An open topic/conversation on captivity care for scorpions

It won't hurt anything to wait, and, warmer weather should help with drying. Does it ever actually get warm in the UK? It's never been warm when I've been there.

Even if you construct your new tank next to your current Haddy tank, it shouldn't stress him too much. It'll be 5 minutes of tamping damp sand followed by 3 or 4 days of drying under a heat lamp (or two). Then another 5 minutes tamping sand followed by drying. And so on, until you reach the depth you desire. If you construct your new tank in a different room, the only stress your Haddy will experience is when he's moved, but I understand that your space is limited. Plus, moving a 70lb tank is no easy task and definitely a job for two people.

it gets warm, its just always wet

Thanks shebeen

I'll set it up and leave it a couple weeks to dry out properly

shebeen wrote:

It won't hurt anything to wait, and, warmer weather should help with drying. Does it ever actually get warm in the UK? It's never been warm when I've been there.

Even if you construct your new tank next to your current Haddy tank, it shouldn't stress him too much. It'll be 5 minutes of tamping damp sand followed by 3 or 4 days of drying under a heat lamp (or two). Then another 5 minutes tamping sand followed by drying. And so on, until you reach the depth you desire. If you construct your new tank in a different room, the only stress your Haddy will experience is when he's moved, but I understand that your space is limited. Plus, moving a 70lb tank is no easy task and definitely a job for two people.

I made my tank in early December, and it's just now dry enough for habitation. I took another bit of advice from Shebeen here, build a raised side, so your Haddy can dig freely.

That's the set up I'm using right now -- just gotta wait for the Haddy.

Sorry not been on in a while, as you can tell I've been busy

This is how I've got my set up done for now, my new Emperor arrived the other day and is settling in to its new home nicely (it seems), my haddy is burrowing away ( fingers X'd i've got the mix right, lol), the scull was a great idea as it gave the haddy an instant hide (and adds to the look of the tank) which encourged it to dig that night and then was gone the next day, dont think I've seen him since, lol, as long as hes happy
There is heat mats on the back of both tanks set up on thermostats.
I've closed off the top of the emeror tank and set up a moon light and off-set it towards the Emperor, this should help maintain the humidity on the Emperor tank and take the chill out of the air around both tanks, it also alows for nocturnal viewing and looks good i just need to close out the sunlight for the emperor which I am goin to do on the outside of the tank leaving the front space in the tank for me to get some good looks at it moving about, as you can see I have made the back of the tank the hide areas and can add more shrubbery throughout the tank as needed.

Thankyou everyone for your time, help, pictures and links.

There was one thing Shebeen,

You mentioned using Isopods or Springtails to help keep the emperor tank clean from carcus remains. I looked into it and am I right in that I could just use woodlice from the garden or do I need to get something a little more specialized?

I think woodlice are fine that's what I used.

Woodlice from your garden are fine. Some people recommend culturing them for a generation or two and using the offspring. But, since your Emperor won't be eating these, I don't think it's really necessary.

I have to say I'm an advocate of either buying captive bred Isopods or breeding them for a generation or two...

If you catch them from outside, there's always the chance that they could be contaminated with pesticides, which may harm your scorp.

And while most scorpions will in general refuse to eat them, I have noticed that my emp will consume one every once in a while.

Thanks guys thats great, I'll see what I can sort out

Scorpion19981000 wrote:

And while most scorpions will in general refuse to eat them, I have noticed that my emp will consume one every once in a while.

I stand corrected. Culturing isopods is also extremely easy. I keep two cultures (orange and grey Porcellio) going just for fun.

I've been looking into getting a Israeli gold scorpion when my haddy and emperor are settled in and have come across that their main food source is a type of desert isopod that eats various plants/greenery that it finds.

I am trying to keep food sources as much the same as possible due the fact I am running out of room, lol.

The haddy and emperor are happy with crickets, would a gold scorp be ok with this food source?

Also am I right in thinking that I couldnt use the desert isopods in the emeror tank because its completely the wrong enviroment and vise versa using isopods from a damp inviroment in the desert tank?

I think you can see where I'm going with all this. How can I / what is the best way to get round these problems without ending up with loads of tanks of different food sources and loads of tanks with diferent types of isopods etc... ?

also what sort of set up do you use to culture your isopods?

Thankyou for all your input

Do your research. Do the desert Iso's look similar to the ones you would use to clean your emps tanks. Desert tanks don't require iso's. So try it out if your Scorpio maurus likes your emps iso's then then feed them.

Every scorpion will eat crickets so maybe use that as your baseline. Or get a suitable roach colony going and feed everyone them.

I do research things Yames and have been doing alot of digging around, I am just the sort of person that likes to bounce things off people to clarify what I have read, not everything you read is correct and this forum is great for info from people like yourself who may have tried it already

they all seem to look the same, slight variations in colour. The desert isopods dig burrows to get away from the heat and get more humidity.

So I am going to for the Porcellio Scaber which seems to be more in the middle, it can cope with dry conditions with not needing as much moisture as the Oniscus Asellus (both breeds are native to the UK) and also it will cope with wet conditions better than the Hemilepistus Reaumuri which resides in desert conditions.

