Bonnie and her viv- some advice on size and setting up please!

I'm brand new to owning scorpions- I've put an introduction post but I'll give a little info here. I'm 22 years old and am a dog grooming stylist. I have a house rabbit, a chile rose tarantula and 3 blue tongued skinks, and just got Bonnie, my tanzanian red claw.

She's very nervous and quite angry at the moment because I travelled with her from Wales to London, and I have had her two days.

She hasn't eaten yet but I understand this is quite normal for the first week? I'm really new to owning arachnids.

Here she is! Gorgeous girly (I say girl but I have no idea, but I think she's dainty so she's a girl for now )

Just want a bit of advice. Currently she's in a viv about 2.5 foot by a foot and whilst the scorpion seller assured me this was more than big enough, having had a look at your guys amazing vivs I am thinking when she grows a bit I might need to get her a larger viv. He didn't seem to know at all what he was talking about and initially tried to sell me a scorpion who had a large bulge on one side of his body and didn't seem very active. I felt terrible about not taking him but Bonnie seemed a lot more alert and raised her pedipalps in defense if she was startled, and was very active and shiny.


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I've given her a heavy waterbowl dug into the substrate (spiderlife), with a bit of sponge, and she has got a hidey cave with some fake greenery and a little fake plant. I hope this is good enough for now but like I said I am wondering whether she needs a bigger, more exciting viv? I have also increased the substrate depth since this last photo.


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Her temperature atm is 26 celcius and her humidity is at 82%. I think her temp should be higher? Is this okay or do I need to alter it?

How long do I need to wait before worrying if she doesn't eat? At the moment she seems scared of her food and runs away with her pedipalps in the air. I am trying her on silent crickets, 3rd hoppers and also tried her on a very small cockroach.


Thanks for any advice and info! I really want to learn as much about her as I possibly can and give her the best life possible. I can't get enough of looking at her at the moment.

Jen

i'm guessing the temp is in Fahrenheit so yeah that is a bit cool for an african species. try raising it to 95 degrees F or depending on climate conditions, at one side or as a basking spot. get rid of the sponge, fill it water and just place some stones inside the drinking bowl to avoid drowning. i'm seeing a screen side so you might want to increase the humidity up to 105 or more depending on the climate. as for food, if it's hungry it will eat. if not, it can go for weeks or even months without food, given there's drinking water. reduce the cricket to 2 as a lot of feeders running around can stress out a scorpion.

Thanks for the reply!

I accidentally wrote the temp wrong. It is 25 celcius, so that's about 77 farenheit. Stupid me lol! I've edited it now.

To increase humidity- do I moisten the substrate a bit more or mist the viv? Sorry if that's a stupid question haha!

Does that size viv seem okay?

Thanks for that I will get some 2s tomorrow and try her with them!

Jen

26 Celsius is a good colder side temp, try getting the other side hotter to about 30-32 then the scorpion can choose the most comfy temp. Leave her for a few days without food so she can adjust to her new surroundings and you
only need to start worrying about food when she starts to lose condition e.g thin and lethargic.

Thanks shadowfoot- I'm gonna move the thermometer and hygrometer to the other side to see the gradient and hopefully this is just the cooler side.

Why does a drinking bowl with stones in it be more beneficial/safer than a sponge? What stones can I use? Any pebbles from outside as long as I sterilise them? How deep does it have to be for her to drown? Would she like to bathe? Whats the reason for this?

Apologies for all the questions but there is so little info on the internet for owning scorpions and I want to get my advice from more experienced people like you guys!

Jen

you have a screen side so i'd go for moistening the half side of the substrate or you could try putting a false bottom setup. the viv looks nice to me.

they cant really suck up the water in a sponge. the stones are so your scorp can push itself out if ever she goes inside the slippery water bowl. fill it halfway thru with any clean stone or pebbles.

P. cavimanus need less humidity than emperors I think your eclosure can use a little more dry peat to lower the humidity. Looks like you need a few more inches of substrate anyways.

her viv does have a screen side making ventilation and drying out easier

The screen is important for good air flow. It will help prevent mold from growing in the substrate. It takes a bit to get it just right. I pour water in the corners and the you can mist the top. Not really sure why that worked better than when I would pour it all over the top. Can always add water if you need, much harder to take it away. A sponge in the water dish is one of the tips that won't go away...bacteria will grow like crazy in the sponge. Small pebbles in the dish work great. If you get them outside just rinse them well (no soap) and bake them in the oven to sterilize them...aquarium stones work too...just something to help it crawl out. The decorations in the enclosure set up looks great.

Okay so I am looking to make the humidity a little higher? Or dryer for her species?

Stones are on the to-get list. I work inside a pet store so I will buy some aquarium pebbles I think when I am next in. Or if I find some nice stones outside I'll get those, and change her water bowl around.

Bigger waterbowl would you say? Hers is about the size of a tea light holder.

Jen

Offering water is fine it’s just that these come from a more dry region when compared to P.imperator I would just add a little more of your substrate but dried not moist and have it cover maybe 1/3 of the floor space.

