so my emps finally burrowed, but...

[neveragain]

they burrowed right into the gravel on the bottom. now what do i do to add water to the tank to keep the humidity up? is it ok if i pour water right into the substrate? i read in a few posts on here that people "flood" their emps tanks, is that just pouring water straight into the substrate?

 

[neveragain]

now the tank is full of gravel. haha

 

[chau0046]

Try shifting some of your substrate sideways to an incline. And flood the one corner. I have a fairly large water bowl and they are usually in it , They love it when the the humidity goes up all of a sudden. Its like spring to them. Feeding habits becomes very active.

From th view of the first pic it seems you have about 1 or 2 inches of substrate. Try trippiling that with gravel botom and that will make the difference.


Mat

 

[neveragain]

i have 6 inches of substrate on one end, and like 3 or 4 inches on the other end. i only did this becuase i ran out of the substrate iw as using, so i had to make it on an incline.

i have a decent sized water dish in there, that i always keep full. i tried just pouring water straight into the substrate a little while ago. i left the screen top on, and pour through that so it wasnt just pouring into one spot. it dindt leave puddles or anything, so i figure i'll just keep doing this to see how it works.

thanks.

 

[chau0046]

What would be neat would be a really deep tank with really narrow side to view their burrows. Project anyone??

Mat

 

[Olan]

What, like an ant colony setup? Maybe I should try that with my 18 babies. I don't have anything else to do with them.

-Olan

 

[chau0046]

yeah!!!!

Please post pics and results!!!

It would probably take alot of plexi glass ...but for sure will be worth it!

I think that they would still need some wide room on top surface to walk around and find water...but maybe just attach some thing to the bottom.

Mat

 

[Olan]

Hmmmm.... They would definitely need some surface room. I'll have to try and think of a design.

 

[LCDXX]

Maybe if you kept it to a reasonable width, say 7-8 inches, then you'd still be able to observe the burrows as they continue to grow.

This does sound like an interesting project... and if you used something simple, like Lucite (from Lowe's or wherever) you could build something respectable for about $20.

If you pursue it, post it.

LCDXX

 

[Olan]

Those are some good ideas. If I get around to it I will definitely post it.

-Olan

 

[skinheaddave]

I recently did something like this with my H.lividum (I keep meaning to put a full description int he T forum, but I forgot to take pics). I aquired two tall plexiglass containers used for displaying/dispensing coffee beans. They are 10.5" x 6" x 18" tall with a fitted lid and a small sliding door at the bottom leading into a chute for the beans to come out of. I glued some screening over the bottom door and added velcro fasteners to the lid and that was that. I filled it with substrate, using a stick to make a pre-burrow about 6" down into the substrate in one corner. She has made a home in there, but hasn't really done much burrowing of her own yet. The last enclosure I put her in she waited for about a month to start digging and then went straight to the bottom. It should be interesting to see her burrow.

Now, as for using this for scorpions, I don't think that this has nearly enough surface area for something like P.imperator. In fact, for their size I would say that scorpions need considerably more surface area than Ts. Providing this area means they may burrow in center, meaning you can't see. One idea might be to have some sort of obstruction int he middle ... letting them walk in the entire area, but only burrow on the perimiter. Also, you could provide a large enclosure and try to convince them to burrow in one corner by providing a good site for a scrape or something to that effect. It would definitely be a fun experiment.

One thing I did do for my H.spinifer which has worked well in my more conventional setup is to provide a hide right in the front using some stacked rocks. This hide exists right above the gravel underlayer and there is often someone inhabiting it. Also, I put a piece of black plexiglass in one corner for a breeding surface. Madame created a scrape underneath when she was gravid and I got to watch the entire progression and raising of the young. After I disturbed her to remove her babies, she has chosen a different spot.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Olan]

I like the idea of providing a lot of surface area but obstructing burrowing in the center. That is something I might try.

-Olan

 

[Reitz]

What's weird about the way your emp burrowed is that it looks like she burrowed straight into the substrate. Emps are not obligate burrowers, you can deciede where they burrow by giving them a flat rock under which to hide. I've never seen one just dig straight down. Strange,

Chris

 

[neveragain]

well, i had a half log above it that i took off so i could take a picture of it. i put it back on after the picture though. it went straight down for like 2 inches, then went on an angel.

but i tired in like 5 different spots to get them to burrow, i tried 2 different sized half logs, 2 different pieces of cork bark, i tried digging a little substrate out to start a burrow, pretty much everything. then after a while i just stopped, and left them 3 shelters, and then they finally decided to burrow under the half log int he bottom corner.