false bottom for SMP

false bottom set up for the Scorpio maurus palmatus? Do you have ideas?

thanks!

You really don't need a false bottom. Since its a desert species and the species likes to burrow. They need to have low humidity.

+1 I think too much humidity would be detrimental to a Scorpio maurus. I'd say you only needed to do that if breeding or raising young for the moulting.

JamieLawrence wrote:

+1 I think too much humidity would be detrimental to a Scorpio maurus. I'd say you only needed to do that if breeding or raising young for the moulting.

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+2 you really dont need it, as said above they are desert species and only need about 55% humidity

I agree that for an adult they will do fine without a false bottom but then again you could have a go at experimenting with one. Humidity levels at the bottom of some arid and desert species of scorpion burrows can reach 70%, when at the entrance and above ground humidity is very low. Although for SMP they probably only experience humidity levels as high as this during the wet season the bottom of the burrow will still maintain a higher humidity than above ground throughout the year.
You could experiment and try and replicate this using a false bottom for SMP by keeping the bottom wet for the cooler/wetter winter months and then allowing it to mostly dry out during the hotter/dryer summer months.
For this to work you are going to need to provide as deep a burrowing substrate as you can so that when your SMP creates a burrow it will be long enough to have some variation between the humidity at the bottom and at the entrance. I would also recommend using an infra red heat bulb/spot light above the enclosure rather than a heat mat as this will replicate better the hot desert sun and will keep the surface bone dry.

I am having a go at this idea with my 2 O. glabrifrons. It has been setup for a few weeks and all is going well at the moment. My big worry though is the risk of them getting mycosis if the false bottom is too wet. Will just have to see how it goes over the next few months.

Anyway, just an idea. If you want to keep it simple and worry free and your not planning on breeding or raising juveniles then I wouldn't bother with it.

Here's a link to a good write up on SMP. The guy uses false bottom enclosures for his and the page also includes climate data for SMP.
http://www.schorpioenenforum.nl/index.php?topic=151.0

thanks a lot guys for your help!!!!

guys I have another question about smp. how long the lifespan of smp?

Apparently they take 2 - 3 years to reach maturity and then should live for at least 3 years after that. This species is quite famous for not lasting more than a year in captivity though.
Reasons are as yet unknown but it is thought either that the adult specimens collected are already quite old or that most people do not provide the proper environmental conditions for them to survive long term. This second reason is not necessarily their fault though. The standard method for keeping this species i.e. hot and dry does work (at least maybe for a while) but personally I think more research/ experimentation needs to done on the humdity levels SMP would experience in the wild. That is why I am so pro false bottom lol. The more people play about with different setups the more likely we are to be able to breed and raise juveniles succesfully and find out if humidity is the key to allowing more adults to last longer in captivity.
Just my opinion though.