Thanks I will do .

Tried to feed her again last night but again she was just too scared and started scrabbling at the side of the viv.

So I left the hopper in there overnight (I disabled it's hind legs...not sure if that's the right thing to do or not) and am gonna check it this afternoon and see if it's gone. Don't wanna disturb her if she's halfway through eating it (fingers crossed!!)

Also! Exciting. Right now the scorps are on top of the skink viv (which is over 5 ft long!) and so they are getting their heat from that at the moment. I need to get them a heat mat. But we have bought a new cabinet for the scorps and the tarantula so will post pics once we build it today and they are all set up properly! It was £135 down to £20 and is gorgeous wood!

Jen

Plus- that screen side thing- Bonnie scrambles up to it and sidewinds along it. It's very odd. Why does she do that? Can she get her little toes caught in it? I'm worried she might get stuck and damage herself.

Jen

It's okay for her to climb on the screen...sounds like she's exploring. Enjoy the show! With desert species you might see climbing behavior to get away from wet substrate. P. Cavs are forest scorpions and like some moisture. Abyss' suggestion of having 1/3 dry substrate is spot on...you provide a gradient of conditions...warm/moist/humid side and a dry/slightly cooler side. Your enclosure set up is good. A scorpion's exoskeleton is like battle armor...very unlikely to get hurt in the screen. I had an Emp that would hang from and climb around the screen lid like it was doing chin ups. The main thing you should worry about is what species you are going to get next

Oh wow haha! That sounds amazing to see. Thanks I'll stop worrying when I see her up there now!

Okay so I'm looking to do 1/3 dry substrate on one side, 2/3 moist on the other and with the heat mat under the moist side? Sorry to ask seemingly stupid questions, I just want to be sure!

Hahaa noo don't put ideas in my head! I have to stop myself otherwise I'd end up with a zoo!

Jen

Never put a heat pad under. scorpions burrow to escape heat, and if your P. cavimanus gets hot, the deeper he burrows, the hotter he will get causing him to dig until he is cooked. I don't know if that has ever happened, but it should always be placed on the sides.

Ah!! I did read that. Okay no heat mat under. See, I am such a novice at the moment. FYI they dont have heat pads at the moment-they are in a warm room with the large (very radiating) skink viv lol. But I will make sure I will put the heat mat on the side.

Just explain something for me though- if the heat mat is covering only 1/3 or 1/2 of the viv, to provide and cooler and warmer side, if the scorpion is hot then surely he would move to the cooler side? Hence the idea of a heat gradient? Or do scorpions not do this?

Jen

These are good questions Jen...you want to have it set up right, so ask anything. Put the heat pad on the moist end. This creates the heat/moisture gradient. They are cold blooded so they move as needed to meet their best condition. You provide the variety in choices and it will settle in. Shredder is right that a scorpion can get burned or die from a mat on the bottom. It is instinct to burrow to get away from heat. Once you have the enclosure set up, watch over a week to see where she hangs out.

Thanks so much. Phew I am so glad I found this forum. My bf thinks I'm so funny cos I spend so much time on here now, he finds it sweet I'm so obsessed with her. He's a lot more arachnid savvy than I am though!! But we are both pretty new to scorpions because, especially around here I think they are a quite a rare pet to own. I certainly don't know Anyone else with one.
I really appreciate all the help you guys are giving me. Ill do all that and hopefully ill have it just right! I have quite a few more questions though until I'm satisfied with her viv set up, mostly regarding lighting and heating but for the moment ill just try and get the heat and moisture gradient right!
My bf managed to get a picture of her pectines last night. She was having a waddle round her viv and did the scrabbly thing at the side and so he took a close-up picture. Her pectines look very small so I think she must be female but ill post a pic when I get home and hopefully you guys can take a look and give me ur more experienced opinion! :-)

Jen

~Abyss~ wrote:

P. cavimanus need less humidity than emperors I think your eclosure can use a little more dry peat to lower the humidity. Looks like you need a few more inches of substrate anyways.

~Abyss~ wrote:

Offering water is fine it’s just that these come from a more dry region when compared to P.imperator I would just add a little more of your substrate but dried not moist and have it cover maybe 1/3 of the floor space.

ShredderEmp wrote:

Never put a heat pad under. scorpions burrow to escape heat, and if your P. cavimanus gets hot, the deeper he burrows, the hotter he will get causing him to dig until he is cooked. I don't know if that has ever happened, but it should always be placed on the sides.

Bayss wrote:

These are good questions Jen...you want to have it set up right, so ask anything. Put the heat pad on the moist end. This creates the heat/moisture gradient. They are cold blooded so they move as needed to meet their best condition. You provide the variety in choices and it will settle in. Shredder is right that a scorpion can get burned or die from a mat on the bottom. It is instinct to burrow to get away from heat. Once you have the enclosure set up, watch over a week to see where she hangs out.

Agreed:)

Thanks Shakudo

Jen