H. arizonensis, winter time, sealed up in burrow...

edesign

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Tried to find some answers with the search engine but to no avail...

My newly acquired arizonensis decided to seal itself underground about a week ago. It had dug a nice long burrow then decided to lengthen it further...during the process it ended up backfilling behind itself, effectively sealing itself in it's burrow. Over the past week it has lengthened it further (half again as long) over different periods, further backfilling. Today I came home and noticed it had opened up some of it's previously filled tunnel space but was still at the end of it's burrow. It sits there with it's pincers open as if waiting for food to come waltzing by...kinda funny.

I was wondering how long they will do this for, it is winter time and I have a hunch that it's something they do this time of year. I keep my apt between 70 and 82 degrees, since it's been cold the average temp in here has been around 72-75.

I have a hard time believing that it has gotten "lost" underground and can't find it's way back to the surface, hence why i'm inclined to believe it's a hibernation stunt of sorts (not true hibernation, but ya know what i mean :) ). Ah well...wait and see.
 

Absolutt

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Just out of curiosity, what kind of substrate are you keeping yours on?
 

edesign

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Absolutt said:
Just out of curiosity, what kind of substrate are you keeping yours on?
mostly sand. I put about 35 pounds of sand in the tank and mixed it with water til it was nice and moist (not sopping wet). I also added a bit of peat moss, maybe 80% sand, 20% peat moss. The peat moss is supposed to help it hold it's form with the tunneling...how i'm not sure, i am guessing that since it holds moisture that it helps keep the sand just moist enough it doesn't crumble.

here's a couple pictures i just took...





you can barely see Lucifer in the first picture...been in that part of the burrow for about 5 days now, maybe more i forget lol. The half-moon shaped opening you see towards the left end of the tank in the front is it's first burrow which collapsed (dug out for a second opening?) not long after it had dug it. I think it tried to burrow up and out and the top collapsed in...it would use it as an emergency entrance, if it ran for cover it would go straight for that hole and dive in :D

the yellow line in the second picture traces where the burrow started (1) and where he made turns at (2,3, and 4) and finally the end (5) which, as far as i can tell with a flashlight is a chamber a bit larger than the rest of the tunnel. Not positive on that part though.

Originally it dug from point 1 to point 3 and stopped (tank is 20"W X 10"D). the huge mound in the front of the tank near the opening is all the sand it dug out. When it started digging from 3 to 4 is the time at which it began to backfill from the beginning of the burrow, sealing itself in. At this point in time it's burrow extends from 5 back to about 2-3" behind point 4.

Razed, did your emp seal itself in or did it just dig a burrow?
 

RaZeDaHeLL666

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he looks like he has room to move around, which means he can dig himself out. and once again...I really like the name Lucifer. ;)
 

edesign

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RaZeDaHeLL666 said:
he looks like he has room to move around, which means he can dig himself out. and once again...I really like the name Lucifer. ;)
i'm positive it can dig itself out...if it can't well, tuff luck :D

can't imagine why you'd like the name "Lucifer" ;) Hail Satan! ;P my ex-neighbor had nicknamed me Devilgoat for some reason...see a trend here? lol
 

Deadly1

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So crazy it just might work!

Hmmm, I was doing a lot of thinking on what we could possibly do to have him resurface. I could come up with only one idea........was thinking if RazeDahell posted some pics of herself w/ a scorp of course......Im sure he'd scramble to the surface to see it!
 

RaZeDaHeLL666

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Deadly1 said:
Hmmm, I was doing a lot of thinking on what we could possibly do to have him resurface. I could come up with only one idea........was thinking if RazeDahell posted some pics of herself w/ a scorp of course......Im sure he'd scramble to the surface to see it!
LMAO, Next time I let my scorps crawl around on me, ill get a pic ;) Right now im having a bit of trouble with these awful little bicolors. One keeps climbing the divider, the other wont let go of the top of the screen. As soon as i get one off the other starts with her crap. I am despreatly in need of a separate tank.......... :evil:
 

Deadly1

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Ok so

Ok I was kiddin about needing the scorp......maybe we should just start a pic thread just for Razedahell. All my scorps are at home.......Im on vaca in MD seeing family and going to a wedding. As far as your Bicolor problem Raze, I have had a female that was much larger then the male, by at least two sheds....they lived together just fine. I simply seperated them during shed times to be safe. They had even taken to living in the same scrape together. But many believe those scorps are not communal.......then again I have also had a small communal setup for AA's and they did great. I almost believe that you could do the same with yours........otherwise as you know, if there is a wall, they are always gonna dig next to it. I say put them together.....take a chance, but watch them for aggro behavior.
 

heyjeyniceid

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I collect H. Arizonensis here in Arizona.

From my observations as well as correspondance with Darrin of golden phoenix exotica is that they only appear around here dureing the hottest days of the year when night temps are around 80 degrees farenheit.

The rest of the year, they are underground.

So basically they only come out maybe 3 months out of the year with the rest in their burrows.

no need to worry.
mine are still eating and are relatively active.
 

RaZeDaHeLL666

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Hey I separated them already. I dont wanna take that chance yet. My female is smaller than my male prolly by a few molts, so I can wait until shes a little bigger and ready for action. ;)
 

edesign

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heyjeyniceid said:
I collect H. Arizonensis here in Arizona.

From my observations as well as correspondance with Darrin of golden phoenix exotica is that they only appear around here dureing the hottest days of the year when night temps are around 80 degrees farenheit.

The rest of the year, they are underground.

So basically they only come out maybe 3 months out of the year with the rest in their burrows.

no need to worry.
mine are still eating and are relatively active.
thanks...that's the info i was looking for! I'll try turning on my red lamp near the edge of the tank but not too close so it won't overheat before it can tunnel out.

and if that fails...i'll have to see about Deadly1's idea :D
 
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