Emperor Scorpion Caresheet

[chaossplit]

Hi. As this is a care sheet I was wondering if anyone could tell me where to get some Hypoaspis? My poor girl has mites and shes sulky. Ive found some on Defenders.co.uk, I just wondered if anyone knows any better places. My local shop where I bought her from told me if they got me some it'd be mega expensive so they said online. If anyones got any answers it may help all us novice Emp kepers

[insect-lord]

they are very good pets for 1st timers, they are sturdy, good pets and eay breaders, bread them loads of times, still got 32 left, great scorpions!

[insect-lord]

i found a pic of my female when she had them

[antoofcil]

I Just bought an emporer for my boy for xmas and I only said he could have one if I looked after it, so taking advice from the pet store and lookin on the web I find different opinions, well I got the set up of a 70cm by 30 cm tank with a substrate of 60-70 mm of the block form stuff u add to water which the pet store recommended. I mounted the heat mat to the back corner of the tank place a bark hiding place for the scorpion there and have put some rocks down the other end which also got a good hiding place or place it can stay in. Also a shallow water bowl is there.

We are into the 4th week and I haven't witnessed the scorpion eating yet, I have tried feeding it with black crickets which the pet store gave me every nite with a tweezers, It seems to not want to know and grabs the cricket and puts it to one side, i have left one or two inside (which I have been told not to as they can bite the scorpion) and i dont know if it has eaten one, he does come out at night and wander around so he seems happy enough but I sm s little worried about the eatin habit, I understand that they can fast up to two months but its still a worry.

I am wondering if it is not warm enough, I got temp at a constant 22 degrees C but I am struggling to get it to 25 - 30 C recomended, the substrate is moist i keep it moist but not to wet and the hygrometer reads 70-80 which i understand should be 90.

Do you think I need a bigger heat mat and position it down one end of tank (I am goin to buy a thermostat control anyway) also should I try locusts, mealworms or superworms....

[AshMashMash]

Sounds all fine to me, really don't worry. Except maybe the temps. Make sure the heat mat is pushed right up against the side of it, and is the same length as that side, and that should heat it sufficiently. I tend not to use stats on my scorpion enclosures.

As for food, really, really don't worry. I would pre-kill a brown cricket and/or morio worm and leave it in there outside her favourite hide (don't offer her it on tweezers) for 24 hours, see if she eats it. Also probably only offer 1-2/week max.

Lastly, if she's an adult, don't worry so much about the humidity, just keep it moist. It's more essential for younger ones during moutling.

[antoofcil]

So if I buy a new longer heat mat ( the one I have is 230mm long) the length of the tank and tape it to the back of the tank tthat should be ok should it, the front of the tank should be cooler? thanks for the advice

[AshMashMash]

Originally Posted by antoofcil

So if I buy a new longer heat mat ( the one I have is 230mm long) the length of the tank and tape it to the back of the tank tthat should be ok should it, the front of the tank should be cooler? thanks for the advice

Yep indeedy, that's what I do Well I tend not to tape them, just because it make's it easier to move the tank, but yeh, it should do. Make sure you have a thermometer in there to measure though. Also try putting a towel over the roof of the back half of the tank to keep it warmer if you like.

[SHarte]

You said position the heat mat on the side would that be on the outside of the container stuck to the side and so not like a leo for example where it is in the tank and along the bottom?
Also how much would you expect to pay for a emperor, because I've wanted one for a while and now have a spare tank of the right size and some spare equipment so would only need the scorpion substrate and monitors.
Also I'm guessing they could use the same food as leos eg locusts, mealworms, butterworms and waxworms?

[AshMashMash]

Originally Posted by SHarte

You said position the heat mat on the side would that be on the outside of the container stuck to the side and so not like a leo for example where it is in the tank and along the bottom?
Also how much would you expect to pay for a emperor, because I've wanted one for a while and now have a spare tank of the right size and some spare equipment so would only need the scorpion substrate and monitors.
Also I'm guessing they could use the same food as leos eg locusts, mealworms, butterworms and waxworms?

Hey. The heat mat can go anywhere. It can go anywhere in a leo tank too. But in both cases you'll want to make sure that the animal can't burn them selves on hot spots. In my mind, for both animals, this means putting the heat mat outside the tank, and it's what I do for any animal I keep, stat'd or not. (Incidentally, I don't use stats on the scorpion heatmats).

I payed £12.99 for my adult female pictured (who's now passed away). Babies go for about £5. Anything up to £20-30 for adults in a shop would be reasonable. Have a look here; Bugfest, BTS and Kempton shows all sell inverts cheaply, as do most reptile shows.

As for food: yep, leo food, as you said. Careful though: only 1-2 food items per week, don't make them obese!

[SHarte]

Cheers and wow much cheaper than I expected hmmm some thinking to be done me thinks