Scorpion setup

[kormath]

First off - dangit @MassExodus for getting me looking into and wanting a scorp.

I was looking at the H. arizonensis, since it's a desert scorp that's comfy at room temps up to about 90 or so I've been reading. Warmer than that could be problematic if you believe the care sheets. I'm thinking that would be the best for me as my house temps are 70's year round, maybe some 80s in the summer before i get home and turn on the cooler. So i shouldn't need a heat source right?

I'm seeing excavator clay and sand mix anywhere from 60/40 to 80/20 depending which sheets you read for substrate. I'm guessing 60/40 is 60% clay? Moistened like I do with my slings so these can burrow, then make it rain once a week or so. mist during molts to up the humidity for that.

Feeding is once a day? what size prey? is there a rule of thumb like no bigger than the T's abdomen for a scorp? Care sheets don't go into that detail

Any other tips or tricks from the scorp owners here that would be helpful?

 

[Entity]

congrats! @MassExodus has a way of doing that to people....lol right buddy?

 

[MassExodus]

@kormath theres a detailed H arizonensis setup caresheet on either AB, or the Venom List, or Scorpion forum, I can't for the life of me find the link now..i would say its probably 60 sand 40 clay, but someone else said a little clay goes a long way, so 40% sounds heavy..im just going to experiment. I just got my excavator clay from Amazon, mine have been living in a eco earth / sand sub that I mixed and sprayed and compacted, and let dry, with a premade burrow. They are digging everywhere..cool scorpions But yeah, they're getting a new home in a few days. As far as moisture, just give them a small dish, and that's it. You want low humidity, but a little rain every three months would seem more natural, as long as it dries out well. Imo. I'm still an amateur, as one of the scorpion elite pointed out to me on another site, lmao.. And yes, the ladder ****s are just as apparent in the scorp hobby. It never ceases to amaze me, the things some of these guys say when they're on their pedestal, lol. You'd think a Rhopalurus pintoi was a freakin mako shark. Anyway, kormath..you're seriously doomed, lol. Get some more shelves man And research mycosis! It scares me..

 

[kormath]

@kormath theres a detailed H arizonensis setup caresheet on either AB, or the Venom List, or Scorpion forum, I can't for the life of me find the link now..i would say its probably 60 sand 40 clay, but someone else said a little clay goes a long way, so 40% sounds heavy..im just going to experiment. I just got my excavator clay from Amazon, mine have been living in a eco earth / sand sub that I mixed and sprayed and compacted, and let dry, with a premade burrow. They are digging everywhere..cool scorpions But yeah, they're getting a new home in a few days. As far as moisture, just give them a small dish, and that's it. You want low humidity, but a little rain every three months would seem more natural, as long as it dries out well. Imo. I'm still an amateur, as one of the scorpion elite pointed out to me on another site, lmao.. And yes, the ladder ****s are just as apparent in the scorp hobby. It never ceases to amaze me, the things some of these guys say when they're on their pedestal, lol. You'd think a Rhopalurus pintoi was a freakin mako shark. Anyway, kormath..you're seriously doomed, lol. Get some more shelves man And research mycosis! It scares me..

Cool! Thanks Mass I'll start checking those other boards today. Can't get anything till June so I got plenty of time to research

 

[Nicolas C]

Hi there! It seems I'm falling in the trap too... Same reasons as you Kormath! I'm wanting to buy my first scorpion rather than a new T, as I have an empty enclosure left... I'll probably take the extra classic Pandinus imperator.

But I need from you (like Mass, who have scorps...) the extra pinch to convince me it's worth it (in comparaison of a tarantula). I fear that I will never see it out of the burrow (and that it's gonna be another dirt-enclosure with nothing to see inside). I fear that it's not as interesting as Ts. Yeah I know, it's up to me. But I'd be glad to read you about this... Is it worth taking a P imperator rather than a new T (I've already plenty of them)?

