My AFS isn't doing too good . . . .

[KateTrap2525]

My AFS has been acting odd lately, and I just need some advice since I'm really worried about him.
He's 6 months to a year old (adopted from PetSmart in December) his enclosure is misted 3 times a day (I have to manually do it since the automatic sprayer I ordered has been delayed) and he's usually eager for me to hold him. He has never been insanely aggressive, and rather docile and less-pinchy for a male.

This started yesterday, when I had a dying cricket from our last food haul for him, and I let him have at it (it wasn't dead yet, just at the stage where they have trouble jumping and moving around.)

He ate it like normal which I thought was weird since he recently ate another cricket 3 days ago, and when I was checking up on him, I noticed he was pretty much unresponsive, even when misted his tank and refilled his little water dish (it's very little, meant for baby geckos).

I'm just worried because he wanted to crawl up, and when he did, I saw that his thorax was sunken a bit, as if you put a rubber band on a long tube.
It's concerning the hell out of me, and I just was wondering what's going on if anyone has had this happen before.

 

[Dry Desert]

My AFS has been acting odd lately, and I just need some advice since I'm really worried about him.
He's 6 months to a year old (adopted from PetSmart in December) his enclosure is misted 3 times a day (I have to manually do it since the automatic sprayer I ordered has been delayed) and he's usually eager for me to hold him. He has never been insanely aggressive, and rather docile and less-pinchy for a male.

This started yesterday, when I had a dying cricket from our last food haul for him, and I let him have at it (it wasn't dead yet, just at the stage where they have trouble jumping and moving around.)

He ate it like normal which I thought was weird since he recently ate another cricket 3 days ago, and when I was checking up on him, I noticed he was pretty much unresponsive, even when misted his tank and refilled his little water dish (it's very little, meant for baby geckos).

I'm just worried because he wanted to crawl up, and when he did, I saw that his thorax was sunken a bit, as if you put a rubber band on a long tube.
It's concerning the hell out of me, and I just was wondering what's going on if anyone has had this happen before.

Looks like it's due for a molt, or if female may even be gravid.
Make sure the substrate is nice and damp, not sopping wet, and make sure there are a few good hides it can choose from and then leave well alone.

If it's due to molt, keep checking on it will damage it, maybe even cause death, so leave well alone. It will re appear when it's ready to.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

It looks to me like it might be dehydrated, based on the sunken pleural membrane. Is the substrate totally damp throughout? You don't just want to spray the top layer and have the rest dry. Pouring water directly into the substrate every few days is more efficient than spraying daily.
And how do you know that it's a half year to one year old? Has it molted in your care? It might just be really old too.

 

[KateTrap2525]

Looks like it's due for a molt, or if female may even be gravid.
Make sure the substrate is nice and damp, not sopping wet, and make sure there are a few good hides it can choose from and then leave well alone.

If it's due to molt, keep checking on it will damage it, maybe even cause death, so leave well alone. It will re appear when it's ready to.

I think that might be the case since he is currently hunkered down under his log and in his burrow.
It's a male, and the substrate is kept damp, but not too much to where my babe is soaking wet.

 

[MCPorter1987]

My AFS has been acting odd lately, and I just need some advice since I'm really worried about him.
He's 6 months to a year old (adopted from PetSmart in December) his enclosure is misted 3 times a day (I have to manually do it since the automatic sprayer I ordered has been delayed) and he's usually eager for me to hold him. He has never been insanely aggressive, and rather docile and less-pinchy for a male.

This started yesterday, when I had a dying cricket from our last food haul for him, and I let him have at it (it wasn't dead yet, just at the stage where they have trouble jumping and moving around.)

He ate it like normal which I thought was weird since he recently ate another cricket 3 days ago, and when I was checking up on him, I noticed he was pretty much unresponsive, even when misted his tank and refilled his little water dish (it's very little, meant for baby geckos).

I'm just worried because he wanted to crawl up, and when he did, I saw that his thorax was sunken a bit, as if you put a rubber band on a long tube.
It's concerning the hell out of me, and I just was wondering what's going on if anyone has had this happen before.

Doesn’t look to be anything wrong with him. However misting your terrarium 3 times a day seems rather excessive. What humidity do you have the tank at? Should be at no more than 85% max. Also, what temperature? A lot of online information suggest temperatures of anywhere between 22 and 30°C for AFS which isn’t particularly helpful because that is several different species of AFS.

also I wouldn’t recommend feeding your scorpion crickets/locusts that are in bad health.

 

[CRX]

No scorpion is ever going to be eager for you to hold it.

