Heating for Emperor scorpion?

I just set up my enclosure with my two emperor scorpions. The cage is plastic and is 18in x 12in x 7 in. I have coconut fiber as substrate with some bark for emperor scorpions on top. They have been feeding and drinking normally, they are active, and have a healthy appearance. I have the humidity at about 82% but I am having trouble getting the heat up past 70. I read online and decided to use a zoo med repti therm mini on the outside wall of the enclosure but the heat difference seems very little. I feel like the temperature should be closer to 80 but my scorpion has not shown any signs of it being too cold. He moves back and forth from the heating pad to cooler areas, and I know that for reptiles and invertebrates this is normal because they have ti regulate their body temp. Sorry about the long paragraph, but I am a huge animal love but have very little experience with these animals and want to make sure I give them the perfect conditions. Does anyone have any comments on the heat situation?

Also, one of my scorpions has white sacs appearing in between her/his segments. It is still eating but seems unusually aggressive, does this mean it may be pregnant?

Hey there

Be careful when using heat mats on plastic containers- you may melt it!
Can you take a picture of the enclosure and the setup? Pictures of the scorpions would be nice too so we can have a better idea if they're adults or not and if they're molting, fat, or gravid.

As for the heat, you can invest in a heat lamp (Fluker's heat lamp) and an infrared heat bulb (R-zilla infrared heat bulb). Place it at a distance from the container so you don't melt anything and you should be getting a good source of heat. What size is your container? That will determine the wattage on the bulb.

Pics will help a lot, so hopefully we can see some.

Thanks,

I'll work on getting some pics up of them. The repti therm heat mat series instructed me not to use it on plastic containers unless I had the "mini" version, which I do. It is the only one that has a low enough wattage for plastic.

i have a heatmat on my flatrock scorpion which is in a Exoterra plastic container, but as its not a big container i have a fairplay small heatmat, seems to work fine, but yeah just make sure you dont use a hearmat the wrong size, if its too big could work out wrong, it should be fine though

I'm having trouble getting my pics up. Can anyone help?

here they are

my smaller scorpion. Pregnant?

dimensions are 17in x 12in x 7 in. about 2-3in of damp coconut fiber with bark on top. heat pad and temp/humidity gauge in right corner with water dish on opposite side. Like I said, They are both active and are eating but I am still worried that it should be warmer. humidity is currently 85 and temp is 71. There is also a lid that I did not include in the pics.

Hi there. Looking good, nice setup. Someone more experienced with these will help you out soon but heres my thoughts. Maybe the problem with heating is the amount of ventilation in those types of tanks. I'v read people use a towel to cover the top to raise temp and humidity.
I also read that when an emporer reaches maturity its stinger becomes a dark red. Going by the pics the one on your hand is mature and the other pregnant (gravid) looking one I guess is in pre-moult because the stinger is still a creamy white.

Anyone correct me if im wrong

Thanks

I'll try covering it up and if that doesn't work ill move to a infrared bulb. They are both active and move between the heated area and the cooler area so I am fairly certain that they are comfortable.

Also is it bad to keep a black light on for extended periods of time?

That fat looking emp is in premolt, so watch for that soon

yea I'm about to separate them. whats your advice for molting scorpions and have you had any experience with infrared lights?

For molting scorpions it's suggested to raise the temperature and the humidity to assist them in the molting process.

I've been using infrared bulbs over the years and they have been working great. They provide the heat I need consistently and don't cost that much either.
I buy the Fluker's clamp lamp at my local Petco and an infrared heat bulb to go with it. Depending on how large your enclosure is, you have to find out what wattage for the bulb will be. For my 10 gallon tank, I used a 60 or 75w bulb and it worked fine.

My temperature is about 82 now and the humidity is around 80. Ive finally got this thing leveled out for them. The tank I have has a divider so as soon as she starts to molt i'll separate them and add a ceramic heater to the other side. Thanks for the help. I'll probably have more questions when she starts molting.

Thanks

no problem

how'd u manage to raise the temperature?
82 is a great number for them

I did two things actually so I'm not sure which one worked but I moved the thermometer closer to the heat pad so the temp in that area is 82 and the rest of the cage is about 75. I also laid a shirt over the top of the cage to help trap the heat in.

my humidity for some reason went down to 67 so i'm just going to spray the coconut fiber tonight and it should go back up.

ya your gauges should be in the lower part of the middle of the tank close to where the scorps would be giving you an average temp and humidity..... the shirt will help hold in the heat and humidity... the only other thing I would say you might want to do is add more substrate but seeing as how your tank is only 7" deep thats kind of hard.... emp's like to burrow and 4-6" of substrate is recommended so when you can you might want to get them a bigger/deeper viv

yea I'm limited on what kind of cage I can have. There is about 2.5in of substrate right now so that should be enough for now right? Also, does the whole cage have to be around 80 degrees F
because only a certain area of my tank is at that temp. About 25% of it is at 85 then the rest is like 75.



Here are the exact specifications:
17in long
12in wide
7 in tall
one corner of the cage is heated to 85 degrees F while the rest of it is at about 75.
humidity is universal and is about 80.
2.5in of substrate with a layer of bark.
2 items to burrow under
water dish on opposite side of heated area.
They are in darkness from about 11 to 5-6, and receive any residual light from my room during the day. there is no direct light on them.

The scorpions are both very active. They eat and move from warmer to cooler areas of the cage throughout the day.

Basically what I want to know is will my scorpions be okay with this setup for a while or do I need to change it now?