to bowl or not to bowl

[MallShoggoth]

I recently bought a juvenile H. arizonensis, and this is something I've been wondering about, because I see some care guides saying to keep them absolutely 100% dry, and some people saying they've had success keeping them with a water bowl and more moisture.
So far I've kept mine mostly dry, just dripping some water into a hole down one corner of the enclosure, and they've seemed okay, but I'm still wondering: should I, or should I not, try giving them a water bowl?

 

[Dry Desert]

I recently bought a juvenile H. arizonensis, and this is something I've been wondering about, because I see some care guides saying to keep them absolutely 100% dry, and some people saying they've had success keeping them with a water bowl and more moisture.
So far I've kept mine mostly dry, just dripping some water into a hole down one corner of the enclosure, and they've seemed okay, but I'm still wondering: should I, or should I not, try giving them a water bowl?

My reply would be, as we always try to replicate their natural environment, show me some desert water bowls.
Misting one corner once a week will be fine.
Most inverts obtain vertualy all their moisture from their prey anyway.
I think people that use a water dish don't spray, so they will drink.
Also standing water is quite alien to some creatures.
A final note - an over moist substrate with your species will lead to Mycosis.

 

[MallShoggoth]

My reply would be, as we always try to replicate their natural environment, show me some desert water bowls.
Misting one corner once a week will be fine.
Most inverts obtain vertualy all their moisture from their prey anyway.
I think people that use a water dish don't spray, so they will drink.
Also standing water is quite alien to some creatures.
A final note - an over moist substrate with your species will lead to Mycosis.

Yeah that kinda lines up with what I was thinking. And I'm definitely keeping the substrate dry, aside from the occasional corner misting I mentioned.

 

[darkness975]

I recently bought a juvenile H. arizonensis, and this is something I've been wondering about, because I see some care guides saying to keep them absolutely 100% dry, and some people saying they've had success keeping them with a water bowl and more moisture.
So far I've kept mine mostly dry, just dripping some water into a hole down one corner of the enclosure, and they've seemed okay, but I'm still wondering: should I, or should I not, try giving them a water bowl?

Give it a dasani size water bottle cap dish.

H. arizonensis Drinking

• darkness975
• Apr 27, 2017
• 6

 

[CRX]

My reply would be, as we always try to replicate their natural environment, show me some desert water bowls.
Misting one corner once a week will be fine.
Most inverts obtain vertualy all their moisture from their prey anyway.
I think people that use a water dish don't spray, so they will drink.
Also standing water is quite alien to some creatures.
A final note - an over moist substrate with your species will lead to Mycosis.

I understand your logic here, but honestly, water still does exist in the desert. There is numerous springs. When I lived in Vegas with my dad, we would go hiking in various areas of the desert outside the city, and one time we stumbled upon a MASSIVE spring in the middle of the desert, with trees and flowing water. There was literally tadpoles in this place!! It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen, essentially an oasis.

These guys do drink water, and they should always be supplied a small dish IMO.

 

[MallShoggoth]

Now that I've read your replies and combed through various threads on this species, I can confidently say... I'm even more conflicted about this than I was to begin with.

 

[coolnweird]

Now that I've read your replies and combed through various threads on this species, I can confidently say... I'm even more conflicted about this than I was to begin with.

So it goes! I think the takeaway here is to experiment. Start with just misting, and make sure you feed well hydrated prey. If the scorp seems to be spending a lot of time in the misted corner, consider adding a dish.

 

[MallShoggoth]

So it goes! I think the takeaway here is to experiment. Start with just misting, and make sure you feed well hydrated prey. If the scorp seems to be spending a lot of time in the misted corner, consider adding a dish.

yeah that seems like the logical way to go about this, thanks