# Cactus Garden and Scorpions



## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Hi guys,

I normally live in the snake section but have ventured over as for Christmas I got a mini Cactus Garden growing kit which I'm tempted to grow into a desert scene in a spare 30cm ExoTerra cube I have, and thought this might be an opportunity to finally get a scorpion. What are scorpions like with live cacti, and are there any small desert species that would be suited to this size of set up?

Cheers!
Harry


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## Mr Mister (Oct 12, 2011)

Cleopatra the Royal said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I normally live in the snake section but have ventured over as for Christmas I got a mini Cactus Garden growing kit which I'm tempted to grow into a desert scene in a spare 30cm ExoTerra cube I have, and thought this might be an opportunity to finally get a scorpion. What are scorpions like with live cacti, and are there any small desert species that would be suited to this size of set up?
> 
> ...


 
Too much hassle keeping any live plants in with inverts imo.


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

I would say that unless you comfortable with "growing" both, mixing the two together is going to be a lot of hassle and probably won't work. 

I've done live plants with inverts in the past, and you really need to buy materials with this in mind rather than jury-rigging existing parts - at least until you are comfortable with the basics anyway.


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## Adam B Jones (Jan 17, 2011)

Maybe you could follow the steps for growing the cactus, and see if it's possible to do it in the exo, see how things go for a while and if the plants can survive in the conditions needed by an appropriate scorpion, then try sticking one in and see what happens


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## Adam B Jones (Jan 17, 2011)

Mr Mister said:


> Too much hassle keeping any live plants in with inverts imo.


Have you tried it? I've been doing pretty well with pothos (epipremnum aureum), although this isn't in totally arid setups, but it's basically the same as looking after a tarantula normally, do nothing, with a bit of appropriate food and water.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

The only problem with plants and true arid-land animals is that the plants *do* have to be watered, which inevitably raises the humidity. It's do-able, but it does take some careful management.


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## Adam B Jones (Jan 17, 2011)

Ron Magpie said:


> The only problem with plants and true arid-land animals is that the plants *do* have to be watered, which inevitably raises the humidity. It's do-able, but it does take some careful management.


Seems like the sort of thing that could be quite interesting and fun if you fancy trying something a little different and have a good think about cage layout/possible options for keeping the plant roots separate from substrate etc


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## Addymk2 (Dec 25, 2009)

Mesh as appose to glass/perspex? Allow the humidity to dissipate into the room assuming your not doing this in your bathroom/kitchen


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## snowgoose (May 5, 2009)

This is an interesting topic and one which interests me greatly.

As GRB has said, unless you know what you are doing in terms of care for both, then don't bother. 

If, however, you are fine with both, then something like this wouldn't be too challenging and should be feasible ( Of course, this depends on how "proper" you want it to be  )


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## Mr Mister (Oct 12, 2011)

Adam B Jones said:


> Have you tried it? I've been doing pretty well with pothos (epipremnum aureum), although this isn't in totally arid setups, but it's basically the same as looking after a tarantula normally, do nothing, with a bit of appropriate food and water.


Yeah, I found the plants need more care than the spider to be honest.

Still go for it if someone wants to try it etc.


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## AilsaM (May 18, 2011)

I have a couple of desert scorpions and one African burrowing species and I have thought about having little catus in their enclosures, some of the smaller ones are very nice and also very low maintenance, I know this because I have some really nice wee cactus and all they need is a wee bit of water now and then and that's it, I might do this in the future.


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## Keano (Jul 16, 2012)

Adam B Jones said:


> Seems like the sort of thing that could be quite interesting and fun if you fancy trying something a little different and *have a good think about cage layout/possible options for keeping the plant roots separate from substrate* etc


I think that it could be pretty cool like. and im sure if ya look and think about it hard enough then there could might well be a way of separting the roots of the plant from the substrate. And then instead of "watering the plant" have some type of injection system into the separted area?. because if there are some species of plants out there that only need a small amount of water then im sure it can be done. definatly something i would do ne way.


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Cheers for the replies guys. I think I'm going to set up my exo with a fake bottom and a reservoir underneath. Cacti do have pretty long roots and so having a layer of about an inch of sand on top of a sand/soil mix shouldn't cause any problems to them and should keep humidity down. I think I'll grow the garden out for a month or so and monitor humidity, then see where we are and maybe introduce a scorp then. Cheers again!


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## Adam B Jones (Jan 17, 2011)

When you say reservoir, I'm assuming you don't mean literally a pool of water the size of the whole bottom of the tank under the fake floor? Obviously that would cause problems!


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Sorry, that was meant to say a reverse reservoir, allowing and drainage from the soil. For watering the plants, I might use some airline layered under the sand. Not sure quite how it will work out, but in the end I can end up seeing this becoming an invert-less over elaborate cactus garden! Anyway, I'll give it a shot and see how how it goes. Cheers.


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## DONTLOOKATME (Apr 5, 2013)

The main problem with growing cacti and other succulents in invert enclosures is light, especially with cacti as they like quite bright light, whereas the arid scorpion you'll be housing in the enclosure probably won't be a fan of it.
And make sure to grow them on for some time before planting them, I've grown cacti in the past from seed and they take quite a while to look very "cactusey."
I'd fear a young cactus, only a few months old, would die from the stress of having a scorpion crawl over it often or even fall prey to the scorpions food.
It could be done in the right set up but I'd suggest looking into plants such as crassula which will do all right in indirect light.
Best of luck and if you do decide to go ahead with it, please post pics :2thumb:


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## Adam B Jones (Jan 17, 2011)

Yeah, some pics would be great if you get it up and running 

With the lights, you could always use a fluorescent tube on a timer if there are hiding places for the scorpion to escape this, it might come out after they go off in the evening, you could have a uv tube kick in at this time so you can see the scorpion in the dark - I heard something on here about over exposure to uv light being bad for scorpions, but I don't know about it myself... A bit of proper research would maybe be wise.

Have fun


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Today I put the cactus garden together (though unfortunately decided against the drainage layer as I didn't have the materials to do it, and wanted it planted before exams next week). I've put up a thread in the habitat section if you want to take a peek:

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat-pictures/1013309-arid-landscape-cactus-garden.html

It's not quite finished, but here's how its looking at the moment:



Cheers,

Harry


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## DONTLOOKATME (Apr 5, 2013)

I like the enclosure, but since you didn't add the drainage layer be very very careful in how much and where you water the plants! 
Don't want wet roots : victory:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

DONTLOOKATME said:


> I like the enclosure, but since you didn't add the drainage layer be very very careful in how much and where you water the plants!
> Don't want wet roots : victory:


I agree- looks great :2thumb:, but watch out for over-watering.


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## SublimeSparo (May 1, 2013)

and just to third that, watch your watering!

Looks awesome, great landscaping, 

However,
I'd potentially reconsider, and try to remove the cactus' and start again with a drainage layer, will be so much easier in the long run, and prevent root rot, also bear in mind that some (possibly most) cactus' require a cool dry period to rest and need almost zero water during this period


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Cheers everyone for your feedback - I may well try and build in a drainage layer after exams are over, but for now will just be ultra-conservative with the watering! I'll keep everyone posted with how I get on


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