One or two Desert Hairys?

Shmotz77

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Hello, I have recently purchased a MASSIVE 38"x20"x18" tank to house a Desert Hairy Scorpion. I know this tank is a little too much but for $50 I thought it was a steal. My question though is is the tank to large to house a single Desert Hairy? Could I possibly add another (I know they have cannibalistic tendencies but could a large tank help prevent it?)
Thank you all for your time.
 

Smokehound714

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They dont seem to react especially aggressively, however this almost always ends up killing one of them due to stress.. they are extremely solitary, but as has been well-known for a while, many tenebrionid beetle species will seek shelter in their burrows- when a desert hairy tries to capture an Asbolus species, it will grab a leg, then immediately let go. A similar relationship exists between Smeringurus mesaensis and asbolus laevis in dune habitats.

Anywho.. ..There's really no such thing as 'too-big' of an enclosure when it comes to this genus. They really do enjoy a large amount of substrate, and no, they dont get lost. Scorpions lay down a chemical trail as they explore away from their burrows, similar to a tarantula laying down a silk trail- They use their pectines to find their way back to their retreat, and can do so rapidly. You will need stable substrate, a mixture of sand and clay mixed properly (a little clay goes a long way!), then tamped down, soaked, then thoroughly dried, will give them a nice stable sub that wont collapse easily, especially if the substrate is 12" or deeper.

As these scorpions are so huge, their burrows in captivity often collapse once they hit the bottom of the tank. The more, the better. They make vast burrows in the wild, the longest hadrurus tunnel recorded was around 20 feet long! No heating is necessary, in fact this time of year, they actually require a cold dormant period to remain healthy.
 

darkness975

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Keeping more than one Hadrurus in the same enclosure is not really worth the risk in my opinion. If you want a communal set up you should go with a colony of Centruroides sculpturatus or something.
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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Do they have any natural enemy's? what about S hero;s Pede they get huge 9"-11"+? This is a solo species I wouldn't bother with communal.
 

Shmotz77

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Thank you all for the replies! I'm just going to stick with one and probably get a few Blue Death Feigning beetles to add into the tank as well.
 

Smokehound714

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Lots of animals prey on Hadrurus, generally mammals and birds, but sometimes even the largest specimens get blitzed by widows and other spiders.

Blue death feigners are a welcome addition, they're far more active, often popping out in broad daylight to wander around and feed, gives an otherwise inactive enclosure some life :)
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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Lots of animals prey on Hadrurus, generally mammals and birds, but sometimes even the largest specimens get blitzed by widows and other spiders.

Blue death feigners are a welcome addition, they're far more active, often popping out in broad daylight to wander around and feed, gives an otherwise inactive enclosure some life :)
Really a tiny widow spider can kill a scorpion? Spiders can be good predators I guess.
 

Galapoheros

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Really a tiny widow spider can kill a scorpion? Spiders can be good predators I guess.
A big heros pede could probably take down an adult arizonensis, heros handle stings well also, but so do scorpions, depending on what stings them of course. I've seen Theridiidae kill large inverts, they will esp. take advantage of an invert molting that's close by, don't know how they detect the advantage, maybe the diff small movements, that's happened over here more than once. Recluse spiders are especially good at defense too. I've had a lot to experiment with and the Recluse usually dies but often gets in a bite in on scorpions and they die too. I have Kukulcania in my house, several years ago I dropped one in with a subadult Emperor scorpion, didn't think it would be a problem. After several hours that scorpion was still eating that spider, that's how it appeared, turned out the scorpion was frozen that way, dead. I've seen adult dead toads under logs right under widow nests, don't know if they died from being bit or not, but I've seen that a few times and have never seen other dead toads under logs when there isn't a Black widow. Could have froze though.
 

Smokehound714

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latrodectus webs are super strong. Usually the tail gets wrapped first, and the scorpion is unable to flee.
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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A big heros pede could probably take down an adult arizonensis, heros handle stings well also, but so do scorpions, depending on what stings them of course. I've seen Theridiidae kill large inverts, they will esp. take advantage of an invert molting that's close by, don't know how they detect the advantage, maybe the diff small movements, that's happened over here more than once. Recluse spiders are especially good at defense too. I've had a lot to experiment with and the Recluse usually dies but often gets in a bite in on scorpions and they die too. I have Kukulcania in my house, several years ago I dropped one in with a subadult Emperor scorpion, didn't think it would be a problem. After several hours that scorpion was still eating that spider, that's how it appeared, turned out the scorpion was frozen that way, dead. I've seen adult dead toads under logs right under widow nests, don't know if they died from being bit or not, but I've seen that a few times and have never seen other dead toads under logs when there isn't a Black widow. Could have froze though.
Yeah I forgot the deadly venom of some small spiders can practically kill anything, I guess scorps have no immunity to Kukulcania & widow venom?
 

Smokehound714

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I cant possibly picture a kukulcania successfully taking down a hadrurus, though, lol. Kuks have really small fangs
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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I cant possibly picture a kukulcania successfully taking down a hadrurus, though, lol. Kuks have really small fangs
Maybe emporer was too big to kill it easy, since spider was so small.. Sorry for your loss though Galapoheros. I guess kukulcania are very tough vs oversized scorps.
 

Galapoheros

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The Kukulcania thing was really weird, I'm not sure what happened, I think it was about 8 years ago, been a while. I just can't think of what else it might have been. It could have bit it somewhere along the soft spots around the mouth parts. I just remember walking by and kind of saying, "Are you still eating that thing..." Then I poked around on it and realized it was dead.
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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The Kukulcania thing was really weird, I'm not sure what happened, I think it was about 8 years ago, been a while. I just can't think of what else it might have been. It could have bit it somewhere along the soft spots around the mouth parts. I just remember walking by and kind of saying, "Are you still eating that thing..." Then I poked around on it and realized it was dead.
Could Kukulcania been sprayed w/ pesticides?
 

Smokehound714

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The Kukulcania thing was really weird, I'm not sure what happened, I think it was about 8 years ago, been a while. I just can't think of what else it might have been. It could have bit it somewhere along the soft spots around the mouth parts. I just remember walking by and kind of saying, "Are you still eating that thing..." Then I poked around on it and realized it was dead.
guess the kuk got a lucky shot! Scorpions often attempt to eat their prey head-first, perhaps while chewing, your scorpion accidentally pricked itself
 

darkness975

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A lot of factors determine the outcome of an encounter between two inverts. I saw one of my hadrurus start eating a cricket without stinging it first and the cricket bit it in the mouth. Didnt see any damage and it eats fine but it does shed some light on what might have happened.
 
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