H arizonensis dead in molt?

[EmotionSick]

My H arizonensis has been in the same position in one of its shallower burrows for about three days now, tail straight out and flat on the ground. It’s still a juvenile so I thought maybe it’s in pre-molt but I’ve heard how notorious this species is for dying in molt. I haven’t tried to stimulate it because I know messing with them in molt can kill them but I feel like it’s been a while of no activity. It hasn’t shriveled or started to decay at all though and I can’t smell any kind of dead animal smell but it is slightly buried so I don’t know if I would be able to smell anything. I bumped humidity a bit to try and help if it is having trouble molting but am hesitant to put a lot of moisture in the tank at the risk of doing more harm than good with their susceptibility to mycosis. I wish I had gotten a picture to put here before I left to work.

It wasn’t acting lethargic or strange before this. In fact it was pretty active at night and had eaten a cricket literally the day before I found it like this, so I don’t know what else it could have been to cause it to suddenly die. I am new to keeping scorpions so is there any advice at this point? Anything I should do or even could do?

 

[gzophia]

My H arizonensis has been in the same position in one of its shallower burrows for about three days now, tail straight out and flat on the ground. It’s still a juvenile so I thought maybe it’s in pre-molt but I’ve heard how notorious this species is for dying in molt. I haven’t tried to stimulate it because I know messing with them in molt can kill them but I feel like it’s been a while of no activity. It hasn’t shriveled or started to decay at all though and I can’t smell any kind of dead animal smell but it is slightly buried so I don’t know if I would be able to smell anything. I bumped humidity a bit to try and help if it is having trouble molting but am hesitant to put a lot of moisture in the tank at the risk of doing more harm than good with their susceptibility to mycosis. I wish I had gotten a picture to put here before I left to work.

It wasn’t acting lethargic or strange before this. In fact it was pretty active at night and had eaten a cricket literally the day before I found it like this, so I don’t know what else it could have been to cause it to suddenly die. I am new to keeping scorpions so is there any advice at this point? Anything I should do or even could do?

Unfortunately, your scorpion sounds like it has passed on to me. Tail flat on the ground for an extended period of time usually indicates death.
Yes, this species is notorious for dying while molting, which is why I personally don't think it's a good "beginner" species if you can't find a mature adult specimen.

Any more info on the setup? Pictures would be appreciated. Also, do you know if your scorpion has mycosis-- black stuff on its joints?

 

[EmotionSick]

Man that’s disappointing. I had him in a ten gallon with about nine inches deep excavator clay that he made some pretty extensive burrows in. Temperature I kept around 80 with a lamp and a slight drop at night. It would be a bit less than a year that I’ve had him. He went into diapause during the winter for a couple months and I thought he may have molted then. I’ve generally kept humidity low because I was worried about mycosis, that’s why I didn’t try and put in a false bottom to the tank like I’ve heard some others do because I read about some people having mycosis problems with that. I haven’t noticed any spots in the joints but I can look closer when I get home and can also try to get some pictures too.

And yeah, at the small exotics store that I got him from I was speaking to their arthropod keeper who had been keeping and breeding arachnids for years, I had been thinking more of a forest scorpion but nobody had any, and he seemed to know his stuff so I trusted him when he said that desert hairies weren’t too difficult to keep, and maybe the adults more so without their molting problems, but the only ones anyone had were juveniles. I got a lot of my info from him and he had some good setup advice but doing more research on my own I saw that there was a lot more to their care than he had implied.

 

[gzophia]

Man that’s disappointing. I had him in a ten gallon with about nine inches deep excavator clay that he made some pretty extensive burrows in. Temperature I kept around 80 with a lamp and a slight drop at night. It would be a bit less than a year that I’ve had him. He went into diapause during the winter for a couple months and I thought he may have molted then. I’ve generally kept humidity low because I was worried about mycosis, that’s why I didn’t try and put in a false bottom to the tank like I’ve heard some others do because I read about some people having mycosis problems with that. I haven’t noticed any spots in the joints but I can look closer when I get home and can also try to get some pictures too.

And yeah, at the small exotics store that I got him from I was speaking to their arthropod keeper who had been keeping and breeding arachnids for years, I had been thinking more of a forest scorpion but nobody had any, and he seemed to know his stuff so I trusted him when he said that desert hairies weren’t too difficult to keep, and maybe the adults more so without their molting problems, but the only ones anyone had were juveniles. I got a lot of my info from him and he had some good setup advice but doing more research on my own I saw that there was a lot more to their care than he had implied.

Your setup sounds fantastic to me! You clearly did a lot of research beforehand. From what I read, your scorpion must have lived a happy life. I'm so sorry for your loss.
Yes, that can happen; sellers at stores (even exotic ones) aren't the most knowledgeable. It seems that you made up for this deficiency though as your setup sounds very appropriate.

Photos of the enclosure and the animal would definitely help; please let us know when you get home. I'm curious to see pictures of the animal (try not to disturb it if you can) and the enclosure's ventilation.

 

[EmotionSick]

Finally home and able to get some pictures. Sorry they’re not the best, I was at a weird angle and the lighting isn’t great. The tank has a fully mesh top for ventilation. I think I overestimated the substrate depth a little, it’s probably closer to about eight inches deep and seven at the lower spots. The smaller container in there is the one he was in when I first got him that I had meant to take out once he had crawled out on his own and gotten more comfortable. But he would always periodically crawl back to it and the burrow in it that he had made, so I figured if that was a spot he liked and was comfortable in I could leave it. He also dug a shallow burrow under part of it which is where he is now.

