Just a few embarrassing concerns

Having read the FAQ, there are still some things that I'm not totally sure if I'm doing it right.

So I've acquired a sub-adult female emp 3 days ago. For the first two evenings, she was always exploring around continuously. From day 3 and today, she seems to have kept to herself since I haven't seen her out of her hide.
I know that at least 3 out of 4 crickets had dissapeared since I gave them saturday and yesterday (she took the rosea's share since she didn't want to eat). It's a lone male cricket, so I doubt anything bad can happen if I leave him in there overnight.

I have two hides, one of the hot side and one on the cool side. She's been in the cool hide for 2 days now, so I wonder if the heat generated from the infrared bulb is too much. Since I've had it, I didn't turn it off since it seemed to help with the boosted activity and much needed heat and humidity. Is it right to leave the IR bulb on 24/7 or should I close it at night ?

When it comes to keeping the humidity, I dump a tall glass of cold tap water and try to moisten the tank evenly. Could it be that the water is too cold for her comfort ? And exactly how often must I add water per day or week ?

Is a thermometer and hygrometer necessary with all that I'm trying to do ?

I have the odd feeling that I'm doing it all wrong... I'm thinking of buying a new tank (with a screen top) and try out the false-bottom technique in order to have less problems to keeping the humidity. When this current emp tank dries up, I could place my rosea since the current kritter keeper seems small as her half-log hide is occupying half of the entire keeper.

My apologies, I tend to be "panicky" with new situations. I really hope you good people won't mind helping me feel less "silly".

Shinryuu wrote:

So I've acquired a sub-adult female emp 3 days ago. For the first two evenings, she was always exploring around continuously. From day 3 and today, she seems to have kept to herself since I haven't seen her out of her hide.

It sounds like she's settled in.

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She's been in the cool hide for 2 days now, so I wonder if the heat generated from the infrared bulb is too much.

I doubt it; even when it's plenty warm, most people observe their emps squished up against the heat mat (think: cats on a heating vent in the house). I would only say it's too hot if you can't comfortably hold your hand under it at substrate level.

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Is it right to leave the IR bulb on 24/7 or should I close it at night ?

Your call. I'd turn 'em off at night mostly to save energy and give some sort of cycle (but none of my scorpions have supplemental heat at the moment).

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When it comes to keeping the humidity, I dump a tall glass of cold tap water and try to moisten the tank evenly. Could it be that the water is too cold for her comfort ? And exactly how often must I add water per day or week ?

That should be fine. Add water when the substrate doesn't look moist anymore.

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Is a thermometer and hygrometer necessary with all that I'm trying to do ?

No. None of my tanks have either. Most humidity gauges are absolute crap, even if you have them placed correctly (near the substrate where the scorpions are, as opposed to the top of the tank where it's drier).

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My apologies, I tend to be "panicky" with new situations. I really hope you good people won't mind helping me feel less "silly".

No problem, we're all like that when we start out. You should have seen Connie -- she went from panicking at every little thing to becoming one of our moderators. And me? I damn near had a heart attack the first time I tried handling an emp.

The only thing I'd ask about "doing it wrong" is what substrate you're using. As long as it isn't bark chips or sand you should be fine.

Apparently, that lone male cricket was actually female. It popped out of hiding when I added some water when I thought it looked a bit dry yesterday and caused a tiny flood in the middle of the tank. The scorp didn't seem to mind all that much as she made her rounds on the tank and finally bumped and caught that naughty cricket. It was my first time witnessing a scorp eat before my very eyes. Quite amusing as she has her mouth full and just keeps on her merry way accross the thank.

Right now it is still slightly soaked, so I doubt I'll need to add anymore water for a few days. I'll need to get into the habit to actually feel the substrate before adding water to not flood the tank, wouldn't want my girl to drown. One thing I'm actually wary about is stressing the scorp enough that it gets out of its hide/burrow and perceives me as a threat and decides to sting. Since I can't recall if I've ever been stung by a bee or wasp, I have no idea whether I'd get an allergic reaction or not.

