Got an emp!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjMdioiifrY

...No, not that kind! Thank FSM my computer still works.

Anyway, I got myself an emperor scorpion. I've had the tank set up for a while as I've been prepping for one, but finally got around to picking one up. I got it at the same place that I got my BP, seeing as their care is unbelievably great.

I have 3 inches of sanitary potting soil as a burrow-able substrate, with a smidge of cypress at the top to make things look aesthetic. I have him housed (alone) in a 5 gallon aquarium that I refurbished just for this purpose, with a custom plexiglass lid (w/ a humidity slider I installed over the vent) that I made. I've got the original aquarium hood, that I outfitted with a 15 watt fluorescent black light. I've got a small heat mat on the back of the tank (outside) which is also blacked out with some stick on star-paper I found laying around. I made his hide out of an old corner-dish my brother used for his geckos and frogs, which I promptly took a hacksaw to allow entry. There are some pieces of balsa wood in there, as well as a water dish with stones at the bottom to prevent drowning. Humidity is maintained at 50-60%, and the temperature gradient ranges from 75-90.

Whoo-boy. Did I cover everything?

Now, here are pics, for all your viewing pleasures.

Empty tank
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/5088/1000848x.jpg
Tank in use
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1323/1000860o.jpg
My cricket house
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5696/1000861s.jpg
Caught him drinking shortly after introducing him to the house
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/9421/1000855r.jpg
In his hide
http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/9910/1000857j.jpg
Attacking the camera!
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1740/1000859t.jpg

Congrats on the new addition! He looks great :D you're doing everything well, though in my experience supplemental heating is really unnecessary, and he'll do perfectly fine at room temperature.

Make sure you keep us updated with pics of him! There aren't too many members on here with scorps.

Looks like a great setup for him. I currently deal with two emp's at the pet store I am working at. They are definitely interesting! Congrats on the addition.

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Originally Posted by Alexandra V

Congrats on the new addition! He looks great :D you're doing everything well, though in my experience supplemental heating is really unnecessary, and he'll do perfectly fine at room temperature.

Make sure you keep us updated with pics of him! There aren't too many members on here with scorps.

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Really? I thought the whole idea with ectotherms is that they can't produce their own body heat, and therefore require an external source. Regardless, I live in Minnesota, and room temperature gets pretty darn cold. It's like 65 in my bedroom in the day. Night temps are what? About 60?

May I ask why it's unnecessary with scorpions, specifically? I'm curious, that's all.

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Originally Posted by Hydrolicious

Really? I thought the whole idea with ectotherms is that they can't produce their own body heat, and therefore require an external source. Regardless, I live in Minnesota, and room temperature gets pretty darn cold. It's like 65 in my bedroom in the day. Night temps are what? About 60?

May I ask why it's unnecessary with scorpions, specifically? I'm curious, that's all.

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They are ectotherms but but most scorpions, tarantulas and invertebrates (with the exceptions of a few select species) are fine at regular room temperatures about 68 - 78 F. That's how I keep all my T's and my good friend keeps his scorps the same. Generally if you're comfortable at the temperature of the room then your inverts will be too.

I don't know the specific science behind it all, but inverts have been found to not even really need a heat gradient like reptiles do, even though they don't generate their own body heat. They just seem to be very good at adjusting their metabolisms and activity levels to suit the temperatures they are kept at.

Very cool. I recently had my wifes "Hell no! No bugs!" restriction lifted with her soon to be an exwife.
My father was an entomologist and raised many different "bugs" from scorpions to spiders (t's and other), but my favorite were the scarab and rhinoceros beetles he had.
I've been looking at getting a couple forest scorpions like the emporer, Asian forest or a Red claw emp.
Thanks for sharing!

Really? Well then. Thanks for the daily dosage of esoteric knowledge.

I guess I can save a little on my mother's electric bill, lol.

I turned off the heat mat, and the temp is still at about 80 with the UV black light on. Without a doubt, I really don't need it. Thanks for that. It goes to show how a little know-how can go a long way.

Now I just need something to silence those crickets when my music isn't on. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Hydrolicious

I turned off the heat mat, and the temp is still at about 80 with the UV black light on. Without a doubt, I really don't need it. Thanks for that. It goes to show how a little know-how can go a long way.

