Hadrurus arizonensis molting problems

I'm really interested in Desert Hairy scorpions and am entertaining the possibility of making one of these little dudes my first pet scorp. The only thing that puts me on guard is the fact that I've been reading up and have come across a few examples of people saying that they were sometimes prone to molting issues. I take this to be because of the conflict between their need for a dry environment, and for a slightly more humid environment while molting. So, my question to all you who have experience with Hadrurus arizonensis or any other desert scorpion is have any of you ever found molting to be a problem for your scorps?

One of the others will have to answer that one as i've only had experience with forest scorps so far.
So no personal experience from me but i have heard that "you need to provide a deep substrate for burrowing and then a moisture gradient.

Here: http://www.atshq.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17612

in the wild they burrow down meters into the sand to where its damp to moult, and of course you cant easily make a tank a few meters tall. i dont know how to do it but eddy (the admin) managed it, maybe someone can post a link to that thread.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys. I was actually thinking of a false bottom set up and only adding a tiny bit of water ever so often, but at the same time 4 or 5 inches of substrate probably isn't as wide a gradient as they're used to. Do any of you think this is a big enough problem to make you not want to keep a desert hairy?

Edit: binksyboy3, thanks for the link! There's some great stuff on there.

No probs.

You could try to find a recently matured adult so that you don't have to worry about the molts and it should live for a few years.
I think that's what most people do as they are notoriously difficult to raise to adulthood.

That's true, I guess. That way I can try and breed them too without havin' to wait. =)
Oh, one more question... could isopods survive in a desert terrarium set up for these guys? I figure if I go the slightly damper substrate route for these guys any uneaten food will probably get nasty even quicker, so an isopod clean up crew would be great...

That's a question i don't know the answer to i'm afraid. However, according to this website, they can, assuming you mean woodlice/pill bugs?

well I've owned a desert hairy for a few months now and I can say you don't need isopods. I don't think they can survive anyways. The leftovers will shrivel up as well, so no need to worry. Every now and then just pick them out, it's really easy and simple.

Hmm, I think I've run out of questions for the time being. What a relief, hugh? Haha, well, thanks for all the help everyone.

JohnnyDeathRock wrote:

That's true, I guess. That way I can try and breed them too without havin' to wait. =)
Oh, one more question... could isopods survive in a desert terrarium set up for these guys? I figure if I go the slightly damper substrate route for these guys any uneaten food will probably get nasty even quicker, so an isopod clean up crew would be great...

lol that doesnt solve the molting problem at all! it causes more molting problems with all the babies and also the problem of breeding them.
and no, there is no need for a clean up crew in a desert hairy tank. you can do all the cleaning that is neccesary in about 1 minuite every month.

they had a bunch of desert hairys at the those i went to. one cool guy was holding them all and petting them, it was sweet

_scorpio_ wrote:

lol that doesnt solve the molting problem at all! it causes more molting problems with all the babies and also the problem of breeding them.
and no, there is no need for a clean up crew in a desert hairy tank. you can do all the cleaning that is neccesary in about 1 minuite every month.

Wait, you mean having a humidity gradient in the substrate causes more molting problems? Man, and I thought I had it all figured out...