And while that female cricket was around, say that she laid eggs and now that I've flooded the tank by mistake, does this mean any possible eggs laid won't make it ? I wouldn't want a bunch of pinheads in there. I'm fortunate I never experienced that in my G rosea's tank since females often attempt to lay eggs despite the substrate being bone dry. *Knocks on wood*

Anyways, so far so good.... I make a few "newb" mistakes here and there, but I'm getting better

A flood won't hurt your scorpion. They can survive being submerged for days.

I've also never heard a reliable report of an allergic reaction to scorpion venom (for one, it doesn't have the histamine that makes bee venom an allergen, and it's possible to be allergic to bees or wasps but not the other (or both)). Not only that, but stings from emps are few and far between.

If you DO get pinheads, just keep the water dish full (a lot will hop in and drown) or put in a drinking straw with a plug at one end (they'll hide in it for easy removal).

Since I have no idea how old my emp is, given it's a sub-adult, does it mean it's one molt away from adult ?

What is the general time lapse for a sub-adult to molt to adult when kept in optimal conditions (good warmth and humidity plus weekly offerings of food) ?

And last but not least.... would a large kritter keeper be enough to keep it there as opposed to the 5 gal glass tank ? The large KK is slightly smaller from what I can see. It's something I would like to try out since my g. rosea seems happy in the KK since she's her usual "pet rock" self.

I really need to get a digi cam because there are some amusing moments at times. A few nights ago... she had so much trouble catching a couple of crickets as they kept hopping out of reach as she approached them. Took her about 15 mins before she finally nailed one.

Yes, it's one molt away. I'm not positive how long you have until adult, but I'd guess less than a year.

The large KK should also work - I have a single female in one right now.

My apologies to bring this thread back up, but over the past few months I have been unable to find food remains. I'd assume they get "flushed" further down the tank when I pour water to keep the humidity up. Would the false bottom technique remedy this ?

So I'm definitely considering moving my emp to the empty large kritter keeper now that I've found a heat pad suitable for it (Zoo Med's Hermit Crab Heat pad) and try out the false bottom technique for a change. Would the heat generated by the pad and the humidity provided by the false bottom be enough to ensure a successful molt to adulthood ? This part really stresses me out.

This should probably be in the Feeders section, but I'll leave it here anyways. I plan to use the empty 5 gal tank to breed crickets since one of my roomates is getting a leopard gecko soon enough. Would the heat bulb I bought for the emp be sufficient to provide enough warmth for the cricket eggs to hatch ? It'd be a great deal not having to go at the pet store except for tank supplies like substrate or hides/decorations.

My emp tends to eat the entire cricket, so if you dont see any remains, I wouldn't worry about it. If anything, I only see a drumstick every once in a while. No harm w/ leftovers, just remove if you see them.

I don't find the false bottom necessary either. All you have to do is take a look at your substrate. If it looks damp all the way through, then it should be fine. I only add water once a week. I'd increase the humidity when your emp gets fat and looks ready to molt. No need to worry so much right now.

I would look into breeding roaches. Never done it myself, but they are much more preferred than crickets with care and such. I believe there's more info on that somewhere here.

Roaches are not available where I'm at. It's either crix or mealies.

I'd still want to try the false bottom to see the pros and cons (if any) of it.

I'm actually surprised that it eats it all, since it is pretty small for a sub-adult.

Some folks sell roaches online; you could look into that to get a colony started.

Yesterday, I dropped a couple of crickets and as they went into his hide and walked right on top of him, he hardly reacted at all. I thought he might have been in premolt, but I tried something diffrent for once. I actually tong-fed him ! And he took both of them that way and started eating one and held onto the other in one of his pedipalps. It took a little but of nudging before he actually took them tho !

Was this a wise move on my part ? Or should I have let him alone and removed the crickets ? I'm always so nervous at the possibility of a lone, uneaten cricket munching on him while he tries to molt. How can I be 100% sure that he's about to molt ? Other than typically hiding and inactive, any other signs that are easy to notice ?

I'm a bit out of the loop, and even though we've been chatting on MSN, I can't remember if you have an adult or not.

If it's an adult, molting won't be an issue, because there won't be any molts.

If it's not an adult, don't throw in any crickets if your scorpion looks ridiculously bloated. That's the best sign, though nothing is 100% yay or nay.