What do you think? (and sorry Kormath, don't want to hijack the thread... I can post elsewhere if needed)

 

[MassExodus]

In two months I've almost acquired as many scorps as spiders The hobby is even less popular than collecting tarantulas, lol, so it may or may not be hard to find the ones you want. I'm a huge fan of Buthids, but I like the forest scorps as well. In many ways they are like spiders, you don't often see them running around in the daytime..but at night my communals get very interesting to watch, and theres nothing like dropping a bunch of nymphs in and watching baby scorps file out of the cork bark like an army, running around stinging and eating. In the daytime they mostly stay in a cuddle puddle. I'll be completely honest, I love spiders,always will, but I haven't looked back since I started on scorpions. I'm certainly not bored with them, and I'm still going to breed them, but branching out and getting new kinds of invertebrates has really kept me interested in my collection, it..gives new energy to my hobby, so to speak

 

[MassExodus]

You guys should go to The Venom List and look at Michiels' Rhopalurus and Tityus picture thread..my god what a collection..its on the first page. The forum died awhile back, but some of the old timers are trying to get it going again. Check the scorpion of the month archives for some good reading I'm going to spam this site with scorpion pics when I get a day off..

 

[Chubbs]

Hi there! It seems I'm falling in the trap too... Same reasons as you Kormath! I'm wanting to buy my first scorpion rather than a new T, as I have an empty enclosure left... I'll probably take the extra classic Pandinus imperator.

But I need from you (like Mass, who have scorps...) the extra pinch to convince me it's worth it (in comparaison of a tarantula). I fear that I will never see it out of the burrow (and that it's gonna be another dirt-enclosure with nothing to see inside). I fear that it's not as interesting as Ts. Yeah I know, it's up to me. But I'd be glad to read you about this... Is it worth taking a P imperator rather than a new T (I've already plenty of them)?

What do you think? (and sorry Kormath, don't want to hijack the thread... I can post elsewhere if needed)

P.imperator is a pretty reclusive species and an emp that hides about 90 percent of the time is a happy one. I don't really understand why this would put you off from one wanting to get one, since a good percentage of tarantulas are exactly the same way. Maybe it was just the way you worded that part that sorta threw me off a little. TRUE emperor scorpions are extremely rare now (at least in the U.S.) which is pretty incredible, given how common they were just a few years ago.

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[kormath]

P.imperator is a pretty reclusive species and an emp that hides about 90 percent of the time is a happy one. I don't really understand why this would put you off from one wanting to get one, since a good percentage of tarantulas are exactly the same way. Maybe it was just the way you worded that part that sorta threw me off a little. TRUE emperor scorpions are extremely rare now (at least in the U.S.) which is pretty incredible, given how common they were just a few years ago.

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True emperors have been banned from importing to the US. What we get now are red claw scorpions being passed off as emperors. They're a bit smaller and a bit meaner than the true Emperor.

I think i'll go with the H. arizonensis. I read the AB care thread, seems to be pretty much what i was thinking of doing after reading other care sheets. Keep it dry, mist to help molts and make it rain every few months, kinda like Arizona All i need is the substrate and that i'm thinking is about 30% clay and 70% sand or so. I'll have to order cork bark as i'm about out from the last few rehouses and teenage son but I've got the rest, x-large KK for the enclosure, should work for it from now until old age. Roach colony going strong for food, food should be 1/3-1/2 body size so they can clamp down on it so any of my roaches except the pinheads will work for that. maybe this is the answer to the small group of Dubia that I've been keeping as pets as none of my T's will eat them

I'll have to look at more desert scorpions if i decide to get more. Like the T's I raise i prefer them to be comfy in my setting, and i don't have the means yet to set up for a humidity and heat required species.

 

[kormath]

Hi there! It seems I'm falling in the trap too... Same reasons as you Kormath! I'm wanting to buy my first scorpion rather than a new T, as I have an empty enclosure left... I'll probably take the extra classic Pandinus imperator.

But I need from you (like Mass, who have scorps...) the extra pinch to convince me it's worth it (in comparaison of a tarantula). I fear that I will never see it out of the burrow (and that it's gonna be another dirt-enclosure with nothing to see inside). I fear that it's not as interesting as Ts. Yeah I know, it's up to me. But I'd be glad to read you about this... Is it worth taking a P imperator rather than a new T (I've already plenty of them)?

