Opinions. Opistophthalmus lamorali in poor condition.

[callum b]

Hi,

I have posted this on another forum, but I thought I would try it on here for some other opinions as I'm fairly stumped.

5 days ago I received an Opistophthalmus lamorali. I was expecting an adult to arrive but judging by its size it's definately at least one moult off maturity.

The scorpion arrived through the post and unfortunately the supplier did not add a heat pack to the parcel (why, I don't know?!). Temperatures dropped quite low the night the scorpion was shipped to me.

When I unpacked the scorpion it was obviously very sluggish due to it being cold, this I expected. However, I noticed that the membrane down the left hand side of the mesosoma looked like it was wet. I had a quick look around the area to see if maybe the scorpion had been injured and was leaking some kind of fluid. I could not see any obvious damage and moved the scorpion into temporary housing as I didn't want to stress it out further after its journey.

After leaving the scorpion in peace for 24 hours I checked on it and there was no more fluid. I think the scorpion had been injured due to inadequate packing. A snot like scab has formed where I presume the wound must have been. I have offered the scorpion a water dish to re-hydrate.

There are also some other strange things on the scorpion. Parts of the legs look damaged and both the tergites and membrane on the mesosoma look flakey and wrinkled. Overall, the scorpion doesn't look very healthy. It's movements also seem a little shakey and slow. Possible locomotive/nerve damage due to the cold?

The scorpion is quite fat even though it has not eaten for at least 2 months.
Here are a few pics..........







Having not eaten for 2 months and being quite chubby it is quite possible it is in pre-moult. Would a scorpion end up in such bad condition before moulting though?

Could it be some kind of disease or bacterial/fungal infection that is causing the flakey cuticle and membrane?

Look forward to hearing any ideas

[Michiel]

I think it has had molting problems before....I have never seen such wrinkled membranes in scorpions and can only guess the cause...maybe dehydration, but other reason may be more likely. Maybe this specimen was not kept well, it's a fairly new species in the EU market, and good climate information may not be shared broadly yet....Get hold of information of the collection site and check out the climate...

Verstuurd van mijn GT-I9001 met Tapatalk

[callum b]

Thanks Michiel. This particular scorpion has been in captivity for at least 6 months before I obtained it. I'm not sure on the conditions it was kept in before.

I have an adult male of the same species which I have had for some time. Exact locality of where either were collected was not available but I beleive O. lamorali are common in the Brandberg Massif, Namibia, so I have been using climate data from there. Hot summers (28c-35c), with a little moisture, and mild to cool temperatures (15c - 25c) with next to no moisture during the winter. This has been working for my original male.

I'll see how things pan out with it but I'm not holding my breath. A real shame as I thought I was getting a healthy adult female.

[MaxxZacho]

Looks to me like he had a brutal trip. Poor guy. I hope you can get him healthy again. Where on earth did you get him, a private seller?