Now I just need something to silence those crickets when my music isn't on. :rolleyes:

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Haha I got used to the crickets chirping, so used to it that it's going to be hard for me to get to sleep without the little buggers singing away in my closet once I switch to dubias :P They're so cool under black light! Have you seen that yet? They're definitely awesome creatures. :)

Yeah, I have one set up. He glows a real deep blue if you leave it on a while. Otherwise it's a turquoise. It's ghostly...

Oh, that reminds me. How should I feed my crickets? I tried tong feeding him for a few minutes, but he kept pushing the cricket away. Is this normal?

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Originally Posted by Hydrolicious

Yeah, I have one set up. He glows a real deep blue if you leave it on a while. Otherwise it's a turquoise. It's ghostly...

Oh, that reminds me. How should I feed my crickets? I tried tong feeding him for a few minutes, but he kept pushing the cricket away. Is this normal?

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That's awesome!

As for the feeding, how long have you had him? He may be stressed still from relocating. What you could try to do is just drop the cricket in the enclosure and with the tongs or a chopstick just keep herding it back to the scorp until he grabs it, I do that with some of my slow T's, and more often than not it works.

Nice Scorpion! I too will be getting into inverts again now that I'm getting my own place and leaving the uncooperative roommates behind.
P.S. If you want to get rid of chirping crickets, buy medium sized crickets. They don't chirp like the large ones do.

I got him this afternoon. So, he more than likely is stressed. I took those pictures while he was exploring after entering. Other than that, he's been in his hide.

When should I try feeding again? I don't want to overexert himself, but at the same time I don't want to starve him.

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Originally Posted by Hydrolicious

I got him this afternoon. So, he more than likely is stressed. I took those pictures while he was exploring after entering. Other than that, he's been in his hide.

When should I try feeding again? I don't want to overexert himself, but at the same time I don't want to starve him.

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Try feeding again in about a week to a week and a half. They don't need to eat much, 2-4 crickets a week should do him fine, and you can feed them all in one sitting if it works for you and him.

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Originally Posted by Alexandra V

Try feeding again in about a week to a week and a half. They don't need to eat much, 2-4 crickets a week should do him fine, and you can feed them all in one sitting if it works for you and him.

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That seems like quite a long time for an arthropod. I'm not sure when the last time he ate was - I forgot to ask the clerk at the reptile store. How long can they go without food?

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Originally Posted by Hydrolicious

That seems like quite a long time for an arthropod. I'm not sure when the last time he ate was - I forgot to ask the clerk at the reptile store. How long can they go without food?

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I agree with Alexandra on this. Theres no need to feed them more than once or twice a week. 1 or 2 crickets at a time, 3-4 max.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hydrolicious

That seems like quite a long time for an arthropod. I'm not sure when the last time he ate was - I forgot to ask the clerk at the reptile store. How long can they go without food?

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Nope, it's not long at all. They, like other arachnids, are masters at staying on "power-save" mode. My good friend has an emp just under 6" long who has been refusing food for four months, still going strong. They really only need a couple crickets a week. I've had my tarantulas regularly refuse prey for two months before each molt. They really don't need a lot of food and can go quite a while without it.

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Originally Posted by Reakt20

I agree with Alexandra on this. Theres no need to feed them more than once or twice a week. 1 or 2 crickets at a time, 3-4 max.

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This. I feed my T's (and my buddy's scorp when I take care of it) one good sized cricket (or two smaller ones) once a week, and he does the same with his scorp at home. If they refuse, then they just have to wait til the next week. They've all been doing good.

That's that then; I'll attempt to feed him again next weekend. I hope the crickets don't die within the next week.

I finally got him to eat(after about 3 weeks of struggle). I just ended up throwing more crickets - about 2-3 at a time - in there at once, and he eventually found his way to them. I've only seen him eat two total in the two times I've managed to get him to eat. The first one he didn't finish & spit out almost the entire cricket (he ate some). That was a few days ago.

Just now I found him eating a second one. It seems like he's eating the whole thing this time. I've also attempted to feed him superworms, and have a small dish with a couple in there to see if he would eat those instead. He hasn't touched those, though.

Do you think he's still adjusting?

I was about to say....My electronics are down!

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

I was about to say....My electronics are down!

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He must've stung you somehow, then! :P

Speaking of which, I had to watch that in my science-fiction elective last week - I've now officially seen it far too many times.

He seems to be just about adjusted. He is eating fine. I have mine on dubias just because I can keep them in my room. Good luck