I don’t really see any black spots in the joints, really the only moisture in the tank would have been a small bottle cap that I put some pebbles in and would fill with a tiny bit of water for him to drink from. Even though they could theoretically get the hydration they need from their prey, and I don’t think I saw him use it I had it in there just in case.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

You could have removed the lid in pic 2 . Hopefully an expert chimes in I only researched this species.

 

[EmotionSick]

I left the lid on to show the mesh top since someone was wondering about ventilation, but here’s a pic without it

 

[CRX]

Man that’s disappointing. I had him in a ten gallon with about nine inches deep excavator clay that he made some pretty extensive burrows in. Temperature I kept around 80 with a lamp and a slight drop at night. It would be a bit less than a year that I’ve had him. He went into diapause during the winter for a couple months and I thought he may have molted then. I’ve generally kept humidity low because I was worried about mycosis, that’s why I didn’t try and put in a false bottom to the tank like I’ve heard some others do because I read about some people having mycosis problems with that. I haven’t noticed any spots in the joints but I can look closer when I get home and can also try to get some pictures too.

And yeah, at the small exotics store that I got him from I was speaking to their arthropod keeper who had been keeping and breeding arachnids for years, I had been thinking more of a forest scorpion but nobody had any, and he seemed to know his stuff so I trusted him when he said that desert hairies weren’t too difficult to keep, and maybe the adults more so without their molting problems, but the only ones anyone had were juveniles. I got a lot of my info from him and he had some good setup advice but doing more research on my own I saw that there was a lot more to their care than he had implied.

From years of my own experience, most of those "pet breeders" are been in it for years and are jaded, dont care alot about the animals (its just bugs to them) and just want to make sales given their slowly dying hobby. I would not trust anything any petshop /exotic breeder tells me without consulting places such as AB first. These people WILL lie to you.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

From years of my own experience, most of those "pet breeders" are been in it for years and are jaded, dont care alot about the animals (its just bugs to them) and just want to make sales given their slowly dying hobby. I would not trust anything any petshop /exotic breeder tells me without consulting places such as AB first. These people WILL lie to you.

Lost 3/4 pet shop Ts within a month or few . So you can get sick specimens and bad advice (I didn’t ask them for advice) because pet shops don’t know anything.

Why Wc is Bad!!!

Wild caught tarantulas are often sold without labels saying they are. besides eradicating the wild stocks/populations of tarantulas they also can have bad health problems. for me I’ve been sold one t albo from pet stores that had underlying health issues and didn’t end well :sad: it lasted for...

arachnoboards.com

 

[EmotionSick]

From years of my own experience, most of those "pet breeders" are been in it for years and are jaded, dont care alot about the animals (its just bugs to them) and just want to make sales given their slowly dying hobby. I would not trust anything any petshop /exotic breeder tells me without consulting places such as AB first. These people WILL lie to you.

I definitely felt a little cheated finding out a lot of stuff on my own that he had conveniently not mentioned to me. Since the forest scorpions that I had researched before hand and had been planning for seemed to be unavailable or out of stock everywhere, I let him convince me on his word that these were easy to keep. Really let down that I was misinformed by someone that seemed knowledgeable and that I took him at face value.

 

[gzophia]

Finally home and able to get some pictures. Sorry they’re not the best, I was at a weird angle and the lighting isn’t great. The tank has a fully mesh top for ventilation. I think I overestimated the substrate depth a little, it’s probably closer to about eight inches deep and seven at the lower spots. The smaller container in there is the one he was in when I first got him that I had meant to take out once he had crawled out on his own and gotten more comfortable. But he would always periodically crawl back to it and the burrow in it that he had made, so I figured if that was a spot he liked and was comfortable in I could leave it. He also dug a shallow burrow under part of it which is where he is now.

I don’t really see any black spots in the joints, really the only moisture in the tank would have been a small bottle cap that I put some pebbles in and would fill with a tiny bit of water for him to drink from. Even though they could theoretically get the hydration they need from their prey, and I don’t think I saw him use it I had it in there just in case.

Thanks for the clarifying photos. Your enclosure seems good; it was thoughtful of you to leave your scorpion's old container inside. Everything looks right to me, but again, I am not an expert at all.

I left the lid on to show the mesh top since someone was wondering about ventilation, but here’s a pic without it

Looks great with and without mesh; ventilation seems appropriate.

From years of my own experience, most of those "pet breeders" are been in it for years and are jaded, dont care alot about the animals (its just bugs to them) and just want to make sales given their slowly dying hobby. I would not trust anything any petshop /exotic breeder tells me without consulting places such as AB first. These people WILL lie to you.

Agreed. It's horrible-- you almost always get cheated, lied to, or misinformed. We know that people should do their research before buying, but people should also do their research before selling

I definitely felt a little cheated finding out a lot of stuff on my own that he had conveniently not mentioned to me. Since the forest scorpions that I had researched before hand and had been planning for seemed to be unavailable or out of stock everywhere, I let him convince me on his word that these were easy to keep. Really let down that I was misinformed by someone that seemed knowledgeable and that I took him at face value.

Understandable; I am sorry to hear that. H. arizonensis is considered to be easy to keep by many in the hobby, but that's for adult specimens only. And even then, they actually need some specific parameters, like tank size and substrate depth/type. There are better options in my opinion-- Smeringurus mesaensis (easier and cheaper) or Paravaejovis spp. (small; also easy and cheap).

The fact that your seller left out a lot of info shows how ignorant/untruthful he is. These are both bad traits for a salesman, but when dealing with living animals, it is even worse.
I hope your experience doesn't put you off from the hobby; scorpions are amazing creatures and I do hope you have a better experience next time (if you choose to try again).