Thinking of starting a breeding colony

okay so at the moment I have one adult male emperor and one sub-adult female in a ten gallon tank, heating it is a 75w IR bulb and coco fiber for burrowing





Now I also have a tank and screen top from a ball python I used to own, it's dimenisons are 3ft long by 1.5ft wide and 1.5ft tall... how well do you think it would serve as the colony tank, and would it be too big to move my current 2 emperors into?


my male Venom


my female Carnage, she's the one not face down in the dirt, lol

Are you going to add more to the colony tank? Otherwise your 10 is great for 2. Glad you got another!

Yeah I'm hoping to get one or 2 more before i move them all into the big tank, I know if I get all females for a 3 to 1 ratio i'll get more scorplings, but I don't know. any helpful ideas?

Yup, it's much better to get more females than males. So 1 male to 3 females is good

alrighty then, geuss I just gotta get working on cleaning and setting up the new tank and then try and get the colony off the ground, thxs for the help H.

No problem. You will have a blast setting up that large tank, I'll bet
What kind of decor will you be placing in there? Any live plants? I can help in that area.

I don't think i'll be doing any live plants for now, as winters coming up and my room is generally pretty dark all day from the curtains, prolly some half logs, fake skull, branchs, rock and water bowl, don't know what else depends on space, lol. Yea should be a fun project after I get it cleaned up, think my bulb from the current set up would work to heat it properly? 75w's should do it iI think but if not I have a crappy heat mat that should help a little.

Hey, I noticed you're in Wisconsin. You should talk with iitomodachi1 and view his thread: https://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/breeding-reports-f19/again-t5462-15.htm#63823
He's also from there and has recently had his hands full of baby scorps. He can't raise them all, so I'd ask him for some scorps

A 75W may work in that tank, but it's a pretty big enclosure, so you may need a larger one.

I currently have 2 emps in my tank and it's a 40 gallon breeder which is the specs you listed... I have a false bottom an 6" of coco fiber.. I plan on increasing my colony up to 10-12 adult emps. I just haven't been able to get any more adults yet the local shops only have sub adults so far....I'm heating my tank with a 100 watt bulb and a undertank heater on the side of the tank.. it's the small undertank heater....I also have a solid glass top with the rear plastic filler panel which I have drilled holes in... the tank is to the exact recommended humidity and temp.. and I haven't had to add water in over a month...

I have posted pics of my setup on here but I'm going to be redecorating it later tonight or tomorrow and will post pics again after It's done... fell free to ask any questions about my setup.. I will answer all I can...

H. laoticus wrote:

Hey, I noticed you're in Wisconsin. You should talk with iitomodachi1 and view his thread: https://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/breeding-reports-f19/again-t5462-15.htm#63823
He's also from there and has recently had his hands full of baby scorps. He can't raise them all, so I'd ask him for some scorps

A 75W may work in that tank, but it's a pretty big enclosure, so you may need a larger one.

Yup we talked Thanks for looking out though Bro.

Jim - offer still stands - it is only a matter of time before the addiction sets in.... Muhahaha! I just pulled another 46 scorplings out of my other females enclosure! Currently sitting on about 64 although 5 are spoken for.

Either way, I look forward to seeing pix of the big tank all set up!

Thanks drac i'd love to see pics to get an idea... and thxs again shawn I just don't have any tank space at the moment, lol it's why i'm working on the big tank , also thinking about adding a divier to it so I can just put gravid females on the other side to give birth without having to put up another tank, think that would work out?

Well, not to push Jim but you don't need tank space for over 6 months easy I'd say These guys are little and are living in condiment containers at the moment with room to spare. I'm up to 64 of those little guys now and another 45 Hottentotta Trilineatus scorplings too, this is absolutely crazy!!

Divider sounds good but in my opinion it is a little wasted tank space, I'd recomend finding a kritter keeper or something to house a gravid fem temporarily. I would problaby just make something out of a sterilite tub. Cut up the top and use a hot glue gun to put some screen on. If you need a hand on how to do any of that stuff let me know, it's quick and easy. If you were to stop by to pick up some scorplings, bring a sterilite container with and I'll help you whip something up. I've got a big roll of screen, a glue gun and all that fun stuff. Just thought I'd offer. I actually love going out to Lowes or whatever digging up materials for stuff like that and coming up with new ideas to build stuff!

No problem, iitomodachi1

Hey silentjim, you can always convert that large tank into multiple tanks with dividers. There's a couple of threads on this forum with people who have done it. If you're interested I can find them for you.

Yikes, I just reread my post and have to clarify that dividers are a great idea unless one will sit vacant waiting only for a gravid scorp. If you want to see a great tutorial on dividers check out the most recent Parabuthus Transvaalicus thread. It might have been GS's post, sorry if I'm off on that but it is in that thread for sure.

well I tried to take a pic of my tank as it sit's now but for some reason they are all turning out dark.... so I will go see if I can't find one before this decorating I just did....LOL

here is an older pic before the skulls where added to the decor. and before the new stand was built.... I will get a updated pic here soon.. the only one I have right now has the bass to my surround sound sitting in where a second viv is currently at which was the plan when I built the stand...

nice Thanks for all the help so far guys, and yea i'll try and look up that post right now. , with using silicone to seal it would it really matter if i use a bathroom household one instead of the aquaiurm stuff for the scorpions?