Room temp. for scorps??

The Juice

Arachnoangel
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Iwas just wondering if anyone keeps their scorps at room temp? I have read on the tarantula forum that some people keep their T's at room temp. can any, if all scorps be kept at room temp? I have a tri color, I don't know the scientific name though. My house is usually at 75degrees is that good or bad?
 

Silver.x

Arachnoangel
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Edit: I realized my mistake. I like the infrared lights though just to provide more natural temperatures.

Aidan
 
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Aragorn

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It a weird thing, but most animals don't like light as a heat source--a radiant heat. Snakes, hermit crabs, and scorp. I found prefer the heat from the heat pad. This heat up the cage by convection, not by radiant heat.
 

Kugellager

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If your house is at 75F then you could get away with keeping them at room temperature for most species. A great way to get an idea of their natural temperature ranges is to go to weather.com and put in their country of orgin and then pic a city and look at the historical records if they have any.

In even the warmest/tropical climates the day-night temperature cycle is usually at least 10F.

I keep my scorpions in a closet that is separated from the room by heavy shower curtains to retain the heat. The temps in the closet range from about 82F in the day to 63F just before the lights come on in the morning at the floor(coldest) level.

Scorpions do not bask...they will move toward heat if it is too cold and move away or burrow away from heat if it is too warm...the behave similarly to moisture.

IMO/IME heat lamps/ceramic heaters/heat pads are a waste of money. I use nothing but your basic $5USD reflector lamp from the hardware strore and a regular light bulb to heat my bug closet/enclosures. I just vary the wattage of the bulb depending on the size of the enclosure, temperature requirements and the time of the year.

Remember, if you do use a heat pad for scorpions. never place it under the tank...place it on the side as scorpions burrow to get away from heat and can fry themselves if the heat pad is under the tank and burrow in.

John
];')
 
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skinheaddave

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Originally posted by SaIiLdVaEnR
Scorpions tend to benefit from basking areas of heat. I would suggest getting an infrared light on one side of the tank and turning it off at night.
What are you basing this assertion on?

Cheers,
Dave
 

Frostbyte

Arachnobaron
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arent most scorps active at night ?? Even in most deserts its colder at night. I keep a thermostat regulated heater in my scorps room set at 78 . They do fine ...
 

skinheaddave

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There's actually a bit more to it than that. You see, it actually takes time for the sun's energy to travel down through the substrate. This means that there is actually a time lag between the temperature on the surface and the temperature deeper in the burrow. The result is that after the sun has set, the burrow temperature continues to rise. Since the hottest part of the day is somewhat before sunset, burrow temps can peak just after sunset resulting in more active scorpions.

Scorpions tend not to be active in the coldest part of the desert night. Instead, they show a peak of activity just after sunset. The air temp/surface temp may be cooling, but the burrow temp is still rising at this time. Of course the situation changes somewhat once you stray from a desert habitat. But for the desert dwellers, this is something to consider.

Cheers,
Dave
 

Aragorn

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Actually, nocturnal animals deal with changing temperature like this: the reason they are active at night is because it is cooler at night, and it is harder for predator to find them. This is especially true for the desert species, since it is very hot during the day it is lethal to them. So they deal with it buy becoming active at night and develop lighter color to keep cool during the day. If it is too cold during the night they just simply become more active in the early evening, at dusk. If it is too hot at night they wait to become active later in the evening.
 

Silver.x

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I heard it from some people on here, if I am wrong please correct me.

Aidan
 

skinheaddave

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Aragorn,

In your treatment you have neglected to deal with temperatures at different depths. I'd suggest that you read Brownell's chapter on sensory ecology in "Scorpion Biology and Research", edited by Brownell and Polis first, as that contains a good treatment of the phenomenon I described above.

Cheers,
Dave
 
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