NooB with scorp

hello i got my scorp 2nd hand a couple of days ago.

he spends most of the time at the very top of the cage hanging off the back wall?
he was up there all day.
only come down 3 or 4 times in a couple of hours. between 11 and 1ish am.

i tried to feed him a live cricket, but he didnt take it. he was hanging at the very top at the time.
he hasnt eaten in about 2 days +

will they catch live crickets in the viv?

also whats the best way to pick up crickets as the legs keep coming off them, or they die from being squished.

here is a pic:

Well from the pics it looks like he has no hides and nowhere to burrow. That might explain a lot????

if you look at the 1st photo by the bubble wrap, there is a cave on the bottom

That is a precarious spot for such a large scorpion. A fall from that height could almost certainly injure it. I'd suggest adding much more substrate. Fill that whole bottom up with packed coco fiber, and build a nice hill up the back. give it a piece of cork bark to start a burrow under.

yeah man that is way too high for that big fella.get him interested in the floor with aboves mentioned remedies.take a look around at some of the enclosures to for ideas to get the creative juices flowin.

is that an emperor scorpion?

firstly welsome to the forum

i would just remove the backing scorps dont wanna be falling from that high with mine i place the backing outside the tank so you still get the effect but no chance of climbing also crix ive found like to eat that backing stuff and will use it to stay clear of your scorp

you need 4-6" substrate so it can burrow, i see you have a hide and water bowl so thats good

just chuck in 1-2 live crix every 3 days or so it will catch them itself or if you want you can tong feed completely up to you really! you can just grab the crix with your hands but ui would advise getting so long tweezers, what heating do you have on it?

thanks for the replys.

for heating there is a pad on the bottom of the viv.
i have orderd a red heat bulb.

i will look into geting some slate and making a burrow.

yes its a emperor scorpion

super_cds wrote:

thanks for the replys.

for heating there is a pad on the bottom of the viv.
i have orderd a red heat bulb.

i will look into geting some slate and making a burrow.

yes its a emperor scorpion

That's a no-no, you should move it to the side of the tank. Scorps' natural instinct is to burrow away from the heat. Having the heatpad under the tank is against that, and in the worst case you can fry your scorpion.

yeah deffo dont want a heat matt on the bottm of the tank unless you want a steamed scorpion lol no wonder its climbing up the side

you wont need to make a burrow as long as there is enough substrate it should dig its own normaly will dig inside the hide ...although saying that some never dif lol

infrared heat bulb is what you wnat not just a bulb with the painted glass exo terra are the best

take a look at some of the emperor scorp care sheets on this forum. they will tell you everything you need to know.

I'm glad you found us. If you follow through with the above recommendations, you will have a much happier scorpion.

thanks
hopfully my light bulb will be here in the morning, and i can do away with the heat pad.

what should the correct temp be?

hes eaten 2 crickets now :-)

i was watching him eat one and he had it hanging 1/2 out of his mouth for ages, and was just still?

hopfully will be getting a bit of slate and will make a deep cave.

will this be ok to use:
(cant post link new member rule) its Spiderlife Substrate 5ltr by Pro Rep
black soil type stuff

should i remove all the bark or just add/put it on top?
also how many liters will i need to have a good deep layer.
tank is 30cm x 30cm

also is the cricket tank ok, on top of the viv.
do you think he could see the crickets / hear them. hence being at the top of the viv trying to catch them?

after his food hes been down on the ground, behined his cave at the back.

the temp should be 85-90.a heat gradient would be nice too.acheive a gradient by only pointing the lamp on one side and naturally the soil and air would be cooler on the other side giving your scorp the option of different temps.
my emps usually start a burrow in the hot side that leads to parts of the cooler side.

if your heat lamp heats up the enclosure above 100f you may need a dimmer or rheostat to better control it or get a heat lamp that has a dimmer already attached.

your emp was probably pausing to digest or telling you to stop watching him eat.haa

slates cool.you dont have to make him a cave.it might collapse injuring your buddy too if not setup properly.emps are destructive and make big burrows that could easily topple something not secure.i uses my slate by placing a piece in the corner of my tank,i made a little scrape under the lip of it and they came over and dug their own burrow.quite interesting to watch a scorpion dig out a tunnel.

ive never used that substrate or know anyone that has.i just read about it though,the sites description of said product "It is made using a blend of ingredients that provide the ideal mix of structure and moisture retention whilst promoting natural digging and burrowing behaviour." that sounds good and what your looking for.eco earth is the best though i can vouch for as it does the same as that description explains and is made out of natural substances and looks pretty natural.the black in that spiderlife stuff looks cool and it kinda worries me just because ive never seen black soil.
id minimize how much bark is mixed with the sub and scatter some here and there on top of the sub to mimic a messy forest floor.

im bad with math so i couldnt say how many bags youd need,but i would at least try to get a good layer of 6'' in depth going and towards the back corner at the most 10''.would make for a nice looking hill and deeper burrow.hed love it.

i would take that cricket tub away from the emp viv for sure,hes feeling all those scrumptious crickets pitter patter of legs and chirps.

Yeah about 22-29 C is what yr wanting do you have a clamp lamp for the bulb and what wAttage is the bulb e use a 50watt and it's aimed to the side of our 30x30 tank and that heats it fine

Some scorps do take a while to eat our emp tyni used to take ages

If the substrate comes in blocks then yeah it's the same as te normal cocoa fiber so yeah you can use it, some spider stuff if it's in a bag in a box is prly like the spider moss stuff whack you cany use to fill the tank a bit on top would be fine.

I used 4-5 blocks in our 30x30 tank once it's compacted down u may need quite a bit to get yr desired height and design, our large tank had more than 12 blocks go in ( which since has had bits taken out over time to fill smaller tubs lol)

The blocks you want expands in water

I would move the crix you won't won't then on top Once it's properly heated crix die quick when they're too hot and the tub may hinder ventilation.

the bulb i orderd is 50 watt, Exo Terra Heat Glo Infrared.
i have a ceramic bulb holder, but didnt have a clip

with just the heat pad its around 70 so needs to be warmer.
the temp gauge is about 1/3rd the way up the viv, on the front side door.

for the cave i have made a bridge, and it will sit going across the back.

thanks for the help :-)

Your scorpion is moving away from the heat and the only way to do that is climb up instead of burrowing down

If you give it more substrate and start a small burrow with your finger under it's hide or something with the heatmat on the opposite side it'll more than likely burrow down away from the heat mat instead of climbing up the wall.

Definitely move the heat pad to the side asap. As it is currently, it's heating the substrate beyond the comfort zone of your scorpion.