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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dave Jay" data-source="post: 143359" data-attributes="member: 27677">So I did a bit more research on these and I still find that they are a burrowing species and not a scrape dweller as you were told initially so the extra sand would seem to be a good idea. Of course they can be kept with shallow substrate and a hide but that wouldn't be very natural for fossorial species, better suited to a surface foraging species that would usually shelter under leaf litter or rocks at night without making a permanent scrape or burrow.The best way to make sand firm so that it holds a burrow well is to start with damp sand and add it bit by bit, firming each layer as you add it. Then I like to make starter burrows with a pen or similar and leaving them in place I spray the surface and wash any stray sand off of the walls and decor, the pen or similar is then removed. If you use distilled or demineralised water there are no water marks left on the sides of the enclosure.Because this species "hates moisture", meaning it is susceptible to mycosis (fungal infections) in a humid environment it may be worth housing the scorpion in tub for a few days while the surface of the sand dries. Mycosis is not likely to occur in just a few days but wet sand can cement itself to the exoskeleton and this may provide a handhold for mycosis in the future. In Mark Newtons book on keeping scorpions he mentions washing sand off by standing the scorpion in water and brushing sand off with a wet paintbrush! Not something I really want to do, but then he has experienced mycosis developing through sand stuck to scorpions legs so maybe it's worthwhile!These scorpions do seem very similar to the Urodacus yaschenkoi I keep, except that perhaps they stray further from their burrows looking for prey than yaschenkoi do, even in captivity they stay at the burrows entrance most times. That possibly makes them a more interesting pet, although I do like my yaschenkoi!Here's a few phone pictures of my enclosures for yaschenkoi, some show how well the sand holds a burrow, the tall enclosures have been moved to the table and back for feeding and maintenance for 4 or 5 years yet the sand stays firm and the burrows hold.[ATTACH=full]34618[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]34619[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]34620[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]34621[/ATTACH]Not to harp on about false bottoms, you keep your scorpions as you see fit, but when I looked back at the post I thought it illustrates the point I was trying to make. No water is ever added to the surface at all, water is added from the bottom, just enough to stop the layer of peat at the base drying out. In one of the pictures you can see that the peat in one enclosure is lighter than the others, I will add 10ml of distilled water when I feed next and that will be all for at least a month. Although, except for directly above the peat the sand would feel dry to us if I were to tip it out (chip it out more likely, it's like cement!), the moisture from the peat is working it's way up in degrees that a desert scorpion can detect. The depth of the burrow and then the position of the scorpion in the burrow allow the scorpion to find the perfect humidity at any one time, when a higher humidity is wanted, perhaps for moulting, the burrow is blocked. So no problems with moulting or brumation (hibernation, diapause?), no dessicated scorpions through lack of humidity, no mycosis due to high humidity, and having a large amount of substrate provides a more stable temperature. To me it really makes sense but I'll say no more!  <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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