up in more of a natural vivarium setup, I got him around the beginning of August so from this point I have had him in this setup for almost 3 months.
View attachment 458610

I have a pothos vine and had live moss but the moss did not take.
I set the base layer of the tank with small rocks for drainage, 2 inches of the coconut husk soil you can buy at pet stores in the front and 4 inches in the back with the top layer being woodchips and moss. I built the terrain on a hill with a clay hide embedded into the side of the hill so there was an immediate hiding spot until he started to burrow. There is also a wood piece that he has climbed over and attempted under in the tank as well as a fox skull and some crystals for additional decoration (all sanitized before placing in of course), so for one scorpion I thought I had set up a decent, natural feeling, terrain for him compared to the 1/2 inch flat coconut husk soil with one hide and flat water dish that they use in pet stores. From my research a MBC scorpion is similar to a dictator but more aggressive, also an asian forest scorpion, so liking warm high humidity forest type setups, and burrows when it feels comfortable enough to do so.

The good news is . . . He has made a burrow! and I rarely see him anymore lol, the confusing news is that he has dug up all of the layers including the rock base and expelled it out the front of the ceramic hide and most of the soil underneath it so that the rear of the hide is no longer submerged in a hill but looks more like it is sinking. He exits and enters from both the front and rear spot of the hill and I am now concerned that I may not have put in enough substrate as I had originally thought.
His tank maintains a lower humidity than I would like, I mist both his and my giant green day geckos tank daily, with all the live plants in the gecko tank helping maintain the humidity levels I knew I wanted something similar for the scorpion. but his tank still dries up fast and the humidity drops even though you can see moisture in the substrate layers through the glass.

I am wondering if I should redo his tank and add more depth to each layer. larger clay balls, the smaller substrate black rock that I had used initially, much more soil, and about the same for the top layers. Like I said he rarely leaves his burrow now but he will exit and take a few laps around the surface, climbing the skull, walking through the shallow dish, climbing up over the ceramic hide, entering through the rear side and exiting through the front and then making his way around the wood log piece occasionally tapping into the glass which is when I am alerted and turn on the uv bulb to view him out and about. While he isn't climbing the glass like he had tried the first few days after I got him, I am still unsure if this behavior is a sign of stress. He has not let me tong feed him bugs so I let them lose in his tank and they are usually eaten within 1-4 days.

This was before I planted the vine and moss. Like I said the live moss did not stay alive but the vine is now located in the back right corner behind the log.
View attachment 458611
I want to make sure I am doing things right so any advice is appreciated, Thanks!

As mentioned, a half round of cork bark mostly buried and placed at an angle so the rear of the hide isn't open, they won't use a hide if is open at the back.
30 degree,closed off at the back and buried enough so the Scorpion is a tight fit and has to dig some to initially enter .
Also do away with the idea of chucking bugs in " and they are usually gone in 1-4 days "
Are you sure, they might not all be eaten and the ones that aren't will be lurking waiting for a nice juicy molting Scorpion.
Remove prey items that are not eaten the next day.

 

[Philo C]

they won't use a hide if is open at the back.

The funny part is the back half of the hide was completely burried and he dug out the back and uses both enterances now. He hasn't done any glass climbing since the initial move in he just does laps now occasionally tapping into the glass as he's walking (and its not daily more like once a week or so). I will start removing the crickets that aren't eaten the next day but I just worry he's not getting enough to eat since I will find him eating by himself (he caught in the terrarium) but gets defensive if I try to tong feed bugs.

 

[Philo C]

The more coverage you have the better. Add some plants! They really like to dig so keep depth in mind. Just add some substrate to one side so it can do the deal and it should settle nicely. I literally just redid mines enclosure and I stuff a cork bark half round with dirt so it can dig underneath.

I want to add more than just the pothos vine I planted after the inital pictures were taken. I am just unsure of what types to add.