How much water does it take to drown a scorpion?

Scorpionluva

Arachnoangel
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Jul 15, 2013
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925
Not much at all :(
20180310_174011.jpg
Found this 3i heteroctenus junceus dead today just from a little condensation on the lid of its deli cup
This is horrible that it happened but I hope it shows other keepers that it really doesn't take much water to drown a scorpion .....
a little drop of water, a smooth surface and BAM ..... dead scorpion !!!
they get vacuumed to the smooth surface and cannot get free from the suction even upside down on a lid it could reach from the ground
If there's any positive outcome from this happening to 1 of my scorpions - it's to help others NOT lose their scorpions due to drownings that can be avoided
 

KYguy

Arachnopeon
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Jan 31, 2018
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40
Sorry man! But it really puts it into perspective for a newbie like me. So thanks for sharing.
 

Scorpionluva

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Sorry man! But it really puts it into perspective for a newbie like me. So thanks for sharing.
It sucks but I believe my sucesses as well as my failures need to be documented and shared to help any/all keepers with their scorpions so we all become better keepers
 

Dave Jay

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Messages
294
Wow, I wouldn't have thought it possible. Thanks for sharing that, I'm sorry for your loss, but you've turned a negative into a positive, it serves as a warning to us all.
 

Scorpionluva

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Jul 15, 2013
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Wow, I wouldn't have thought it possible. Thanks for sharing that, I'm sorry for your loss, but you've turned a negative into a positive, it serves as a warning to us all.
This is the 1st time I've witnessed a scorp drown in condensation but I've witnessed several drownings in tiny little water dishes
This is why I no longer use water dishes of any kind for any of the 20+ species I keep currently
Very few species actually need a water dish - proper misting can achieve their drinking and humidity needs all in 1 step
 

Dave Jay

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Feb 5, 2018
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294
One of the leading experts on Australian scorpions, and the author of the only book dedicated to keeping them, Mark Newton, conducted experiments on two burrowing desert species that proved that those species at least can absorb water from the substrate and perhaps the air, he speculates that other species can do the same including overseas arid burrowing scorpions but the experiments have never been done. The moisture level at which this can occur is 1.5% water by weight, that would not feel damp to us. Many of the Australian species do not drink free water at all in any form, but they will stand on damp substrate or on damp rocks etc., his theory is that they absorb water through osmosis. Of course most of their water is from their prey. I added a polished stone to a couple of enclosures just as decor, but I saw a couple of my scorps would be on or half on them for a while every morning, only in close up pictures could I see that there was always tiny droplets of condensation on them, at least around the base where it met the substrate. Now I use polished stones in most of my enclosures as the water source, with the high moisture scorps its where I'll drip water, in the dry enclosures they still appear wet even though the surface of the sand is dry and some of the scorps spend a great deal of time on them.
 

Scorpionluva

Arachnoangel
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Jul 15, 2013
Messages
925
One of the leading experts on Australian scorpions, and the author of the only book dedicated to keeping them, Mark Newton, conducted experiments on two burrowing desert species that proved that those species at least can absorb water from the substrate and perhaps the air, he speculates that other species can do the same including overseas arid burrowing scorpions but the experiments have never been done. The moisture level at which this can occur is 1.5% water by weight, that would not feel damp to us. Many of the Australian species do not drink free water at all in any form, but they will stand on damp substrate or on damp rocks etc., his theory is that they absorb water through osmosis. Of course most of their water is from their prey. I added a polished stone to a couple of enclosures just as decor, but I saw a couple of my scorps would be on or half on them for a while every morning, only in close up pictures could I see that there was always tiny droplets of condensation on them, at least around the base where it met the substrate. Now I use polished stones in most of my enclosures as the water source, with the high moisture scorps its where I'll drip water, in the dry enclosures they still appear wet even though the surface of the sand is dry and some of the scorps spend a great deal of time on them.
That sounds like a great book and only helps further conclude that most species do not need a water dish
I've done enough experiments with my own collection to help prove this fact also almost half of my leiurus species will drink from the tiny drops on the sides of the tank while the other half sits on moist substrate and absorbs it
I've seen some actually pick up single grains of sand and drink or groom themselves with it, drop the grain and pick up several more 1 at a time til they are either hydrated or groomed completely
I've tried getting pics of them doing this but they never turn out clear enough to see the single grain lol
 

Wishorama

Arachnopeon
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Mar 18, 2018
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Hi all, first post here.... I caught a Southern Devil scorpion while on a hike last weekend. We put it in an empty water bottle and it was mostly dead by the time I got it home and into a terrarium, all water logged and slowed from the drops of water left in the bottle. I thought he would dry out and revive but he didn’t make it. It did not seem like much water...
 

