making sure i'm on the right track

am i glad to find an emperor forum

i've been reading some posts/faq's, looking at other people's setups and as a first time owner (as of this time yesterday) i just wanted to make sure i've given him the best start.

i spoke at length to the pet store staff and did my own research and hope to have provided a nice home for him (as yet unnamed). but i'm starting to think the tank might be a little too small, perhaps i've got one too many cork logs in there etc.

i'd be grateful for some advice.

here's a pic - i put a biro on the right hand side of the tank to indicate scale. the heating mat covers part of the left hand side of the tank and the temperature is about 25c on that side.



happy to clarify anything,

btw - an added bonus i didn't realise - the delightful sound of crickets in my flat.

thanks in advance,

james

Hey James and welcome to the forum! Full of friendly people and expert advice

Your set-up looks good for just one emporer scorpion as they are one of the larger species. They like a deep substrate that holds burrows so maybe a change of substrate may be helpful.

I tend to use coir (aka cocofibre) which comes in brick form, you leave it to soak in water and it breaks down into a soily substrate in about half hour.

A depth of about 3-4" should be sufficient. They also like high humidity so the top will need to be covered to keep the humidity levels high.

Also rather than trying to spray the enclosure to keep it moist just pour water in around the enclosure (obviously not making it soaking wet).

Anything else feel free to ask

Have fun here and be prepared to watch your collection grow.

PS another UK user.... YAYYYYYYY!

oh yeah, just noticed your heat mat is underneath the tank. Stick it to the side, as scorpions burrow to escape the heat, so would only burrow and get too hot if the mat is underneath.

thanks for the help Kuma, and the welcome!

i'll move the heatmat and put a bit more substrate in before i go back to the petstore to resupply. i'll see if they have the cocofibre you recommended.

i had thought the case was too humid, this morning i could barely see through the condensation, but i'll water as you suggest.

after drooling over some other people's collections and set up's i'm sure you're right about seeing my collection grow.

i was really glad to find a community like this and as for uk users, i'm based near portsmouth but will be up in london in a few weeks - can you recommend any shops to buy supplies?

thanks again,

james

Most shops sell it, it looks like this

Coco Fibre

Though there's a host of different brands

jamestwofive wrote:

i had thought the case was too humid, this morning i could barely see through the condensation, but i'll water as you suggest.

If there is condensation on the glass this will indicate good humidity

thanks Kuma,

i'll get it online if the shop doesn't have it,

james

jamestwofive wrote:

thanks for the help Kuma, and the welcome!

i'll move the heatmat and put a bit more substrate in before i go back to the petstore to resupply. i'll see if they have the cocofibre you recommended.

i had thought the case was too humid, this morning i could barely see through the condensation, but i'll water as you suggest.

after drooling over some other people's collections and set up's i'm sure you're right about seeing my collection grow.

i was really glad to find a community like this and as for uk users, i'm based near portsmouth but will be up in london in a few weeks - can you recommend any shops to buy supplies?

thanks again,

james

Hey James and welcome aboard

Just give you a few pointers.. it cant really be too humid for a emperor scorp, well unless its standing in water, but its ok that it hits 80-90% in humidity making your tank very damp , and woodchips is a big no go for subtract.. if you have a hard time finding coco fiber, you can use normal potting soil, you know buy in bags at plant houses, it just needs to be clean of any added stuff, grow stuff.. dont know what you brits call it. Its just as good as cocofiber

Kuma and Kejser hit the nail on the head -- change out the bark chips for cocofiber, and move the heat mat to the side. The fiber allows for burrowing, something that wood chips can't really do. It also holds the humidity better.

It's not necessary to cover the tank completely to maintain humidity as long as you don't let the substrate dry out. I'd just put a lid on to prevent escapes.

a quick add to what everyone said....If you want to speed up the brakedown of the coca fiber use hot water.I broke 2 bars up in about 10 mins usein very hot water and mixing it around.

thanks for the extra advice. apologies for not replying straight away, for some reason the notification email went in my spam and digsby didn't pop-up.

since moving the heat mat to the side its distinctly less humid in there so i'm going back to the store tomorrow to change to fibre. i've added some extra water just in case.

Let me guess the pet store you got it from had it in woodchips? A good way to keep humidity in also is pouring water around your substrate and I cover 23 of the top of my tank with plastic wrap and that keeps my humidity to around 85%. There are also false bottoms. I made one for one of my tanks I used about 3 inches of gravel on the bottom then a mesh screen to seperate 5 inches of coco fibre and PVC pipe in one corner going to the top of the tank to the gravel. Pour water down the pipe the gravel holds it and humidity rises up through the substrate and into your tank. It's a pretty heavy setup which is why i only did it to one 5 gallon. Oh and athe screen is a must so the scorp can't burrow too far

yep. i went in there with some ideas about what i needed but to be honest, i kind of let him guide my purchase - i remember thinking at the time if he's going to put his hand in the tank, i'm willing to listen

its half term next week so i'll have a lot more time to reorganise the tank.

thanks for your reply.

diabollicallycursed wrote:

There are also false bottoms. I made one for one of my tanks I used about 3 inches of gravel

There is a product you can buy called Hydro balls made by ecco earth very light....I recomend it if you dont want a heavy tank .

a two in a half pound bag is just under 7$ and will fill a 10 gallon tank

thanks absolution,

i've made a few changes today, with some unplanned purchases. i went to emsworth reptiles to get the coco fibre and picked up a couple of other things. when i came home i used hot water ( )but in the process of moving things around (after following some advice given by bugRunners) i cracked the glass tank on the bottom. i was worried so thought i better get another vivarium. it gave me an excuse to buy him a better one too

for a creature that essentially spends all his time out of sight, i've become quite attached this past week.

anyway, i bought this from southcoast exotics (i wiped away the condensation for the pic):




24 x 15 x 15

it came with a light bulb fitting (you can just see the bottom part of each 'socket' in the upper left/right of the pic) - is it worth putting a bulb in? i've looked at a few other pics and most of them do have a bulb in, but thought it best to check.

any other advice appreciated,

cheers.

Don't mean to put a dampener on things, but as you'll be keeping forest species in there I'm concerned that a damp and humid environment will swell and eventually rot a wooden vivarium (made more for reptiles) you'll find that most scorpions and inverts are kept in a glass or plastic tank, also allows for you to put deeper substrate in. I say get a lizard or snake and put in there and get a £13 plastic kritter keeper for you emp. . Our if you decide to keep them in there you've got ample space for a emp colony

that's a sobering thought i have to say... i picked white oak because i know its more resistant to rotting, but i think i might of got carried away.

thanks for the info Kuma, and the pun

I have the same water dish, Jamestwofive... it seems I'm spending more time cleaning the poop out of it than refilling it.