Emperor - Sudden change of personality

[SeanCasey]

Over the last week I have noticed a significant change in behavior with my Emperor. He has been staying in his hide day and night and acting very defensive. Tonight I tried feeding him as it has been awhile since he last are (about 2 weeks due to food refusal), and he simply stung wildly at the cricket and then tore it up pretty good and then left for dead and went back into his hide. I did notice that he looked a bit dirty and his coloration looked a little more "gray" than normal and the space between the telson and next segment in his tail looked larger than normal. His environment has been a little more moist than normal as his water dish leaked a few times and soaked substrate a bit more than normal (humidity was around 85% with a temp of about 83.)

Any ideas? I attached close up pictures in case someone more experienced sees anything unusual that I have not noticed. Is it possible that even though he appears to be adult that he might be geating ready to moult?

 

[Michiel]

Your emp is already adult and will not molt anymore. I don't see anything unusual in your pictures. Sometimes they will feed irregularly or fast for unknown reasons, I wouldn't be too concerned about it, if I where you.

 

[calum]

yeah, as michiel said, your emp is an adult, so no more moults. and emps are notorius fasters. mine hasn't eaten in months. he's probably just being wierd for the sake of it. get a few far out pics (the entire emp in the whole picture) and we can see if there is anything unusual. and the humidity is fine, I keep mine at about 90%. also, how do you heat his tank? the heat source may be making him to warm and causing him to be super-active.


p.s, are you sure it's a he?

 

[SeanCasey]

Interesting points. I do believe it to be a male (I read a couple sexing guides and I am fairly sure it is a he, but I could be wrong, did you see something makes you think otherwise?).

I was concerned because he usually is more active coming out at night and roaming around quite a bit. Lately he just stays in his hide and is being much more agressive than usual.

As far as temp, one side of his enclosure has a small heating pad on the side and I get temp readings around 86-87 there, and on the opposite side of the enclosure I see 79-81. In between averages around 82-84.

I also thought it was strange that he usually did an amazing job of staying clean and lately has really let himself go a bit, LOL.

 

[calum]

my emperor doesn't really do much either, she just sits in her hide counting away the days. I think they are more active as juvi's, and once they turn adult they calm down a bit.


and if you want him sexed properly, we can do that for you.