H.arizonensis substrate?

[joeyboy]

The question before us today is. Do I just put in play sand or do I do a mix of sand and irish peat moss, say 2-3 parts sand and one peat? Basically because I don't see how you can make a stable burrow in just play sand...

what do you guys do? Just use sand and say a cork bark hide, or at some kind of soil/peat too?

[mattykyuss]

just use sand and a hide for mine,she is awsome,mat

[ph0bia]

Same. Playsand and a half plant pot

[joeyboy]

Originally Posted by ph0bia

Same. Playsand and a half plant pot

hmm ok, you use a heat mat or is room temp ok.

at the moment without central heating ok room temp being about 23-25c in the day, dropping to 20c at night, with it on more like 28c in the day.

[lucozade3000]

For best results and peace of mind i would use playsand and excavator clay
3 to 1 about. mix small quantities in a cup at different ratio (3teaspoons sand/1tspclay and one of water. u got to experiment a bit) and place a dollop of the mixture on a plate in ur microwave for a minute to dry it then u'll have an idea of the strenght of the finished product. Its very easy to use, just DONT add to much water if not it'll take a year to dry..
Could give you some clay... have a few kg left...

Concerning the heating, i would go for infra red, pretty cheap and so much better than heat mats.

-J

[joeyboy]

Originally Posted by lucozade3000

For best results and peace of mind i would use playsand and excavator clay
3 to 1 about. mix small quantities in a cup at different ratio (3teaspoons sand/1tspclay and one of water. u got to experiment a bit) and place a dollop of the mixture on a plate in ur microwave for a minute to dry it then u'll have an idea of the strenght of the finished product. Its very easy to use, just DONT add to much water if not it'll take a year to dry..
Could give you some clay... have a few kg left...

Concerning the heating, i would go for infra red, pretty cheap and so much better than heat mats.

-J

...but heatmats heat via infra red as far as I know...

Hmm don't have any clay but the scorp is likely coming tomorrow. Thus I;m going to use just sand, but make an artificial tube like burrow going to the bottom for it. Either using PVC pipe or polystyrene.

[ph0bia]

As far as I'm aware too, Joey, they do. I'm not a fan of using infra-red bulbs, electricity bills and all...

Mine's at room temperature if I'm honest, about 70 F. Remember, they come out at desert eve, not day, spending the day in their burrows.

[joeyboy]

Originally Posted by ph0bia

As far as I'm aware too, Joey, they do. I'm not a fan of using infra-red bulbs, electricity bills and all...

Mine's at room temperature if I'm honest, about 70 F. Remember, they come out at desert eve, not day, spending the day in their burrows.

aye, well the enclosures are near the radiator anyway. I think T's must be able to sense the direction of heat as my Rosea always goes to the warm side and hunches right in the corner to get as warm as possible. The backs of the glass get about 6c warmer then room temp, but they all seem to like it and she does move away after a while.

Well only one shelf anyway, the scorps one is on the shelf above so their not really as effected, but I imagine my room has a bit of a heat gradient across it even if I can't feel it that much.

ITS COMING TOMORROW! YAY! Are these the same as T's feeding wise? A cricket a week on average?

[lucozade3000]

I was just saying that infra red bulbs are producing a lot more heat than a mat. I've never been able to get over 24c with a mat and that was on a good day, my house is very cold..
Since i switched to bulbs, i am able to control the temp precisely in my enclosures, the scorps are a lot more active and i can observe them without any light disturbances.
Now if the tank is next to a heat source (radiator) a mat will be sufficient.

-J