How should custom make a burrow for my emp?

I just bought one of those exo terra habitat terraiums for my emp and I wanted to basically carve out a tunnel/burrow for it along the glass so I could see it whenever I wanted.

I have a boat load of coco husk in brick form, a brick of plantation soil (came with kit), and this tropical substrat that contains peat moss and such.

How would I make a tunnel for it and not have it collapse? Would what I have be good enough to hold long term?

Basically look like ant farm if that helps.

I can post a pic of the type of tunnel I had in mind from the terraium show off thread if that helps.

thanks ahead.



EDIt:

I have 2 bulbs that it came with a exo terra 15W daylight Sunglo bulb, it says UVA on it, and I know UV light is bad for the emp, but I am not sure if UVA is the same? Is this bulb safe? It came with the terraium. and the 2nd bulb I have is a 25W night glo version of it is that one safe as well? Will either be enough to keep the temperature up?

Here is an idea. You can take some PVC pipe and cut it down the middle and sand the edges down to meet your needs. After its cut to how you want you can put it next to the glass and cover it with dirt, let some dirt sit at the back end so the scorpion can borrow further but you can still see it.

Using the latest in computer graphics, and CAD programs I have made a picture of what I am talking about, hope it helps.



As far as the lights I would just use the red heat bulb, its perfect for them. As for the night bulb I have heard mixed things but overall I have heard of no actual problems with it. Those two types of bulbs will keep the heat up with no problem, and I would also say to get a timer which helps (but its optional).

What I have been doing for my emps is I used some terracotta pots, knocked out the backs, then I put about an inch of coco fiber down. Next I set the pots in on their sides angled towards the glass, filled half way up with coco fiber, then poured in between 2" - 5" more coco fiber on top of everything. I packed everything down with my hand as best as I could, saturated thoroughly with water, then packed some more.

After all that I started digging at an angle at the dirt behind the hole in the post towards the glass. This starts the emps making something that you might be able to see, then again might not. They tend to do what they want as far as their tunnels go. As far as collapsing, I usually keep the coco fiber pretty moist, only spraying thoroughly and not pouring over their tunnels which takes a bit of time. But the coco fiber seems to compact when it is very moist, which should keep collapses down.

I've even thought about making something similar to what you are thinking about with an ant tunnel like system, but being unable to control where the scorpion digs at has kept me from doing anything.

Thanks guys

I decided to just kinda bury its hide towards the glass so it cane just walk and I can see it and it looks better this way imo, that and I ran out of coco fiber lol

so the day-glo light it came with is a no then? Right now my scorpion is clinging onto the background near the light hes been there all day and night lol moving just a little bit.

My logic is that if the light is bad for them they would try to hide from it right? With both lights hes been staying around the same area on the background lol

Do they make 15-25w infrared bulbs? Do i get a heat version of it? Will it do a good job keeping heat and humidity up? My temp is sitting around 80 and my humidity is around 50 and rising cause I just swapped bulbs from night to day and did a light misting.

The problem with the day bulbs is that the light is direct, but the ambient sunlight (not direct) is fine for them because they have the membrane that goes over their eyes.

As for the infrared bulbs I use 60-75w in my 10 gallon and they seem to work just fine for heat and humidity. Also, don't bother misting and throw the hygrometer out and just dump some water on the substrate once a week so its damp. That is the best method for humidity and i heard that info from my exotic pet people and this site.

art.greig wrote:

The problem with the day bulbs is that the light is direct, but the ambient sunlight (not direct) is fine for them because they have the membrane that goes over their eyes.

As for the infrared bulbs I use 60-75w in my 10 gallon and they seem to work just fine for heat and humidity. Also, don't bother misting and throw the hygrometer out and just dump some water on the substrate once a week so its damp. That is the best method for humidity and i heard that info from my exotic pet people and this site.

So should I just turn off my day-glo bulb then? or just swap it with the night-glo one for right now? For the exo-terra setup the warning says nothing larger then a 25W bulb should be going into this lamp its not a large setup 12x12x12

Roblicious wrote:

art.greig wrote:

The problem with the day bulbs is that the light is direct, but the ambient sunlight (not direct) is fine for them because they have the membrane that goes over their eyes.

As for the infrared bulbs I use 60-75w in my 10 gallon and they seem to work just fine for heat and humidity. Also, don't bother misting and throw the hygrometer out and just dump some water on the substrate once a week so its damp. That is the best method for humidity and i heard that info from my exotic pet people and this site.

So should I just turn off my day-glo bulb then? or just swap it with the night-glo one for right now? For the exo-terra setup the warning says nothing larger then a 25W bulb should be going into this lamp its not a large setup 12x12x12

If that's what it says i would stay with the 25w, I would say you are fine using the night-glo for now.

bleh that makes me a little upset cause the setup came with the day glo one and this enclosure is for the emp lol

well the little guy is sitting under the light right now unless he retarded and dono its not good for him lol


EDIT:
Should I combo the night-glo with a heat pad on the side of the enclosure?

Well their brain is just a jumble of nerves so it is rather primitive. On the other hand it will sit under any light if it needs the warmth a bulb swap will do the trick. You could sell the other bulb haha.

wonder if they make infrared in 25w? all i can find is 50

I'm sure 50w should be fine, I would call the company or do a google search just to make sure.

I just bought a 50w infrared heating bulb, i just need to get a socket for it now lol