 

[adam james]

It is hard to guess what the humidity would be without a picture. For instance, if you have an AFS, I assume that you likely have a fairly deep substrate of coco or something similar. If that is the case, then misting even 3 times a day may not be actually giving the results you wish for, or could just be wetting the surface temporarily. I live in Canada. Right now we are in winter, where the average humidity in my house (heated with a heat pump) is around 20 percent (sometimes less) during the day for months. If you spray the surface of soil you can almost watch it dry. After doing some research I went with the 'false bottom' setup. It was very easy to do, and works great. I add some water maybe once a week to the drainage layer (clay hydrotron pellets) and it wicks up through the substrate (coco/sphagnum) and keeps the humidity up. I do also have to restrict the ventilation a bit. It works well as the substrate is never too wet, or too dry and requires only one interaction weekly.

 

[MCPorter1987]

It is hard to guess what the humidity would be without a picture. For instance, if you have an AFS, I assume that you likely have a fairly deep substrate of coco or something similar. If that is the case, then misting even 3 times a day may not be actually giving the results you wish for, or could just be wetting the surface temporarily. I live in Canada. Right now we are in winter, where the average humidity in my house (heated with a heat pump) is around 20 percent (sometimes less) during the day for months. If you spray the surface of soil you can almost watch it dry. After doing some research I went with the 'false bottom' setup. It was very easy to do, and works great. I add some water maybe once a week to the drainage layer (clay hydrotron pellets) and it wicks up through the substrate (coco/sphagnum) and keeps the humidity up. I do also have to restrict the ventilation a bit. It works well as the substrate is never too wet, or too dry and requires only one interaction weekly.

are you sure the humidity in your house is only 20%? That certainly does not seem right

 

[Dry Desert]

are you sure the humidity in your house is only 20%? That certainly does not seem right

Running the house heating during winter, especially with a heat pump system will dry the air out very quickly.
20% is about right, same humidity level you'll have on a normal warm day in summer, which you're trying to achieve running your heating.
The two main ways to reduce humidity,
Dehumidifier,
Heat

 

[adam james]

are you sure the humidity in your house is only 20%? That certainly does not seem right

Yep it can get very dry here in the winter due to cold (anywhere from -5c to -25c outside). However in summer here, it typically sits around 70 percent. and +25-35C. I am only 50 meters from the Atlantic Ocean.
We have a drastic swing from extreme summer to winter. However the climate changing has lately (last 15 yrs) made this less of an issue where our winter extremes are not that long anymore (a week or less of -20c, the rest being around 5c to -5c). Summers, on the other hand, are getting much more hot and humid.

I was considering a H. arizonensis for my next scorpion. I do not have one though, as I am concerned about being able to maintain a low enough humidity in the summer.

@KateTrap2525
The image attached will show how I set up my terrarium. Bottom layer is hydrotron clay pellets. next is a thin layer of screen to keep the substrate separate, then the substrate (i use coco/sphagnum moss mix which wicks water very well).
This is a plastic tote which will suffice until i set up my glass terrarium in my basement. There are holes drilled for some cross ventilation, and a large vent in the lid covered with alum screen that i can adjust how much is 'open'.

The main issue i now have with my setup is that my hide is a coconut style. So its more like a tent and I am sure my scorpion would rather have something with a low ceiling to squeeze in. I figured he would just burrow and so far he has started to, but only went down enough to prevent light from the entrance from getting to him.

 

[MCPorter1987]

Running the house heating during winter, especially with a heat pump system will dry the air out very quickly.
20% is about right, same humidity level you'll have on a normal warm day in summer, which you're trying to achieve running your heating.
The two main ways to reduce humidity,
Dehumidifier,
Heat

20% humidity isn’t even what you’d get in the Sahara desert during the midst of summer.

Yep it can get very dry here in the winter due to cold (anywhere from -5c to -25c outside). However in summer here, it typically sits around 70 percent. and +25-35C. I am only 50 meters from the Atlantic Ocean.
We have a drastic swing from extreme summer to winter. However the climate changing has lately (last 15 yrs) made this less of an issue where our winter extremes are not that long anymore (a week or less of -20c, the rest being around 5c to -5c). Summers, on the other hand, are getting much more hot and humid.

I was considering a H. arizonensis for my next scorpion. I do not have one though, as I am concerned about being able to maintain a low enough humidity in the summer.

