First time owner

Hey guys, I am about to buy my first ever scorpion (and pet for that matter) and it is an emperor scorpion. I just had 2 questions:

1) I have a heat pad and I was told to put it on the side because scorpions love to burrow and putting it on the bottom is not ideal. So I was just wondering, does it go on the inside of the tank or on the outside? Again, I am putting on the side wall which is glass

2) As for keeping crickets, is water and slices of carrot just fine? Or do I need to buy this commercial cricket food they sell? I've seen people just use carrot or potatoe slices so I was just wondering.

Thanks a lot!

Hey welcome aboard!

Yeah crickets will eat virtually anything edible but we keep what they eat healthy so are scorps are healthy as well.

Can't answer your 1st one, i don't need use/need heaters where i'm at

Cheer!

exoticvirus wrote:

Hey welcome aboard!

Yeah crickets will eat virtually anything edible but we keep what they eat healthy so are scorps are healthy as well.

Can't answer your 1st one, i don't need use/need heaters where i'm at

Cheer!

Thanks!

newyorkgiants wrote:

Hey guys, I am about to buy my first ever scorpion (and pet for that matter) and it is an emperor scorpion. I just had 2 questions:

1) I have a heat pad and I was told to put it on the side because scorpions love to burrow and putting it on the bottom is not ideal. So I was just wondering, does it go on the inside of the tank or on the outside? Again, I am putting on the side wall which is glass

On the outside is best.

Welcome aboard! I love emps! Check out the FAQ's about emps for some more tips.

Thanks!....I read it and it gave me a ton of useful info....I will post pics of my scorpion when I get it

I have another question:

I'm going to be going on trip over the weekend from Thursday night untill Monday afternoon, but no one will be looking after my scorpion during that time.

Would it be ok if I leave a few crickets in the tank (like 2 or 3) before I leave? And also, what could I do about the humidity?

That's the great thing about scorpions, you can leave them for days to weeks if they are fed enough. The best is to feed him before you leave, never leave prey items in their enclosure for any long period. Concerning humidity, get it as high as you can without making the enclosure into a mud bath, this will keep the humidity high enough for the few days that you will be gone. A drying out period will not harm your emp but they won't like an extended period of dry conditions.

shadowfoot wrote:

That's the great thing about scorpions, you can leave them for days to weeks if they are fed enough. The best is to feed him before you leave, never leave prey items in their enclosure for any long period. Concerning humidity, get it as high as you can without making the enclosure into a mud bath, this will keep the humidity high enough for the few days that you will be gone. A drying out period will not harm your emp but they won't like an extended period of dry conditions.

Thanks a lot!! I was worried as heck...I don't trust anyone in my family to do anything with it so I will do what you said and lock my room

Btw...I always eat sushi without wasabi

Quote :

Thanks a lot!! I was worried as heck...I don't trust anyone in my family to do anything with it so I will do what you said and lock my room

Btw...I always eat sushi without wasabi

That's one of the reasons why scorpions are a good choice, I know my family won't kill them when I'm gone for a few days.
Lol, that's just wrong man...

Emps like to drink a lot of water so make sure you have a large water bowl that won't dry out in a few days. Get something with a rough texture inside and outside the bowl so the scorp can climb into and out of the bowl. They can submerge themselves completely underwater with no problem. You don't have to worry about the scorp drowning if he can climb out.

As a test, you could put your scorp in his bowl when it is empty and see if he can climb out. A good size water bowl will serve as a source of moisture when you are gone.

robert44 wrote:

Emps like to drink a lot of water so make sure you have a large water bowl that won't dry out in a few days.  Get something with a rough texture inside and outside the bowl so the scorp can climb into and out of the bowl.  They can submerge themselves completely underwater with no problem.  You don't have to worry about the scorp drowning if he can climb out.

As a test, you could put your scorp in his bowl when it is empty and see if he can climb out.  A good size water bowl will serve as a source of moisture when you are gone.

Thanks, will do that for sure