Tropical Setup Without False Bottom

Hey all!

After a lot of research I came up with my current setup, and so far I like what I am seeing, but of course would like your thoughts/opinions of it. The 10 gallon tank is currently housing 2 sub-adult Heterometrus Spinifer females. These are my first big tropical scorpions btw. :razz:

The heating is taken care of by a 24/7 ceramic heater on one side and the humidity is created using an air humidifier & air exchanger utilizing an aquarium pump rated at exchanging air at about 53 gallons per hour.

I am also using a 75 watt night glo bulb simulating moon light for night viewing on occasion only. The side effect of this is that it makes them glow like using a UV light.

There is a screen top that is completely taped using clear heat resistant duct tape and I made sure to have some ventilation for the air exchanging process.

I only used about an inch of coconut fiber because I didn't want a pet hole and wanted to see the scorpions as much as possible with this setup. Below are the breakdown of temperatures and humidity levels (readings are taken near top of tank):

Hot Side - 85-90F & 78-82% (both +/- 1)
Warm Side - 80-85F & 95-99% (both +/- 1)

I am seeing about a 6F (+/- 1) degree difference in the temperature gradient.

I am also getting in some white dwarf isopods for the cleanup crew and the feeders are currently crickets. I plan on getting 50+ 1"+ sub-adult B.dubias as my future feeders though.

I received the H.Spinifers yesterday and they appear to love it. No burrowing seen so far.

Questions:
1) What do you guys/girls think?
2) Is the humidity too high for other tropical species of scorpions? Such as Emperors? I can control this of course.

Summary: Check out my tropical setup and let me know what you think.

Front view:



Side view:



Top view:



Top view angled:



Side view closer:



Scorpion shot:



Night glo lamp:



Give me some feed back!

Erik

looks good...and simple =)

i dont know much about this species, i only own emps and a bark scorpion, but i if there is not much of a difference in the habitats, id say more substrate and i dont see a reason the tank should be so hot on both sides...
the scorpions burrow to get away from the heat, so you might make them unintentionally miserable being that they wont be able to escape the heat until "dark"...which is why id use more substrate....

the lycan mikey wrote:

looks good...and simple =)

i dont know much about this species, i only own emps and a bark scorpion, but i if there is not much of a difference in the habitats, id say more substrate and i dont see a reason the tank should be so hot on both sides...
the scorpions burrow to get away from the heat, so you might make them unintentionally miserable being that they wont be able to escape the heat until "dark"...which is why id use more substrate....

Thanks! = ) Yeah, I didn't want to use more substrate because I wanted to see them more often. From my understanding they can be a pet hole...lol! All of the care sheets and information that I found said the temperature should be between anywhere from 75-95F so I think it's is fine. One care sheet said 90F on hot side and 80-85F on cold side as well. This will speed up their metabolism for more feeding.

Can anyone chime in on this though that keep the species?

Add more substrate.

I understand why you only wanted to add one inch, but allowing them to burrow is essential to their health.

As for the humidifier thing, I've certainly never used one so I don't know how well they work - But just supposing you encounter some humidity problems, just pour some water onto the substrate so that it is damp but not soaking or bog-like and that should give you perfect humidity at around 80%-90% and will last for a week or two before you repeat the process.

Finally, as Mikey said, there's not a great deal of difference between the habitat of emps and hets, but from my experience hets seem to like it slightly dryer.

binksyboy3 wrote:

Add more substrate.

I understand why you only wanted to add one inch, but allowing them to burrow is essential to their health.

As for the humidifier thing, I've certainly never used one so I don't know how well they work - But just supposing you encounter some humidity problems, just pour some water onto the substrate so that it is damp but not soaking or bog-like and that should give you perfect humidity at around 80%-90% and will last for a week or two before you repeat the process.

Finally, as Mikey said, there's not a great deal of difference between the habitat of emps and hets, but from my experience hets seem to like it slightly dryer.

Excellent advise! I will add more substrate and observe what they do in my environment. 6 inches on one side correct?

I'm good on humidity though and have heard that het's can't have too much humidity.

I agree, allowing H. spinifers to dig is essential....

I recently had the privilege of finding a mature female in the wild. Me and a friend took about an hour to excavate her out. Apparently they dig winding spirals of passages under and between the roots of large trees... with multiple exits... we managed to get as she was exiting through an exit that came out of nowhere

ScorpJunkie wrote:

6 inches on one side correct?

Yup, 4-6 inches is about perfect

Thanks guys! I took your recommendation and added almost 6 inches of substrate on one side, and it created a nice landscape in the process. I wanted to keep my pre-existing hides as well as an option for them to dig, so I dug a pre-burrow to see what they would do in the setup.

So far, the more active one seems to be basking in the "sun" (hot side) a lot! She even was laying out under the plant on the hot side for most of the day. I would say they are enjoying their stay.

I'm also sick of feeder crickets so I setup an enclosure for some b.dubias. I ordered 75 1"+ sub-adults and they should be in early next week. If you limit temperature and food intake, they won't be able to breed nearly as fast and this is the best feeder solution that I found.

Anyway, I'll keep this thread updated as far as whether or not the het's end up using that starter burrow or not. Would be interesting to see what they do. Below are some pic's:

New Setup




More active het basking (blurry)

Lol....you should of just done the entire cage in 6 inches...If you want to see them so bad, start a beginners burrow on the side of the tank so you have constant view...

anemiaffx wrote:

Lol....you should of just done the entire cage in 6 inches...If you want to see them so bad, start a beginners burrow on the side of the tank so you have constant view...

It looks cool this way, and besides no burrowing yet. It's also an experiment to see where they are "most comfortable".

If you're thinking of breeding, it would be advisable to separate them to individual enclosures (or a divided enclosure), when they reach 7th to 8th instar (adult).

They are always communal until they're not or one suddenly give's birth and all tank mates become fair game...

*actually by the look of your photos, at least one of your scorpions is already an adult (the fully-bloomed manus of the chela) digging would mean preparations brooding. If she is WC she may already be gravid.

I'd go further and cover 1-2 inches of coco-fiber over the log hides. That would make it nice and cozy for them and since you already have a view from the side you don't have to really lift those hides to monitor them.

Hope those ideas help...
Cheers

LXDNG79 wrote:

If you're thinking of breeding, it would be advisable to separate them to individual enclosures (or a divided enclosure), when they reach 7th to 8th instar (adult).

They are always communal until they're not or one suddenly give's birth and all tank mates become fair game...

Thanks for the info man! I'm actually keeping two females. They should be fine right?

ScorpJunkie wrote:

LXDNG79 wrote:

If you're thinking of breeding, it would be advisable to separate them to individual enclosures (or a divided enclosure), when they reach 7th to 8th instar (adult).

They are always communal until they're not or one suddenly give's birth and all tank mates become fair game...

Thanks for the info man! I'm actually keeping two females. They should be fine right?

Two big females kept together on a long-term basis is ok... if one is gravid though... you might wanna divide them... The only thing brooding/gravid/nesting females hate more than an over amorous male... is another female jostling for their hiding space... this happens frequently... keep your eye out for aggression. Then again... I would also reconfirm the sex