Gravid C. vitattus just gave birth - HELP!

[Sooner]

So we have a WC Centruroides vittatus that just gave birth (they're very common around here and are often killed in homes).

About half of her brood have already climbed onto her back, one is stuck by itself on cardboard, and the rest of the brood is clumped into the ball. Now, the ball of scorplings are alive and moving, however she's gently carrying the ball with her claws.

It looks like she may be eating some sort of sticky membrane that is stuck to the scorplings so she can clean them but I cannot tell. She may be cannibalizing the scorplings but again, I cannot tell.

How many days will it take for the scorplings to reach their next instar and how many instars should I wait to separate the young from the mother? We also threw in a mealworm for the mother to eat, would that stress her out? She also is a xeric form of C. vitattus but should we increase the moisture in case? Thanks!

 

[inverts]

It will take about 7 days for the scorplings to molt to 2i, if the temperature is in the 80's. About 4 days after molting, the scorplings will begin to disperse. Once they have left the mother's back, you can remove them and feed them pinheads.

 

[kaisertown]

Inverts is right 5-8 days for the first molt and you can start seperating them as they leave mommy's back. I wouldn't feed her any live food and she probably won't want to eat at all for a day or two. I always make sure their is some pre-killed food for her and leave a dead cricket for her everyday. Make sure you don't leave it in their too long because she won't take it if it has been dead long.

The 2i babies will eat anything small enough so it is really whatever you can get your hands on. Fruit Flies or pinheads are probably the most common.

If she is eating her young it is typically becuase she is thirsty moreso than hungry. I don't have any experience with the xeric Vittatus so your guess is as good as mine about humidity. Keep an eye on her and if she eats any of the young give her a quick mist.

 

[Sooner]

Well, it seems that the young that are not on her back, she's eating them. The scorplings that are not on her back are not moving or moving little and they're clumped into a ball.

The ones on her back are fine however. So it looks like 60% of the scorplings are not on her back, this is from a brood that's about 20-30 individuals. She is not making any attempts to move the ones in the ball to her back so maybe they're dead, defective, or she's thirsty/hungry.

She should have no reason to be hungry/thirsty since she's given plenty of food and water.