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[PhilK]

Originally Posted by OzRocks

hey guys thought i might shed some light on the topic, cos I work at a petshop and we keep scorps, bird eaters and centipedes.

now the reason wool is put in water bowls is scorpions dont drink from open water, espescially from a water bowl that they might fall in to, and besides, they should hardly ever drink from the bowl wool or not because the substrate should be damp enough that they can gain moisture from it.

for the 2mm of substrate, we use about 2-3cm. this is because as stated we dont want them to burrow, and then reck their burrow when we wnat to show them to people. so we place pieces of cork, flat rock or hide rocks in their so they have a burrow that we can still access.

and for the substrate, a variety of substrates can be used, because scorpions live in varied environments, but what we find best is coco-peat or peat-moss. this holds moisture, allows heat to pass thru from the heat mat, and the scorpion can 'dig' thru it

we try and have the best conditions for our animals, and also give the best advice. So I hope this thread just doesnt give the impressions that all pet shops are just un-educated money hungry people

cheers, Matt

If the scorp doesn't drink from the wool, there is no advantage to having it in there. It's just a breeding ground for nasties.

As for substrates, you should always try to find out what substrate that scorp lived on naturally. I've seen yaschenkoi's housed on moist peat, and rainforest scorps on sand!

The heat mat should not be on the floor of the enclosure. When scorps get too hot, they burrow down to escape heat. If the heat mat is there, they'll just get hotter and hotter and cook themselves.

Just some friendly advice As for pet-shops being money hungry businesses... They are. Every business is money hungry.. they have to be! You think it actually costs $120 bucks to euthanase a dog? Hell no it doesn't. That surcharge goes to feeding hospitalised animals, staff wages etc etc... People must understand that petshops are businesses, and so cannot provide 100% of the care the scorps etc deserve. They give them the bare minimum til they're bought and a new owner can give them the full deal.