What do you think? (and sorry Kormath, don't want to hijack the thread... I can post elsewhere if needed)

It's all good that's why i started this thread, @MassExodus can talk us all into buying and teach us

 

[MassExodus]

@kormath I finally get a day off Sunday, I'll be building the two H.a habitats by then. I'll post pics, if I don't screw it up @Nicolas C, I'm curious to hear what kind of scorpions are available over there. The selection over here seems to fluctuate a bit. @kormath ..I think the H. a is a fine choice, but they are pet holes, so far. Maybe when they're done digging they'll come out more. Or when they mature. Too soon to tell, but mine do come out every single night, when the light goes off. My bark scorps are more likely to get caught out in the daytime, some don't try too hard to hide. If I'm being honest, I enjoy my C gracilis more then any of the others. Excellent scorpions

 

[Kymura]

It's all good that's why i started this thread, @MassExodus can talk us all into buying and teach us

It's already his fault I have avics(3) and a teeny LP. He's definitely in the ENABLER category
I do have that 29 gallon tank tho...got it for scorpions but that fell through ...

 

[MassExodus]

Guess what Kymura? I'm mating my gracilis..you could put like 30 in a 29 gallon tank..just sayin..

 

[MassExodus]

By the way kormath, I would put a small heat mat at the least, try to keep them at least 80 on the hot side of the tank. If not, a wire mesh top with an infrared heat lamp will work. The H.a, I'm starting to realize, is the hot/dry version of the emp. These are two common starter sp and they both have very particular care requirements, which continues to baffle me..I bet a lot of noobs kill both of those species. And you and me are newbs again. XD I'm thinking that you want to try to mimic their natural environment as closely as possible. I hear H.a have problems molting and are hard to breed. Not the easy peazy desert scorp like the S mesaensis, apparently

 

[Chubbs]

True emperors have been banned from importing to the US. What we get now are red claw scorpions being passed off as emperors. They're a bit smaller and a bit meaner than the true Emperor.

I think i'll go with the H. arizonensis. I read the AB care thread, seems to be pretty much what i was thinking of doing after reading other care sheets. Keep it dry, mist to help molts and make it rain every few months, kinda like Arizona All i need is the substrate and that i'm thinking is about 30% clay and 70% sand or so. I'll have to order cork bark as i'm about out from the last few rehouses and teenage son but I've got the rest, x-large KK for the enclosure, should work for it from now until old age. Roach colony going strong for food, food should be 1/3-1/2 body size so they can clamp down on it so any of my roaches except the pinheads will work for that. maybe this is the answer to the small group of Dubia that I've been keeping as pets as none of my T's will eat them

I'll have to look at more desert scorpions if i decide to get more. Like the T's I raise i prefer them to be comfy in my setting, and i don't have the means yet to set up for a humidity and heat required species.

Right, they are banned from being imported, but a few people still breed them here and there. So they're pretty hard to come across and when they are, they're rather pricey.

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[MassExodus]

I saw them a year or so ago, babies going for 100 bucks each. Don't see any at all, now..

 

[Entity]

Lets quit blaming poor old @MassExodus for our invert addictions shall we?? I mean he didnt enable me when i wanted to get some ****roaches.....lol wait....nevermind! way to go mass! LMAO!

 

[MassExodus]

Lol, ya'll are doomed. Once you start looking at scorps its over..


My job is done.

 

[kormath]

I haven't seen any of the Dune scoprs for sale, but then again i dunno many vendors for them I'll try the arizonensis and see if i can make it happy. Reading the info on the Venom List, i'll skip the misting, just pack the sand/clay mix well for burrowing and keep them in the 80's for temps in the day time and room temp at night. Is it June yet?

 

[MassExodus]

I've gotten most of mine from Josh at apexinvertebrates, he's good about getting new stock in, communicates well and gets his hands on harder to find stuff sometimes. Fauna Classifieds has a few scorp dealers, Pinchers and Pokies are good. Ken the bug guy, netbug is sold out currently. Can't get on AB but their classifieds are good too. Tarantulaspiders.com...those are all good places to look. Oh, and bugzincyberspace, he has S mesaensis I think, plus H.a and a few Vaejovis sp.