Input needed and appreciated

I am a carpenter by trade and have been in the business for nigh on 30 years so making a custom enclosure is not so much the challenge (Though the triangle shape adds some). I have never kept scorpions before but, I am now determined to do it. I am targeting the Vaejovis carolinianus. My joy is coming from actually being able to hunt this one down and maybe even Centruroides hentzi as SC seems to be in its range according to my online research.

This triangle enclosure will be all glass as I do have a fantastic glass company that I have done much work with so, I think they will give me contractors price on it. I'm going to wrap around it with oak and stain it. Imagine a fish tank with wood instead of plastic rim reinforcement.

I have found at the local Lowe's something like this:http://www.elementalled.com/shop-by-item/strip-lights/strip-lights-color-changing.html

Here come the questions...Will the red in the LED world be OK or must the lights be infrared? I like the LED lighting because it will allow me to make a slimmer canopy. I plan on having a secondary black light for purposes of locating the scorps only. It would not be used for any length of time. I have all ready bought the appropriate heating pad from the local exotic pet shop and other items needed for this new hobby.

I will be taking step by step pics of this build and posting them as I go. It will be slow as I wish to pay every attention to detail and this will actually be part of a larger cabinet. A must is for this thing to look as much like a piece of furniture so that my lovely wife will not think that it looks like it should be kept in the shed.

I have also been thinking I can use an old computer fan mounted in the canopy to keep things cool when needed. All cords, switches, hook ups and stuff I'm not even thinking of yet will be hidden in the lower cabinet under the tank.

Again, feel free to throw any and all suggestions and insights my way. I humbly await your input.
ps: A good care sheet for these would be appreciated as what I've read has been somewhat at odds with each other.

I can't comment on the spectral sensitivity of those species. With inverts, you never know what they may see. Someone will know for sure. A basic red light is fine for reptiles/frogs, but that doesn't matter here.

As for computer fans, those are great choices and typically used by A LOT of people for the purpose you described. One thing you MAY or MAY NOT have thought of is connecting the fans to a rheostat/fan speed controller. Also, the typical fan in computers, especially older ones, tends to be really noisy, there are much better computer fans (not pricey either) that have better bearing designs and blade design to make them more silent. One factor to consider is how much cooling/air circulation you may want your fan to do. If you use a standard fan size that I'm thinking of, it MIGHT be on all the time. To minimize the amount of time the fan needs to be on, I would get as large a fan as possible. Larger fans push more air at lower rpms, and are SIGNIFICANTLY quieter, the difference is NIGHT and DAY on the sound.


To give you an idea on fans alone, go to newegg.com and search for computer fans. They have the best selection, cheapest prices usually, and EXCELLENT shipping, ie FAST. I can't speculate how much cooling you may need, but if size of fan is not an issue, I'd get at least a 140mm. In the area of fans, larger is better. If you find a few you like, I'd google the model name w/the word review after it. There are many reviews done on computer case fans alone.

I hope you plan on posting pictures and step by step how you build it!

Viper, I did not know those things on the fans and I will check them out. I will be looking at some light charts and see how different the wave lengths are.
Citizen 9, I absolutely plan on documenting the entire process including photographs.

jhoagland said:

Viper, I did not know those things on the fans and I will check them out. I will be looking at some light charts and see how different the wave lengths are.

Click to expand...

I'm glad it's helpful. I meant to include, the unit of measurement used to quantify air flow for computer fans is CFM (cubic feet/minute), and the fans' diameters are measured in metric, eg 120mm etc.

Using this report/study:http://jeb.biologists.org/content/49/1/95.full.pdf

Vs. this cut and dry range of the red wavelengths:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red

I have determined that most any color red should work as according to how I read the study scorpions visible light drops off sharply at the beginning of the red light range. That was most helpful.

---------- Post added 12-10-2013 at 08:31 AM ----------

I think I'll be using this model fan.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553001

jhoagland said:

Using this report/study:http://jeb.biologists.org/content/49/1/95.full.pdf

Vs. this cut and dry range of the red wavelengths:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red

I have determined that most any color red should work as according to how I read the study scorpions visible light drops off sharply at the beginning of the red light range. That was most helpful.

---------- Post added 12-10-2013 at 08:31 AM ----------

I think I'll be using this model fan.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553001

Click to expand...

That's a decent price, and a good fan. The bearing assembly is quite good! I did some searching in the computer forum I frequent and I didn't find any negative reviews. It's a "newish" model I think around 2011, and prior to that there were some fans that were/are still popular prior to this model. Sort of like, how certain cars or even tools, for reasons like price and performance, just rise above the rest of their generation and continue to remain popular and sometimes outperform future models from competitors. Bottom line, the model you picked is a good one. If you wanted to move up to a 140mm fan you could, there's a good Noctua for around $20.00.


These may help you for the visible spectrum. They have wavelengths w/the colors.

http://cfialabioassignment.wikispac...+those+of+other+vertebrates+and+invertebrates (googled visible spectrum went to images)

http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/laserguide/ (googled electromagnetic spectrum)

Anything beyond 700nm is infrared, and below 400 is ultraviolet (where some insects do utilize, like bees, and evidently the subjects of that paper use UV too!) It's pretty wild to see what a flower looks like in UV as they have specific UV patterns to attract bees.

I have taken another step in this build. I have gone by the glass place and talked to one of their engineer/technicians. I will be talking to a couple of other people and then will contact me back. Needless to say, they have not gotten many of this type request, if ever. Will keep y'all posted.

Very cool idea, but I question the need to purchase a high end fan. I'm all for making hobby projects as unnecessarily over-the-top as possible, but the only conceivable benefit to a high end fan would be a nominal reduction in noise. I don't forsee there being a need for the fan to be on constantly, so if it were me, I'd just use one I took from an old computer or something. $20 is, of course, enough to get another scorpion!