@KateTrap2525
The image attached will show how I set up my terrarium. Bottom layer is hydrotron clay pellets. next is a thin layer of screen to keep the substrate separate, then the substrate (i use coco/sphagnum moss mix which wicks water very well).
This is a plastic tote which will suffice until i set up my glass terrarium in my basement. There are holes drilled for some cross ventilation, and a large vent in the lid covered with alum screen that i can adjust how much is 'open'.

The main issue i now have with my setup is that my hide is a coconut style. So its more like a tent and I am sure my scorpion would rather have something with a low ceiling to squeeze in. I figured he would just burrow and so far he has started to, but only went down enough to prevent light from the entrance from getting to him.

the cold doesn’t reduce humidity though. It can get quite cold here in Scotland on occasion but I have NEVER seen 20% humidity. You do realise that is A LOT drier than Death Valley??

 

[adam james]

20% humidity isn’t even what you’d get in the Sahara desert during the midst of summer.



the cold doesn’t reduce humidity though. It can get quite cold here in Scotland on occasion but I have NEVER seen 20% humidity. You do realise that is A LOT drier than Death Valley??

Yes, but the Sahara is not cold. Cold air holds less moisture than warm air, and when its very cold (below freezing) the water falls from the air as snow.
When the outside is at very low humidity in winter, pulling that dry cold air, into the house and heating it up an additional 25-40 degrees without adding any moisture, makes for a very very dry house. Add since its forced air, it will quickly dry up just about anything around. I can wash my hands, shake them off and rub them together to dry them.

I know those humidity meters are not all that accurate, but I have more than one and they are all within 5 of each other. I will snap a pic of one and attach it.
I want to note that I am not saying outdoor humidity is 20 percent, but indoor is around there.

And yes, its killer on the sinuses and skin.

 

[MrPole]

but indoor is around there.

And yes, its killer on the sinuses and skin.

Yeah, it's about the same here. But I like it warm so the heat runs alot and also have fans going for air movement. So 30% humidity isn't all that rare in winter. I tried to use a humidifier once and it was just more trouble than it was worth. And yeah, I feel your pain on the whole dry skin thing.

 

[Dry Desert]

20% humidity isn’t even what you’d get in the Sahara desert during the midst of summer.



the cold doesn’t reduce humidity though. It can get quite cold here in Scotland on occasion but I have NEVER seen 20% humidity. You do realise that is A LOT drier than Death Valley??

For reference,

Sahara Humidity,

Day 10 % - 25 %

Night 25 % - 40 %

 

[KateTrap2525]

It is hard to guess what the humidity would be without a picture. For instance, if you have an AFS, I assume that you likely have a fairly deep substrate of coco or something similar. If that is the case, then misting even 3 times a day may not be actually giving the results you wish for, or could just be wetting the surface temporarily. I live in Canada. Right now we are in winter, where the average humidity in my house (heated with a heat pump) is around 20 percent (sometimes less) during the day for months. If you spray the surface of soil you can almost watch it dry. After doing some research I went with the 'false bottom' setup. It was very easy to do, and works great. I add some water maybe once a week to the drainage layer (clay hydrotron pellets) and it wicks up through the substrate (coco/sphagnum) and keeps the humidity up. I do also have to restrict the ventilation a bit. It works well as the substrate is never too wet, or too dry and requires only one interaction weekly.

I do have him in shredded coco fiber and he's done well with it (though his burrowing abilities are sloppyXD) I may actually try that false setup soon, though another commenter was right about him molting (he just started pre molt this evening) so it'll be a small bit until I can actually try that with his tank, but thank you so much for the comment dude, I've been appreciating everyone's to help me with my babe

 

[KateTrap2525]

Looks like it's due for a molt, or if female may even be gravid.
Make sure the substrate is nice and damp, not sopping wet, and make sure there are a few good hides it can choose from and then leave well alone.

If it's due to molt, keep checking on it will damage it, maybe even cause death, so leave well alone. It will re appear when it's ready to.

I think that was the case since he just started pre molt this evening.
I was just worried since I've only ever owned desert before, so I wasn't sure if they would show the same general molting activity, or like the deserts I've owned, just go limp and eventually slide out of their old skin.

 

[KateTrap2525]

It looks to me like it might be dehydrated, based on the sunken pleural membrane. Is the substrate totally damp throughout? You don't just want to spray the top layer and have the rest dry. Pouring water directly into the substrate every few days is more efficient than spraying daily.
And how do you know that it's a half year to one year old? Has it molted in your care? It might just be really old too.

His entire enclosure is damp throughout, not just surface deep. As for age, it's hard to determine a scorpion's age, so I asked if they knew, and they said the breeder told them he was between 6 months to a year, she missed the date‍