Newb with some questions

Hey, I just bought 2 emp. scorpions the other day, I have them in a 20 gallon tank together.. I know one is male for sure because he has been very active at night, climbing up the corners of the aquarium. The other is the complete oppisite, I have only seen it out a few times.. Only brefly seen it climb the corners of the aquarium.. Spends most of its time in his burrow.. Is it being bullied by the other male? They seem to sleep next to each other, on top of each other.. I haven't seen any fighting though.. It'll only be my fourth day with them but I am kinda worried.. It won't eat either whie the other one has eatn the last 3 nights in a row.. a cricket each night.

Also, the water dish I heard some people say that they can drown in too much water. I have a water dish in there with them that they can fit in and is shallow, how much water should I put in?

I don't have a heating mat or heating lamps, the petstore where I bought them said room temp. was fine for them..
is that true or should I go invest in a heating mat?

The top layer of coco fiber seems to be dry but deeper down its a bit moist, what is better misting or pouring water on the coco fiber?

kadama wrote:

Hey, I just bought 2 emp. scorpions the other day, I have them in a 20 gallon tank together.. I know one is male for sure because he has been very active at night, climbing up the corners of the aquarium. The other is the complete oppisite, I have only seen it out a few times.. Only brefly seen it climb the corners of the aquarium.. Spends most of its time in his burrow.. Is it being bullied by the other male? They seem to sleep next to each other, on top of each other.. I haven't seen any fighting though.. It'll only be my fourth day with them but I am kinda worried.. It won't eat either whie the other one has eatn the last 3 nights in a row.. a cricket each night.

Also, the water dish I heard some people say that they can drown in too much water. I have a water dish in there with them that they can fit in and is shallow, how much water should I put in?

I don't have a heating mat or heating lamps, the petstore where I bought them said room temp. was fine for them..
is that true or should I go invest in a heating mat?

The top layer of coco fiber seems to be dry but deeper down its a bit moist, what is better misting or pouring water on the coco fiber?

are you sure they're both males? you'd need a pectine shot to be sure of this
it doesnt matter what sex they are, my female emps constantly wander around at night

the wandering is normal, and so is the hiding in the hide =)
if you feel yourself confident enough, while the "active emp" is wandering try taking a cricket in your hands,(or use tongs), and see if you can hand the cricket to the emp...

i dont think scorpions really drown (im not sure) but just fill it up and put some pebbles in it if you're that paranoid about it..

ive never used anything to heat the tank, nor do i think i ever will, the way i have mine setup seem to keep the tank at a good heat level for them...every so often, i also leave the lid of the tank slightly open so the air can ventilate (not all the time, but every few days i do it)

it depends on the humidity level of your tank...if you want, the substrate should be moist, not soaked...
they're tropical scorpions, from a jungle, not the swamp...

this is all just from my experience, id wait for more answers to your questions...but you're in the right place for answers =)
not every emperor is gonna act the same

I got a heat pad for mine. you just stick it on the side of the tank and they will chill near it almost all the time. When they feel too warm, they will leave on there own as well. You can have a light if you wish, but infared is best because they are sensitive to lights and they cant see those bulbs. I mist my tanks instead of pouring water in them but some people are different. Doesn't matter what you do just keep the top layer of the coco fibers moist and you should be fine.

Pour water onto the substrate as misting is ineffective and won't last as long

Your scorps sound normal. as far as your substrate moisture just make a false bottom. It will only cost you about 10-15 more dollars. buy aquarium gravel enough to fill the bottom about one to one and a half inches on the bottom place a tube on one of the back corners and fill back with substrate on top. The tube is so that you can pour water directly into your gravel. Fill it about one quarter to half way of your gravel level and your scorps will have a nice habitat that is not too moist or too dry. Make your substrate about 4" to 6" deep all over because they like to dig.
As far as not eating dont worry they can go for weeks on end without eating.

Okay, thank you. I feel much better.. I have another question though, I covered up my window in my room so only a bit of light gets through. The one that is active, gilgaol, sat out for most of the day today after coming out last night. Do they need much light or is having my window covered perfect?
Right now I have cardboard covering the top with little holes punched into it, is this fine or should I get another peice and cut a big hole in the middle? Or what else should I try and get?

