First post, how am i doing?

First off, i am so happy i found this forum just because ive done research for a long time, and i finally found something like this. Now, off to my questions. I bought my first emp about 6 months ago and loved it so i bought 2 more and put them in a communal tank. Ive got 1 male and 2 females. I believe the tank is a 55 gallon tank, i got this for free from the family because we are all exotic pet owners and i told them i wanted a huge communal tank, which there was a spare one in the garage. I was curious about how many i could have in this enclosure because i would like to have a bunch without over crowding and such. also, i was curious if there was a good way of making the scorps communal easier (especially males)because when i moved all 3 to the big tank i had to watch them for hours and break up fights(especially the one female i happened to get first, she was not friendly at all). they are fine now and they all stay together in the same hidey hole when they have the whole huge enclosure... lame. I have the enclosure layered in about 3 inches of eco earth and the temp stays at about 80 and the humidity between 60-70 at all times. I mist atleast once a day and i have a heat pad on one side of the tank. I was curious why my scorpions never burrow (they lay underneath a rock i have fixed up on a angle). I was also curious if anyone knows what kind of live plants i could put in there and what kind of specifics to put in there that wont bother my scorpions and maybe not a lot of tending to, or if maybe fake ones would be better. one more thing, some of the rocks happen to be broken up cement blocks with a flat rock in the middle of the enclosure, just curious if that was ok or not because i wanted to make sure the could get their little scorpion exercise, and i also have broken up ceramic pots as extra hidey holes.


Sorry about the long post, i had a lot to say.

Gimmexdatxbrain wrote:

First off, i am so happy i found this forum just because ive done research for a long time, and i finally found something like this. Now, off to my questions. I bought my first emp about 6 months ago and loved it so i bought 2 more and put them in a communal tank. Ive got 1 male and 2 females. I believe the tank is a 55 gallon tank, i got this for free from the family because we are all exotic pet owners and i told them i wanted a huge communal tank, which there was a spare one in the garage. I was curious about how many i could have in this enclosure because i would like to have a bunch without over crowding and such.

The general rule is 1 emperor to 5 Imperial gallons, so, if your calculations are correct about the size of your tank, then I'd say you could comfortably fit 9/10 emperors in there. However, thats all dependant on how "deep" your tank is...if your volume mostly consists of height, that value drops dramatically. posting a pic of your tank could really help.

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also, i was curious if there was a good way of making the scorps communal easier (especially males)because when i moved all 3 to the big tank i had to watch them for hours and break up fights(especially the one female i happened to get first, she was not friendly at all). they are fine now and they all stay together in the same hidey hole when they have the whole huge enclosure... lame.

there are some general rules you should stick to when working communally.

-have more females than males
-have more hides than scorpions
-When introducing new scorpions, remove them *all* from the enclosure, mix your substrate up and move everything inside around, so when they go back in, there are no territorial issues.

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I have the enclosure layered in about 3 inches of eco earth and the temp stays at about 80 and the humidity between 60-70 at all times. I mist atleast once a day and i have a heat pad on one side of the tank.

I'd put some more eco earth in. At least 4 inches is reccommended. 6-8 is better.

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I was curious why my scorpions never burrow (they lay underneath a rock i have fixed up on a angle).

Some emperors just dont (mine never do), if they're happy enough with the hides you've put in there. If you'd rather they burrow, perhaps compress your substrate a little more...if its too loosely packed they wont burrow, as it wont hold its shape when they dig.

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I was also curious if anyone knows what kind of live plants i could put in there and what kind of specifics to put in there that wont bother my scorpions and maybe not a lot of tending to, or if maybe fake ones would be better. one more thing, some of the rocks happen to be broken up cement blocks with a flat rock in the middle of the enclosure, just curious if that was ok or not because i wanted to make sure the could get their little scorpion exercise, and i also have broken up ceramic pots as extra hidey holes.

I'm not sure about plants, I know there *are* live plants that work well with emperors, take a look around the forums, there should be a few threads around.


That all sounds fine, If you're adding more scorpions, why not cut a coconut in half, or a log in half as another hide/decoration for variety?

Couldn't have said it better myself

The only thing I'll add is that misting is very ineffective and you have to do it daily. Instead pour some water all over the substrate so that it goes a darker shade and is damp but not soaking or bog-like.

That should give you perfect humidity of about 80%-90% and should last for a week or two before you repeat the process.

binksyboy3 wrote:

Couldn't have said it better myself

The only thing I'll add is that misting is very ineffective and you have to do it daily. Instead pour some water all over the substrate so that it goes a darker shade and is damp but not soaking or bog-like.

That should give you perfect humidity of about 80%-90% and should last for a week or two before you repeat the process.

*proud!*



Could do with a chat with you binksy, I've the need to pick your brains about my next scorpion acquisition (It's payday soon, and that Borth. cf Dumayi is looking mighty appealing.)

Haha not a problem

Just send me a PM at some point

I've experimented with quite a few plant and I've got to say pothos are one of the best.

http://linepassions.free.fr/Plantes_d%27Interieur/images/Pothos.jpg

These guys are cheap and can be easily found at any gardening store. You can check out Home Depot, Osh, for them.

They are hardy in my opinion and can actually grow in coco-fiber. They don't require much sunlight and work well in warm, humid environments, so they are perfect for your scorps.

I hope this picture works, dont mind all the clutter, we were cleaning up this room and the girlfriend thinks its a good idea to put stuff up there, grrr.

This is their favorite hidey hole.

The substrate is definetely compressed and goes below the black lining at the bottom, just figured i should point that out. Im definitely going to add more substrate though to encourage burrowing. I think i have enough hidey holes for them but i need to know if i need more and how many should i have if i want more scorps, based on what you guys think. Also, any creative additions you guys have is also a plus. Thanks for all the tips I really appreciate it, and keep them comin!!!

I think that's probably enough hiding spots for three emps. One suggestion though (obviously its up to you) is to break a couple of those pots in half - that way, you can start a burrow a little bit with your hand and then place the half pot over that. You can also half bury it to make a nice little snug hiding spot rather than have entire pots in there.

A word of caution though, you have to break them carefully as you run the risk of breaking the pot in places you don't want to.

I can't say much on plants as I'm still a noob and experimenting myself but what I did is keep the plants in pots. I transplanted them into slightly bigger ones and tried my best to swap out the soil with fertilizer/plant food out for organic potting soil. I left them in the pots for a couple of reasons; if I had to take them out because they got big, didn't work out as planned, or I needed to do some tank management. Also if the scorps burrow they will not disrupt the root system. From what I have read Potho's are the #1 choice or ivy. I have a couple different tropical plants in mine, I forgot what the names are. One will have to be removed because I found out that it will get too big, but it is good for now. Good luck

Well, im still curious as to how many scorpions i could put in this enclosure after some modifications to the amount of substrate and hidey holes. I know that the possible amount i could have is 9-10 scorps but the tank is definetely more height then width. also, those pots are already broken and set down only like an half inch, so should i just bury them lower or what?