Semi darkened room?

Hi, ive just joined the forum etc, and am about to get my very first imperator in the next few days (decided to call it aqarab), ive read your forum and its very useful. But i have a kinda awkward question....
Are the scorpions nocturnal activities triggered by actual lack of light, or just an in built sort of timer? (like we have circadian rythms)

Because i only sleep 2 hours a night, (as you can tell im posting this at 10 to 5) the light in the adjoining room to the one willthe scorpion is kept in is on most of the night, which means the scorpions keeping place will only be semi-dark, and hardly ever completely dark. I guess it will sort of imitate constant dusk. So will this affect my scorpion?


Also, when buying an imperator, how much should you expect to pay in the uk?

They spend most of their time in a burrow anyway, so as long as the substrate is deep enough, then it shouldn't disturb it.

As far as how their timers are triggered, I'm honestly not sure. Although I think the UK is in the same time zone as Ghana.

Thank you for you quick and informative response.

And yes, i was thinking maybe peat (with no additives) for substrate, as it is v. easy to get hold of in my areas.

Do you think £75 (or 75$ at the moment) is a reasonable price for an emporer scorpion?

No, it's not.

The spider shop dont have any in stock at the moment but they have other interesting species.

CLICK


Virginia cheesman has them in stock and there not too badly priced
CLICK

You could also look at the invert classifieds on RFUK
CLICK

Well, i did what you said and got a waaaaaaaaaay cheaper price. Its in a tank with heat matt on the side, coco fibre etc etc, looks about 2I to me but im not expert, is deffo pretty young, but thanks guys for your help

Setup sounds good, but you don't need a very large tank for a 2I. It may be difficult to find prey in a larger habitat (unless you release the prey right down the burrow).

I suggest that unless you want a scorpion that is rare, never pay over £25 for a scorpion in the UK as there are so many dealers and shops that will sell them at cheaper prices.

Well, yeah ive just dropped a cricket in, and i think maybe the scorp just cant be bothered yet, i pretty much dropped it on it. sooner or later the cricket will get it, mayeb tonite though. ill remove it by morning if it hasnt been eaten. The scorp keeps trying to climb the walls is this normal?


My local pet store sold me one for £35. There are cheaper prices in my county, but all the ones i found were a drive away, and the money spent on petrol and being nice to my mum for days on end to get her to drive me there made that about worthwile. It took long enough to persuade me to let me have one as it is.

Edit: i was wrong its not 2I its bigger than that, although still fits neatly inide my palm

You should have just ordered one online, they can safely be sent in the post mate
you really really over paid I would Never pay over £13 for an Emp

ah well. it could be worse.... coulda got a cat. £60 jabs £80 neutered etc etc


money comes and goes, emp will last longer than 30 odd quid would.

True but you could have got atleast 2 for £30 lol

dont rub it in! haha


well at least this one will be well looked after. i hope it lives as long as my snail

2xw wrote:

The scorp keeps trying to climb the walls is this normal?

Yes, until it gets settled in. Some will still go on nightly romps, though.

Quote :

i was wrong its not 2I its bigger than that, although still fits neatly inside my palm

Post a pic and we can tell you if it's an adult, a subadult, or younger.

Or, just answer this: what color is the telson (the bit with the sting)? White = juvenile, two or more molts left; cream = subadult, one molt left; brown = adult, no molts left.

yeah ill try and find some sort of means of doin this.
Ima gunna take the cricket out this morning, the scorpion hasnt touched it and even seems to back off from it a little, must be a lil stressed from the journey home or w.e

What i want to know is what are the shops that charge £75 and £30 for emps so they can be put in the dealer review section so people know to avoide those shops, mind you most people wouldnt pay that kind of money for an emp but it's not your fault for not knowing a good price considering you've never had any scorps before.

Welcome to the hobby btw and prepare to get more scorps cause you will, end of story

£75 is incorrect that was my mum confusing a spider or snake with a scorpion somehow... god knows.


This is not a dealer or even really a tropical/exotic pet shop etc, they sell dogs mostly, and childrens fish.
This poor guy was all alone in the corner, huddled in his tank (with no burrowing space, only a half inch of coco fibre)
The guy was by no means an expert on scorpions (this was demonstaretd when i asked whether it was a male or female)
But the scorpion was not sick and did not appear unhappy, and the owners did genuinly appear to love theyre animals.







By all means i intend to have more scorps, maybe when more experienced, space and parents permitting.

yeah lack of knowledge is typical of nearly all pet shops, wouldnt beleive some of the stories i've heard of how pet shops care for scorps, like there was someone who got an emp and the guy sold him like £200 worth of useless equipment with it, like heat lamps, thermostats, expensive tank all sorts of crap that just isnt needed. ¬_¬ makes ye mad lol

yeah i didnt really spend too much on equipments, saying that thugh, i think the tank could maybe do with a bit more warmth. Although the scorp looks happy

well i think most heat mats actually use infra red radiation to warm the animals in the tank from the inside without affecting actuall air temperature but even then what you'd be best doing is taping a half in tick slab of polystyrene or anything liek that to the back of the heat mat, failing that use an old towel, but remember to make sur theres enough ventilation to stop the tank over heating, also are you making sure the air humidity in the tank is about 80% or higher? any lower for any extended period of time may be harmful, by extended i mean maybe a week cause Emps are like nails, hard to kill.

Dont know it feels pretty sticky and abit warm, and the emp isnt looking sluggish or anything,, how could i increase humidity?

reduce the ventilation, has the tank got a mesh screen lid by any chance? if so cover 2/3s to 3/4 of the top of the tank with anything you can get ur hand on, cling film, an old towel something like that and make sure hte substrate says damp and it u see if drying out at all give it a good mist.

Got any pics of your setup, would help.

i tried uploading pics but it doesnt work
and yes ill put cling film over the mesh lid but leave 1/4 for ventillation

klkl that should do it, try using www.imageshack.us just upload ur pic into the site and then copy and paste the code into you next post i use it all the time never fails like photobucket does.