Care Sheet for ScorpionsAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.47 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 07/09/2008 |
Main Category: | Non-Reptile/Amphibian |
Sub Category: | Scorpions |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Anonymous |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Emperor Scorpion |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | N/A |
Sexing and Characteristics: | It’s quite difficult to sex your emperor. There are several ways of doing this, first size, female emperors are much larger than males usually growing to around the 7 or 8 inch mark. Males usually are 6 inches and under. The second way of doing this is to get a look at there pectines, these are the two comb like appendages on the underside of there body. A females pectines will be larger. The third way, is a little more brutal, put separate scorpions in together, which ever scorpions begin to fight usually are of different sex. This fight is there mating ritual, and is also the way I found out the sex of my scorpions. |
Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | For substrates I find Reptibark to be the best. Other?s include potting soil, coconut husks and dehydrated soil. I do not recommend any of these due to the mess your scorpion will make in the aquarium. Emperors love to dig, its inevitable, so by using reptibark they will still dig but without the mess. Using potting soil with vermiculite is a terrible alternative, if you do not get the mixture right the vermiculite will stick all over your scorpion. And if your scorpion is fully grown and will not molt again, this will stay on the scorpion until it dies(and could cause its death). |
Lighting and UVB: | No lighting is required, although a black light is fun to use at night. The scorpions cannot see the black light and there bodies will light up either a fluorescent green or blue color. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | I find them to be most comfortable with temperatures ranging from 70 degrees on the cool side, and 80 to 85 degrees on the warm side of the tank. Emperors are from the rain forests of Africa, the yearly average is around 75 to 85 percent for humidity. So aim for the natural. |
Heating and Equipment: | As for heating, I use heat tape on half the aquarium side wall. Scorpions burrow to get away from heat, so by putting a heat pad bottom of the tank seems contradictory. |
Caging Provided: | I use a 10 gallon aquarium with a glass lid to house single scorpions, for each other scorpion in the tank a good rule of thumb is to go 5 gallons higher. Other alternatives include everything from Tupperware containers to shoe boxes, but I like to display my collections so I always go with glass. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Basically anything that crawls. Crickets, meal worms, super meal worms, a pinky mouse quarterly is fine for large emperors. A large emperor will eat 2 to 3 meals a week. Make sure you have a small water dish placed in the aquarium, they will get most the liquid from crickets but they do also drink water occasionally. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Once a week simply dust one cricket with a calcium supplement. ( Reptivite ) |
Maintenance: | Emperors are generally maintenance free. They use almost all water they intake, whether it be from a meal or from a water source. So typically there feces is dry powder, so naturally pick up what they drop. Also clean out old carcasses of insects they have eaten or killed, they may cause parasites. |
Some Words on this Species: | Scorpions are very fascinating creatures, they are venomous, and should be handled with care if handled at all. Scorpions are very "high strung" and get stressed out easily, the less you handle your scorpion, the healthier it will be. |
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