Scorpionluva

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Jul 15, 2013
Messages
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Hi all, first post here.... I caught a Southern Devil scorpion while on a hike last weekend. We put it in an empty water bottle and it was mostly dead by the time I got it home and into a terrarium, all water logged and slowed from the drops of water left in the bottle. I thought he would dry out and revive but he didn’t make it. It did not seem like much water...
Sorry to hear it didn't make it
I've had 2 scorpions recover out of close to 20 total drownings after placing them right in front of my space heater they may have not been completely dead yet or I caught it just in time but the others showed no sign of life even a day later
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
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I use water dishes for all of mine and have had no problems. They all drink from the dishes regularly enough for me to never consider not giving them one.

@Scorpionluva are you 100% certain that it did not have some other ailment you were unaware of, crawled to the water to try and hydrate, and succumbed to the aforementioned ailment?

I've had Emps and others take baths in their dishes in the past. I now give them smaller dishes just for convenience but still.

 

Scorpionluva

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Jul 15, 2013
Messages
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I use water dishes for all of mine and have had no problems. They all drink from the dishes regularly enough for me to never consider not giving them one.

@Scorpionluva are you 100% certain that it did not have some other ailment you were unaware of, crawled to the water to try and hydrate, and succumbed to the aforementioned ailment?

I've had Emps and others take baths in their dishes in the past. I now give them smaller dishes just for convenience but still.

No It didn't have an ailment. It was newly hardened after molting to 3rd instar and with this species they can reach the top of a 2.5 oz deli with ease I've had them running around the lids many of times and had them come running straight out the deli onto my hand
20171027_163008.jpg

this is the 1st out of 1000's of just this specie I've produced that got caught in a bubble of condensation on the lid
it was merely meant to display to others that caution should be taken in all situations with baby scorps and any amount of standing water even if the water is on the under side of a lid
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I've kept Hadrurus successfully ( raising , molting , breeding and raising the babies also without the need of any water bowls
photo.PNG
 

NYAN

Arachnoking
Joined
Dec 23, 2017
Messages
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I found one of my scoropions apparently dead in its water dish which had barely 1 cm of water in it. I took the bottle cap out, checked the scorpion and it didn’t move and was totally limp. I left the scorpion in the enclosure and just now I looked and it moved from where I last left it! I poked it and it ran around! The scorpion wasn’t dead at all but knocked out for who knows how long, 12 hours had passed since I found it though.
 

Scorpionluva

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Messages
925
I found one of my scoropions apparently dead in its water dish which had barely 1 cm of water in it. I took the bottle cap out, checked the scorpion and it didn’t move and was totally limp. I left the scorpion in the enclosure and just now I looked and it moved from where I last left it! I poked it and it ran around! The scorpion wasn’t dead at all but knocked out for who knows how long, 12 hours had passed since I found it though.
I'm glad your scorp recovered after it's apparent drowning
I had a couple recover before also but most that did drown didn't came back to life even after a week of drying out and being warmed up. What species of yours did this happen to ?
 

NYAN

Arachnoking
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Dec 23, 2017
Messages
2,511
I'm glad your scorp recovered after it's apparent drowning
I had a couple recover before also but most that did drown didn't came back to life even after a week of drying out and being warmed up. What species of yours did this happen to ?
Paruroctonus silvestrii
 

Scorpionluva

Arachnoangel
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Jul 15, 2013
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925
Yeah, it’s nice that they live in my backyard too!
I bet :)
Unfortunately where I live there's no scorpions in my backyard ( unless I take them from my scorp room into my backyard ) lol but not sure that counts
 
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