Bark Scorpion Mycosis?

MasterOogway

MasterOogway

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
294
Hey all, haven't worked with too many scorpions over the years, but noticed this on a feed today, looks like an injury with possible mycosis as well? Thoughts? Haven't had to deal with mycosis events before, as far as I'm aware there's not much treatment? I do have access to all the veterinary care in the world though, so if there's treatments out there I'm interested in hearing about them. Sorry for the fuzzy pic, scorp was on the move and I had limited time.
 
D

Dry Desert

Arachnoprince
Joined
Mar 9, 2016
Messages
1,551
MasterOogway said:
Hey all, haven't worked with too many scorpions over the years, but noticed this on a feed today, looks like an injury with possible mycosis as well? Thoughts? Haven't had to deal with mycosis events before, as far as I'm aware there's not much treatment? I do have access to all the veterinary care in the world though, so if there's treatments out there I'm interested in hearing about them. Sorry for the fuzzy pic, scorp was on the move and I had limited time.
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Difficult to tell from just the one photo. Mycosis usually starts on the feet and lower joints area. As far as I am aware there is no cure for Mycosis,
to prevent it getting any worse you will have to carry out a complete clean. Bin ALL the substrate and change for NEW, wash all bowls with weak bleach solution, making sure you rinse well after, clean or change any hides / decor, and when all complete increase temp. and cut back on moisture in the enclosure.
 
MasterOogway

MasterOogway

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
294
Dry Desert said:
Difficult to tell from just the one photo. Mycosis usually starts on the feet and lower joints area. As far as I am aware there is no cure for Mycosis,
to prevent it getting any worse you will have to carry out a complete clean. Bin ALL the substrate and change for NEW, wash all bowls with weak bleach solution, making sure you rinse well after, clean or change any hides / decor, and when all complete increase temp. and cut back on moisture in the enclosure.
Click to expand...

We're doing some betadine swabs on the affected area currently, and moved him to a better ventilated tank. Ambient room temp is around 82 and I'm hesitant to go any higher than that. But yeah, I've never heard of a 'cure' for mycosis either, but as long as the Scorp is kept nice and dry, and the initial infection is stymied, I've heard they can pretty much go about their lives as normal. There is like....no literature at all on this topic that I've been able to find though. What kinds of fungi are involved, invert treatments, abundance of spores in the environment, etc. I've heard anecdotally that the fungal spores are pretty much everywhere and you can't really get rid of them, even with a full bleach and clean they'll just come right back in and colonize. Anyways. Learning experience I suppose.
 
darkness975

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,629
Dry Desert said:
Difficult to tell from just the one photo. Mycosis usually starts on the feet and lower joints area. As far as I am aware there is no cure for Mycosis,
to prevent it getting any worse you will have to carry out a complete clean. Bin ALL the substrate and change for NEW, wash all bowls with weak bleach solution, making sure you rinse well after, clean or change any hides / decor, and when all complete increase temp. and cut back on moisture in the enclosure.
Click to expand...
From what I have read on the topic over the years the only real "cure" per se is if the Scorpion molts out of it. But if it is already an adult, than all the keeper can do is prevent it from spreading more than it already has.
 
MasterOogway

MasterOogway

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
294
If anyone is interested; this scorpion passed today. It'll be sent out for a histopathology report in a week or so. If I learn anything interesting from it about either the mycosis or anything else I'll be sure to post it on this thread. More quality data on this topic is always useful. He had been eating fine after a treatment of betadine up until today (obviously) but showed no other signs of being in distress for the past month. No idea on age as he was probably wild caught and was a donation from the public so it's possible he just aged out, but who knows.
 
MasterOogway

MasterOogway

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
294
Finally got the histo report back; I have pasted the body of the report below, and will probably cross-post on the other mycosis thread that was hanging around at the same time so people have an easier time of tracking down the info, if they're curious. I have also expressed my interest to the vet staff that I would like to try and culture out the fungus before we preserve in formalin the next time (if there is a next time) and see what we can find out. More info is always helpful!



HISTORY: This less than 2-year-old, male sculptured scorpion had an infection of the left forelimb that was treated with Betadine. The animal died spontaneously.


CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS: Fungal disease.


GROSS: Received in formalin is a scorpion that is processed in two blocks.


MICROSCOPIC: Pedipalp: At the articular joint, the cuticle has full thickness erosion and invasion by fungal hyphae that have right angle and acute branching and septation. Erosion is associated with melanization and infiltration by moderate numbers of hemocytes. The following tissues are histologically within normal limits: mediate gland, midgut diverticula, and booklungs.


HISTOPATHOLOGIC DIAGNOSIS: Moderate, regionally extensive, ulcerative dermatitis with intralesional fungi.



COMMENT: As suspected clinically, the primary problem in this case was the fungal infection on the pedipalp. The lesion was localized to a joint and was inflamed (hemocytes, melanin, etc.). Focal cuticular lesions can be fatal in arachnids due to loss of hemolymph, which can occur acutely or over several days with no clinical signs outside of depression. Exsanguination often follows even small cuticular lesions. This animal was in adequate nutritional status at the time of death as estimated by midgut diverticular storage contents.
 
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