That should be fine. They dont like light. Watch them though because emperors are strong and if you have a way that they can climb up even a cord. They will push the lid open and crawl out.
My larger one almost escaped after he crawled up my background and I had a book on top of it. now I have a locking lid. as far as temp goes room temp is good 75-85f

kadama wrote:

Okay, thank you. I feel much better.. I have another question though, I covered up my window in my room so only a bit of light gets through. The one that is active, gilgaol, sat out for most of the day today after coming out last night. Do they need much light or is having my window covered perfect?
Right now I have cardboard covering the top with little holes punched into it, is this fine or should I get another peice and cut a big hole in the middle? Or what else should I try and get?

it might just be out cause theyre more comfortable in the dark...
i just leave blinds and curtains on my window so you can see the difference in day and night, that way they know when its night time its time to come out...
i never covered up my window to make it permanently dark ( i might try it to see what they do)
cardboard covering the top of the tank?...
i dont think it would make much of a difference what covers them ( i have a screen lid with 9/10ths of the lid covered by saran wrap to keep the humidity up)...what you have sounds good to me, if you get another and gut a giant hole in the middle, it might not keep it warm and humid enough...i dont know...
just make sure theres no way for them to reach the top, being that they are strong little creatures and will escape first chance they get

It isn't permanantly dark, just darker then a normal room. Light still gets through like 1-4 of the window.

it might not be enough for them to have a day/night cycle

I keep mine in the living room so they do get a day cycle probly more than they should but they both seem happy

i have mine like 5 ft away from my bedroom window and it lights up my whole room in the daytime, so mine have a day cycle

Okay, I was just worried I'll uncover my window completely.. I just wanna treat these guys the best I can.

Don't worry about it. You can leave the window open for yourself, the scorpion will spend time in its burrow if it doesn't like the lighting. As for the heating, if you feel nice and cozy in the room while wearing a shirt and pants/shorts, then it should be fine for your scorpions as well.

Last night Gilgaol came out for like 20 minutes and wandered around, like he ussally does since I've had him.. Though last night he decided to climb the fake plant I have in there, it's like ivy.. He sat up there for 10 minutes, came down.. None too gently I'd imagine.. Wandered around and went back into the burrow with Mog. Mog has been moving inside the burrow I can see.

I plan on getting a bigger tank this weekend, a 40 gallon tank. I was wondering what the best way to switch over Gil and Mog would be? I am nervous about stressing them too much and I don't have a pair ofthongs like the pet store had when they put them into the deli container for me to take home.

Dont worry about stressing them when your moving them. If your still new to emperors and your afraid to touch them, just get a container, put it behind them and gently push them into it with a contain lid or something flat. Getting stung by an emperor is probably the last thing that's going to happen to you. Just put them both in some kind of Tupperware container and do your thing but dont take forever. Then just put them back in it. Easy as that.

If you wish to be a brave boy, put the container in the tank with the scorps, grab there tails and oh so gently put them in the Tupperware container.. Either way you must remove them from the tank before you can do it so choose your way. You wont stress them too bad when moving them. Dont try to feed them after you move them for about 3-4 days and just leave them alone until its time to feed.

I just read that vbrations can stress emps. I live in a shared accomadation and my roommate tends to listen to loud music.. Should I advise him not to have it pumping too loudly with the bass on?

if you're worried about that, tell him to turn the bass settings down...

if not well do trial and error...
i play music all the time in my room, and i dont think i present too much of a problem to mine...
hell, last night while i was playing slipknot songs, my WC C. Hentzi was crawling around the container checkin stuff out, and my emps were walkin all over there enclosure i guess lookin for crickets...

i dont know, i guess it all depends on the scorpion

As long as the scorpions are not sitting on top of whatever is vibrating, it should be fine. If you place a cup of water where your scorpions are at, and the water moves and makes little waves in the cup, then it may cause a threat but anything less than that is harmless.

Gil seems to be climbing alot, he also seems to fall down out of the plant.. is that normal?

it could be...
it might be old age, depending on how old yours are?

mine dont have good grip alot of the time either, like when they're crawling on my hands, both seem to fall alot, but i let mine land on my pants so i can pick them up again and put them back in the tank

kadama wrote:

Gil seems to be climbing alot, he also seems to fall down out of the plant.. is that normal?

yup, normal.

the lycan mikey wrote:

it could be...
it might be old age, depending on how old yours are?

mine dont have good grip alot of the time either, like when they're crawling on my hands, both seem to fall alot, but i let mine land on my pants so i can pick them up again and put them back in the tank

well lycan the reason that would be is because they havent matured enough for those little claws to grip your hairs on your hands... Mine are full size and adults and they can walk all the way around my hand. Even upside down but i dont risk that.

And the falling out of the plant is just him/her exploring around. As long as there isnt any rocks or so forth for them to land on, it should be fine. The coco fibers give a good enough landing spot.

anemiaffx wrote:

As long as there isnt any rocks or so forth for them to land on, it should be fine. The coco fibers give a good enough landing spot.

Also, any large drops could do some fatal damage