Newbie question...

[Iktomi]

Hey all...when a scorp molts, does it show sluggish behavior like a T?
The reason I ask is that my femal emp just sits...all day and night...and you can actually reach in and lift her tail, prod her, etc. and she doesn't hardly react. The male on the other hand, is a little demon that is out all night trying to climb out and checking things out. Should I worry about her? (She IS very fat...)

 

[Iktomi]

Please? Now she's laying there and when I move her, she struggles to curl her tail into position and a couple of her legs twitch!!!

 

[Richard_uk]

There are many people who keep scorpions but have never had the opportunity to see them moult as they have all been purchased/collected as adults.That is probably why there is little response to your question.
I would presume that a scorpion would slow down prior to a moult. Its body is going through a lot of changes. I would personally say your scorpion sounds ill, but as I say, I have never witnessed a scorpion right before a moult.I have only found the discarded skin later.
I would advise removing the male temporarily. The female will be defenseless and make an easy meal. Make sure the humidity in the tank is high by spraying the tank lightly on a daily basis. See if you can coax her into some sort of hide, under a log or something where she can either recover, or start the process of shedding. If nothing has happened within a few days I would suspect something is seriously wrong.
What conditions / temperatures are you keeping it in?

 

[Eurypterid]

Right before a molt scorps do get very sluggish, and may even roll over on their side or back. That's not to say that this is the reason your female is so sluggish, but the behavior is certainly consistant with molting in scorps. I would takes Richard's advice, give her a few days, and see what happens.

Gary

 

[Iktomi]

Okay...I just have a feeling she's dying. The twitching and stuff freaks me out. I know when I introduced the male, he harrassed her mercilessly. (trying to mate, etc.)
She can hardly even react to a touch.
Thanks y'all.

 

[Kugellager]

I hate to say it Damon...but IME whever I have observed what you are it meant that the scorp was about to bite the dust. The ones I have noticed nearing molt were sluggish but if I agitated them enough they would move or get defensive fairly fast...of course that was with Centruroides spp. With Vaejovis spp. they get a bit sluggish but then they usually seal themselves in a burrow for a month or two at the same time too.

John
];')

 

[Diao]

My emporer displayed the exact same behavior before dying. I hate to say it, Inktomi, but I don't know how much longer your emp has.

 

[AK47]

Just give it a few more days or weeks to see whats up with her. And why are you handling scorps in the first place anyways regardless if it is a harmless or a "hot" scorp. Would you like someone to pick you up by one leg and see whats wrong with you?(no flame intended).

Come to think of it ...I think my pair of emps are dead...haven't seen them for two months now going on 3. I will wait for the "smell" then I will know if any are dead.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

I've seen the occurance with pesticides, humidity problems, temperature problems, etc...all died within two months, most within a week (various species). The local pet shop doesn't take advise on keeping too well, though they do try. I've never seen the twitching occurance with but one of my previously kept scorps and his problem was a pesticide someone upstairs from me had sprayed...I worked with him for two months while handfeeding him and giving him water through a dripper (Hottentotta polystictus...I used a dripper because the local pet shop uses water dishes and the scorp almost always shows up dead in the water). All others I have kept simply became sluggish and eventually kicked the bucket. The cause for them was apparently old age, considering they had all obtained nearly maximum size for their species.



adios,
edw.