Some Help with substrate for H. Arizonesis

I have a H. Arizonesis i know there a major burrowing species i currently have him in some Reptisand from pet store but it is terrible for burrowing dosent compact unless soaked which i know is very very bad for this species so since its dry all he does is shift it about in piles. Ive read some care sheets online but i would prefer to hear from people that have this species rather than some poorley written caresheet online, I was wondering what some other members use for this species mixes ect, that works best for compacting for burrowing. Hes my favorite scorp and i want him to be happy as possible.

i dont have this species but i have learned alot about this subject.

get some excavator clay and mix it with some sand.
some people have good outcomes with a 20% clay to 80% sand mix and some like the clay at 30% and sand 70%.

your gonna have to get it all moistened up and let it dry out before you put your buddy back in there though.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3039698

i have two of these guy i use about 25 percent excavator clay to 75 percent childs play sand dampen it down dont soak it through then compact it down in your tank and let it dryout for a week or two

+1 shanos i totally forgot probably one of the most crucial parts,packing it down.

yep excavator clay/sand is what you need i did ours 80/20 mix does take a while to dry out though i found a hairdryer and airing cupboard helps, layer it up a few inches at a time pushing it down to compact it, you can even dry out the sections as you build it up a bit we did and it took about a week to dry out completely after finishing the design... and our was a good 9" deep in parts

this is what our old setup was like, before we got worried and dug her out after not seeing her for 5 months lol

Haddy tank:

+1 25/75 clay/sand and working in layers. The deeper the substrate, the better. These guys will start tunnels from
just about every scrape, so I try to embed the hides into the substrate as I build it up, then come back with a spoon
and make the scrapes. You should expect the drying to take two weeks.

Thanks guys! its pretty clear i need exavator clay, any suggestions where i can get this and how much it will cost

you can get some at your local specialty pet store and petsmart has it. $16
some people use clay that youd use for pottery,looks nice and white.


https://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/t4692-hadrurus-arizonensis-substrate
the very last post is another alternative.

I've been buying my excavator clay of ebay because none of my local pet shops stock it. Have a look, maybe a little more expensive with the postage but it's easier.

yeah try ebay jamie theres a site called swell reptiles that sell it in the uk dont know if its cheper then wereu get it from mate but worth a look i suppose lol

ooo a couple of quid cheaper, nice one matey. May work out similar with postage though, not sure.

yeah i normally order somethin else with it so its worth it lol but glad i could help u out mate

I forgot to add that your tank will be quite heavy. Dry packed sand weighs around 13lbs/gal.

shebeen wrote:

I forgot to add that your tank will be quite heavy. Dry packed sand weighs around 13lbs/gal.

oh god yeah thats a good point lol ours was mega heavy and our scorpion maurus tanks are heavy lumps too even though they are small in comparison to our larger tanks lol... would suggest you fill it in the position you are going to be keeping it lol

I got this all natural air drying clay from craft store its the same type of stuff used to used in middle school, i hope its good ive chopped it into pieces and its sitting out to dry till its gets that crumbling texture then i was going to mix it 20% clay, 10% repitsand for color, and 70% play sand. do you think this will work right, do you think the all natural modeling clay is safe?

As long as it's not oil based clay it should be alright. Is it paper clay, or earth clay?

im not sure its Amaco Air Dry Modeling Clay says its AP non toxic but not if its oil based

I wouldn't use that stuff. It dries into a sort of plastic consistency. You want pottery clay like this.

Get some bentonite if you cant find natural clay.

Ex clay all the way!

you might laugh when I say this, but I use odourless cat s hitgrains. I add them to a sift and poor water over it, which takes away some bentonite and leaves in the cup beneath a greyish liquid.

I mix that with ordinary sand and when that dries up its rockhard, but not too hard. They can dig into it, leaving almost stonelike burrows.

I like it, but ofcourse excavator clay has the same effect. I just like to use cat shi t grains.
Where's my pink?

Excellent money saving advice mate!

Its a poor mans exc clay :-) Have pity please Jamie

pluto wrote:

you might laugh when I say this, but I use odourless cat s hitgrains. I add them to a sift and poor water over it, which takes away some bentonite and leaves in the cup beneath a greyish liquid.

...

I like it, but ofcourse excavator clay has the same effect. I just like to use cat shi t grains.
Where's my pink?

dont do that^ its a breach of the anti swearing rules because you are avoiding the swear filters.
BEX! tell 'im off!



i used black sand mixed with excavator clay so you can actually see the scorp easily without putting it on an incorrect substrate, although the substrate was also mixed with cocofibre and gravel... seemed to work well... i think the ingredients were:
50% black sand
30% ex clay
10% cocofibre (dry)
10% gravel
that makes it 100% i think, perhaps 1% dead crickets.... oh and the gun cabinet keys were in there too... its not such an exact science...

Gun cabinet keys are crucial to the survival of fossorial scorpions from xeric reqions. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!