I am thinking that this breed will probable be quite happy in any of my scorp tanks and may be a good food source for my Sorpio Maurus (thanks for the latin name, I'll get used to remem them one day, lol) should I get one.

I also think I could quite happily culture them on the side in a tank with no need for added heat, light etc..

And I will use the crickets as a baseline feed thanks for that

You don't need isopods in a desert enclosure. Isopods are used in tropical enclosures to clean up uneaten food items that attract mites because of the humidity. The conditions in a desert enclosure are too dry to support mites, and, uneaten food, if not removed, typically just dries up.

I also doubt that Porcellio will survive long in a desert enclosure due to the lack of moisture in the substrate. A substrate that's damp enough to support Porcellio is too damp for a desert dwelling scorpion. The desert isopod (Hemilepistus reaumuri) is specially adapted to arid conditions and hibernates 6 months out of the year. It's only found above ground during the rainy season.

Your Scorpio maurus will do fine on a diet of crickets and/or roaches. Save the Porcellios for your Emperor enclosure.

Yeah I guess I wasn't clear but shebeen hit that right on. I thought you would be taking extra iso's out of you emp tank to use exclusively as feeders in your desert. If it works I think it could be a very convenient source of feeders. I haven't tried it so I'm unfortunately no real help in the matter.

No you've all been a big help

They would be a food source for the dryer tanks and a cleaner for the more tropical tanks and I will use crickets for the main food source.

I do like to try to add a variation to their diets, I believe it helps to keep them on their toes with their hunting as it would in the wild and also gives them different types of protein etc... whether it does keep them on their toes is something else but you never know, lol, and I did watch my haddy do a funny dance as a meal worm worked its way under the sand beneath him, he got it as it popped its head up, this was before I remade the tank like shebeen sugested

I welcome any input people have as I am very new to this and theres a lot of little tips and tricks to take in.

Shebeen wrote:

The desert isopod (Hemilepistus reaumuri) is specially adapted to arid conditions and hibernates 6 months out of the year. It's only found above ground during the rainy season.

Where did you find this info shebeen? I got info that says it burrows and gards the entrance while it raises it offspring, but it never said anything about hibernation

shebeen wrote:

robert44 wrote:

I'm curious if anyone thinks scorps "know" when the seasons change if they are kept at constant temp and lighting conditions? For example, would a desert hairy know when it's Winter and want to hibernate if kept warm and on a 12 hour light cycle?

I believe some of my domestic snakes know Winter because they stop eating when it gets cold outside even though it's warm inside. I guess they feel the pressure changes from passing cold fronts??? I wonder if scorps and other inverts can do this as well?

In reptiles, it's called brumation. In arthropods, it called diapause. It's triggered by environmental changes, including photoperiod (day length), barometric pressure, humidity, and temperature. In reptiles, there are also biological triggers that operate independent of environmental conditions. I don't know if scorpions have biological triggers, they're still not well understood in reptiles, but I suspect that they do.

My lazy girl has been sleepin for months. Finally woke up lol

And straight to the net for scorpion updates.

she lurvly Mako

ian.baxter.5494 wrote:

Shebeen wrote:

The desert isopod (Hemilepistus reaumuri) is specially adapted to arid conditions and hibernates 6 months out of the year. It's only found above ground during the rainy season.

Where did you find this info shebeen? I got info that says it burrows and gards the entrance while it raises it offspring, but it never said anything about hibernation

They may not actually hibernate, but they remain underground from Novermber to February. I found this information in "Energy allocation and life history strategy of the desert isopod H. reaumuri".

yeh I got that same info, thanx shebeen I even copied the txt to file like I do a lot for ref lol I've copied a lot of your and others info for easy access, i hope you all dont mind I use it for quick ref guides if need, sometimes pics included.





my new haddy pics from tnight

I had to redo his tank cos i thought it was cavin in on him and had got the mix wrong
he's a good lad puttin up with a novice like me, hes still happy and eating

one thing I did want to ask.. do you feed your haddy through the winter period or alow it to go into diapause (if I got name right) and not re-introduce food till it re-surfaces in the spring time (if it is spring (still getting cycles right in my head))?
I come from more of a uk farming cycle and kinda work on that bases as a building block and expand from that with each individual animal, sorry if i seem a stupid on this sort of thing but my animals are happy and thats wot matters to me and i am learning

I don't feed my Haddy while she's in her winter dormant period (as she is now). I've tried to in the past and the prey just goes uneaten. I stop offering food after a month of no activity.

Shebeen, what kind of heating source do you use for your scorps? I have a Hadrurus arizonensis and want to be sure Im giving her the correct heat source. I dont want to use a light that will harm her.

I use a 75 Watt IR bulb in a Flukers clamp lamp (w/dimmer). Some people use less expensive red tinted "party" bulbs, but I've only used the IR bulbs. As long as the light produced is in the red spectrum, it won't harm your scorpions.

OK great. Thank you!!