Consulting for a friend

Hey all, a friend of mine is about to become a first time scorp owner and he's an avid fan of the P. Imperator. What he plans on doing is buying a 150 gallon tank and putting 8 or so scorps in it. My question is, is a tank of that size necessary? It could save him quite a deal of money if there was a more optimal sized tank for this number of scorps. He know full well what to put in as far as hides, substrates, and knows how to handle the heating, my only concern is that he's going too big on tank size. Is there a better suited size of tank for the 8 Emps he plans to get? A tank that size would be extremely hard to keep humid and hot, as well...
Thanks in advance for any that answer!

Lili-Ti

Also, he plans to use heat pads under two ends of the tank (leaving the middle un-heated and a cooler spot) as heating. I've heard pads under the tank can be a very bad thing and essentially roast your scorps. Should I advise him for heat lamps or is leaving a good portion of the center of the tank cool enough so that they won't scorch?

Necessary? Haha, is it necessary to even own a Scorpion?! For 8 Scorpions I'd say he could get a 40 - 50 Gallon. I also have a 150 that I'm working on getting up but with Lychas Mucronatus even though I originally planned on filling it with about 30 P. Imps.

It will be a bit costly to get the tank running, but after that, assuming he takes proper maintenance, it'll be quite inexpensive. Only a few bucks on food and filtered water.

It is frowned upon to place heat pads under the tank, in my experience though, most people will claim it'll 'cook' your Scorps, but I've never seen a heat pad actually get that hot. I personally believe he will get better results with a Heat Lamp.

Heed my warning, P. Imps are 'pet holes.' If he succeeds on getting a perfect or suitable environment they will spend about 90% of their lives hidden. That is my reason for switching my population over to the Lychas Mucronatus. I have owned P. Imps before and even raised broods, I love them, but for something in a 150, I didn't want to constantly have an 'empty' enclosure full of dirt and rocks. Feeding for P. Imps isn't as exciting as some other species he can have communally too.

Hope I helped, it's always exciting when you drop newcomers into their new homes. I sat in front of my tank and watched them for days.

Heat lamps over heat mats. He will also see his scorpions more often with lamps.

When I'm on the computer around 12-1am I'll usually glance over to my Emps den and see them roaming around. Without the lamp, I would never notice.

Emperors burrow to evade heat, among other reasons. If the ground is warm, there will be no where for them to burrow. Causing them to search out a new, probably occupied, hide. And in return, unneeded stress on the scorpion.

Thank you both so much! I figured lamps would be over heat pads for quite a few reasons. lol I'll tell him all of this right away. He's going to appreciate it so much, and so do I because as soon as I get my mother over the fear of the scorpion getting out, I am getting myself a scorp as well. One smaller question though, another good starter I've heard is the Asian Forest Scorpion. I know very little about them other than that they are dead ringers for Emps. Are they any more active or have any more extraneous needs?

The "Asian Forest Scorpion" you are refering to are the Heterometrus spp. for example H. laoticus, H.spinifer, H. longimanus, H. scaber etc.

They are awesome looking species, however they are said to be far more aggresive than P. imperator, but i personally think its more an individual question, my Emp ive named "Psyco", far more angry than any of my other scorps.

Care is basically the same for both Pandius imperator and the Heterometrus spp.

Oh okay, I was just curious as to some of the differences between the two. And I'm terrible with the scientific names of the scorps, so apologies for that. I'll get them eventually. XD Thank you though!!

Heat lamps also put out more heat per wattage than heat tape/pads plus you can get nifty bulbs for em like moonlight bulbs if you want to be creative.

Lamps over mats any day. Mats are incredibly unreliable, well, the ones I've had have been, and they won't reach the desired temperature for a large enclosure. I use Exo Terra Moon Glo bulbs, they give out this purple light which looks cool, and has the same effect as a UV bulb (albeit not as powerful), making your scorps appear green, unlike UV bulbs though exposure to the bulb doesn't harm the scorp, as they don't give off any UV.

Will3 wrote:

They are awesome looking species, however they are said to be far more aggresive than P. imperator, but i personally think its more an individual question, my Emp ive named "Psyco", far more angry than any of my other scorps.

This is the case with me too. My emp is a lunatic. While my, supposedly more aggressive H. Spini, is rather docile. However they both have a serious problem with spoons. Just the sight of one and they get infuriated.

Like this.

Chrome wrote:

Heat lamps also put out more heat per wattage than heat tape/pads plus you can get nifty bulbs for em like moonlight bulbs if you want to be creative.

@ billy lol

i agree with all of the above except the heating elements...
i dont use any heating elemets at all n either of my tanks and they stay at a constant 77-79 degrees Fahrenheit.

unless you live in an area that has very cold weather, just find the warmest corner away from an air conditioner/cooling vent and they will thrive fine.

mine sit in my closet all day, in the dark, with a fan clear across the room that never blows in the area the tanks are in