Hadrurus arizonensis substrate.

Hello. I am getting a desert hairy tomorrow. I know the caresheet on here says sand, but i tried that, even wetting it and letting it dry to harden, but there is no way hell be able to burrow in There without his burrow collapsing. What should i mix it with or what else could i use?

Thanks

excavating clay

daniel wrote:

excavating clay

not helpful...

the_cannibal wrote:

daniel wrote:

excavating clay

not helpful...

wait, I just learned what excavating clay was - very helpful!
lol sorry about that.

i dont think I've seen any in the stores around here though, ill have to check....

If i cant find some... plan B anyone?

idk but all i can think of is maybe mixing in a little bit of coco fibers to help stabilize it? Or perhaps, make a burrow for him so you dont have to worry about it collapsing..

anemiaffx wrote:

idk but all i can think of is maybe mixing in a little bit of coco fibers to help stabilize it? Or perhaps, make a burrow for him so you dont have to worry about it collapsing..

I actually found some excavating clay. it works well but I havent seen the scorpion since I got it. Total pet hole. I thought desert hairy's were supposed to be active!

haha - snap - i bought my desert hairy because everyone told me they were so active - always out - ive had it 2 weeks and seen it once

people tell me emperors are innactive and boring - i see all mine everyday

You know, people say that flat rocks are NEVEr out as well but i see mine bathing in the warmth of his heat bulb for up to 12 hours everyday...

It just depends, sometimes on moods and others on conditions.

My emperors always hide, my flat rocks always hide but my bothriurus is ALWAYS out and about even during part of the daytime.

I just received a new desert hairy a few weeks ago and he's out running around most anytime after dark......which is a nice surprise since I rarely ever get to see my Heterometrus Sp. I haven't yet bought any excavator clay so he's walking around on the red sand, but he seems to do a great job of digging up under one of the large rocks during the day. Since he's so active at night I'm hesitant to buy a burrow-friendly substrate because I'm afraid I'll rarely see him. I'd like to hear from some of you with more desert hairy experience........ do you think he's unhappy or stressed without being able to burrow? or will his daily routine of hiding under one of the rocks be ok? He sure seems content right now, but I'm certainly no expert on scorpion psychology.

Mine has a cork bark hide, loads of sand and a teracotta half plantpot to hide in but he still basks on top of the corkbark, most of the time

My female Hadrurus arizonensis lives quite happily in an all sand substrate vivarium. I simply have a few pieces of flat slate which i have partly broken up and stuck to a larger piece to form an artificial burrow. She'll be quite content in digging out her burrow and surroundings just to make sure everythings right for her.

The picture link below should give you an idea. Notice another piece of slate on top of the main burrow (although mostly hidden by sand) which she hides under occassionally.



As for behaviour, they are an active species. Although expect times that they will not come out for a few days. For example my scorpion closed off all entrances to her burrow and stayed in there for 3months solid and later emerged happy and hungry!!!!!

Enjoy your scorpion!!

excavator clay might be kind of harsh. maybe mix it with sand, and if you live near a home depo, they have bags of Spanish moss near the potting soils for like 5.00. that makes a great root system, they fake roots will really reinforce the walls of the burrow.

The ratio I heard quoted for excavator clay was 30% clay to 70% sand by volume. Worked pretty well for my H. arizonensis.

Digging up an old thread here but just thought I'd mention this.
Excavator clay is pretty expencive so I started looking round for alternatives.
I now use something called Bentonite.
Mix it with sand and anything else you like, wet it, mould it into the shape you want and let it dry.
My arazonensis spends hours digging into it. At about £4 for 1kg it's WAY cheaper than excavator clay and does the same job but better.