Hi all, been looking to get into the hobby for a while now and have spent some weeks doing my background reading, research and browsing online to soak up as much info as possible (hence how I ended up here!). Basically after much deliberation I am looking to set up to (hopefully) give a good home to a Hadrurus Arizonensis - amassing the equipment and setting up in advance of actually ordering/recieving the scorp itself. I've already read the caresheet and scanned through the numerous relevant posts here but would nevertheless like to outline what I'm doing with the hope that some of the more experienced crowd here will have the patience to offer any tips/advice/corrections. I just want to try and do the responsible thing and prepare as well as I can
My set up:
Home: An exo terra terrarium (30x30x30) - no artificial lighting and positioned in a shaded part of the room well away from direct sunlight.
Substrate: this part I have found quite confusing (there is alot of differing advice out there!) but following other advice posted here I have got my hands on some desert sand and excavator clay and aim to try out the 70:30 mix. I believe Hadrurus A reacts badly to moisture/humidity so obviously I will allow the substrate to dry completely before any introduction. The base of the terrarium allows for about 5-6 inches of substrate.
Heating: Unfortunately I live in Scotland - so natural heat is really not an option without huge bills! I have an exo-terra desert heatwave mat. I get the impression this is best placed on one side of the tank rather than underneath and as Hadrurus A is a burrowing species I'm figuring that this is most suitable positioning?? Also although I believe it isn't neccessary the room has a habit of being chilly over winter and very warm in summer so for extra piece of mind I have a habistat temp regulator (with sensor) - aiming for a substrate-level temp of 25-30 degrees C I believe?? Also have a temp/humidity gauge to allow monitoring. Aiming to keep humidity low (50%?).
Water: Most sources seem to advice that Hadrurus A gets most water requirement from livefood but advises offering some water regularly nevertheless - I have a small shallow water dish but also came accross a "tarantula sponge" so can I assume it would be satisfactory to wet this and offer every few days (without leaving too long and risk increasing humidity)
Decor: Doesn't really seem necessary but I have to hand a simple hide, a couple small terrarium rocks and a small fake cacti to allow the scorp some hiding spots and help the terrarium look a bit more aesthetically pleasing. I'm sure that they will soon rearrange!
Other bits: Not planning on introducing my hand so have aquired a set of various tongs/tweesers/small tubs for use with introducing crickets, cleaning, moving scorp when neccessary etc. Managed to bag a freebie Kricket Keeper for the livefood - to be kept in an airing cupboard (nice and warm but not cooking!) with very shallow water dish (and another T-sponge) and pleanty fresh veg, apparently gut loading with suppliments isn't neccessary.
Getting the scorp: Inverts don't appear to be big buisiness locally so I'm afraid the only option appears to be mail-ordering. www.southcoastinverts.net stocks Hadrurus A and ships next day courier with heatpacks and also reassurringly refuses to ship if too risky for the scorp - i.e. weather, during molts. As I have already emphasised I will not get the scorp until set up is complete and I have taken some time to make sure conditions are right and have crickets stocked and ready to throw a welcome party! The weather here is poor just now anyway (and postage during xmas/new year in the UK is like something from the third world!) so it's not worth the risk right now anyway.
Sorry about the boring details but I'm sure everyone here was noob once and would have appreciated a bit of encouragement and advice and any feedback people take time to offer would be extremely welcome. I hope to post some pics of the set-up when ready and of course hope to be able to introduce you to a happy Hadrurus A soon after!
Many Thanks