# How to lessen the odds of a desert hairy Scorpion dying of molt?



## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 15, 2017)

I'm thinking of buying a desert hairy scorpion, but I read that the majority of the scorpions die in molts.  Can some one direct me to a thread or give me an answer?


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## Jason Brantley (Sep 15, 2017)

I make sure my scorpions are heavily misted when about to molt. I spray the enclosure and not the scorpion itself. Check frequently to see how it's doing like every half hour to hour.


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## ArachnoDrew (Sep 16, 2017)

Most people assume this to be because of the lack of gradient in captivity that they have in the wild from making deep and extensive burrows.. the best way would be to offer it a nice substrate @Scorpionluva has had great success with them, raising from babies


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 16, 2017)

okay, so is 3:1 of excavater clay and sand good?


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## ArachnoDrew (Sep 16, 2017)

Yea.... but i would get @Scorpionluva opinion he has a fancy sub. Mixture he uses


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 16, 2017)

Did he say in the forums about what he uses?


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## ArachnoDrew (Sep 16, 2017)

Yea hese discussed it in other posts with the similar question


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 16, 2017)

Do you have the link?


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## darkness975 (Sep 16, 2017)

Chickenfeeder100 said:


> Do you have the link?


@Scorpionluva was tagged already so he will see this thread soon enough. 

Regarding your inquiry: Get an Adult.  That reduces the chances of any molt related complications to 0% since they do not molt anymore once they reach Adulthood.


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 16, 2017)

I'll be looking for some adults, but there is a high chance that I can't find any so that's why I'm made this thread.


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## Scorpionluva (Sep 16, 2017)

Yes i have to agree the easiest way to avoid molt issues with any hadrurus species is to buy adults  and because alot of people seem to doubt my setups that did work for me ( and didnt work for others ) im reluctant to post my methods anymore.....although 1 of my best attributes i possess is i love to help people ... so here goes 
I used play sand , excavator clay , aquarium gravel , chunks of broken sea shells as my substrate about 2 inches deep. I used clear solo cups that had 1/3 of a side cut off buried under the substrate with tiny holes poked through it for water to drip through  ( this was to simulate the conditions where my cousin found all of my specimens in scrapes under creosote bushes )  i asked him to bring me a few small bushes to use but all the plants died or got mangled on his way to Pa from AZ.  The cup idea was crude and not appealing to look at by any means but everytime i found a newly molted juvie - it was inside 1 of the " humidity dome" solo cup hides.  I added about a 1/2 cup of water once a week to each cup on top straight through the substrate and misted over top seashells and other rocks to create tiny pools of water for them to drink if they were out and about. 
 I kept them this way for over 10 years and had great success ( and had no idea of the troubles most people had with them until i joined AB a few years back)   this was the species that started my passion for scorps over 20 years ago and because of hadrurus - im still keeping scorps now.
Even though this method worked well for me  after i sold my tanks + hadrurus to a friend who kept them relatively the same way i did - he failed miserably and sold them to keep bearded dragons (which meant i couldnt even use the tanks again for scorps ) 
Heres a couple pics ( sorry theyre not great quality but they are scans of old polaroid pics ) 



There were occasional fights between tankmates but i never had a death occur so i left them together.  If there woulda been a death - i wouldnt have kept them communally.  Hope this helps if you do purchase any hadrurus

Reactions: Like 5 | Informative 3


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 16, 2017)

I'm gonna try to replicate what you did but if 
I fail miserably, I might buy a tarantula instead.  Will this work for hoffmannius spinigerus?
Cause my scorpion is going in his pre-molt.  He or she is really fat and won't eat.


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## darkness975 (Sep 16, 2017)

@Scorpionluva Do you have any _Hadrurus spp. _left?  

@Chickenfeeder100 That species does not have the same issues (as far as I know) as _Hadrurus spp._ regarding molting.  @Scorpionluva is not the only one that has mentioned set ups involving a moist area for them.  True the risk of mycosis is something that worries people but I wonder what amount of humidty vs dryness is actually right.  Maybe a certain time of the year?  Hard to say.


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## keks (Sep 16, 2017)

Scorpionluva said:


> Yes i have to agree the easiest way to avoid molt issues with any hadrurus species is to buy adults  and because alot of people seem to doubt my setups that did work for me ( and didnt work for others ) im reluctant to post my methods anymore.....although 1 of my best attributes i possess is i love to help people ... so here goes
> I used play sand , excavator clay , aquarium gravel , chunks of broken sea shells as my substrate about 2 inches deep. I used clear solo cups that had 1/3 of a side cut off buried under the substrate with tiny holes poked through it for water to drip through  ( this was to simulate the conditions where my cousin found all of my specimens in scrapes under creosote bushes )  i asked him to bring me a few small bushes to use but all the plants died or got mangled on his way to Pa from AZ.  The cup idea was crude and not appealing to look at by any means but everytime i found a newly molted juvie - it was inside 1 of the " humidity dome" solo cup hides.  I added about a 1/2 cup of water once a week to each cup on top straight through the substrate and misted over top seashells and other rocks to create tiny pools of water for them to drink if they were out and about.
> I kept them this way for over 10 years and had great success ( and had no idea of the troubles most people had with them until i joined AB a few years back)   this was the species that started my passion for scorps over 20 years ago and because of hadrurus - im still keeping scorps now.
> Even though this method worked well for me  after i sold my tanks + hadrurus to a friend who kept them relatively the same way i did - he failed miserably and sold them to keep bearded dragons (which meant i couldnt even use the tanks again for scorps )
> ...


Thank you very much that you're sharing your experience once more .

Reactions: Like 1


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## Scorpionluva (Sep 16, 2017)

Chickenfeeder100 said:


> I'm gonna try to replicate what you did but if
> I fail miserably, I might buy a tarantula instead.  Will this work for hoffmannius spinigerus?
> Cause my scorpion is going in his pre-molt.  He or she is really fat and won't eat.


I hope whichever way you decide to try is successful for you. In most cases it seems that some keepers just have a niche for certain species , others do well with many different species and some just get lucky with any or all species they keep  ( example) i absolutely love parabuthus and androctonus but ive had minimal to no success with them so when i feel im not going to be successful with them - i find someone i feel is more capable of being successful with them. 
I would never doubt anyone's method if it works but what works for some may not work for others.
   I will even admit that i tried recreating my own methods about 4 years ago but all of the females died before birthing. Im guessing they were old adults and i havent tried again  due to all the other species i keep now.  
As far as the vaejovis/hoffmanius/paravaejovis/what ever genus name it is now lol   they seem to be fairly easy to keep. I know @gromgrom use to keep these and produce broods regularly  but not sure if he still does.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Scorpionluva (Sep 16, 2017)

darkness975 said:


> @Scorpionluva Do you have any hadrurus ssp. left?


No i dont have the space or even close to the same set-up i had before at my old house. (Moved about 5 years ago ) I had alot more ventilation at my old house since my scorp area was more of a wall in my bedroom as opposed to now where i tossed all of the wife's clothing outta our master closet and its officially the scorp room now lol   next step is tear the walls out and rebuild to expand my scorp room

Reactions: Like 1


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 17, 2017)

Ima just do a 3:1 sand and excavater clay and try to find a female adult.  But if I can't and have to get a juvenile, I'll take all of your advice and pray that it works for me.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Scorpionluva (Sep 17, 2017)

Chickenfeeder100 said:


> Ima just do a 3:1 sand and excavater clay and try to find a female adult.  But if I can't and have to get a juvenile, I'll take all of your advice and pray that it works for me.


That or try a combo of all the methods and come up with a new ingenious idea that could set the standard on how to keep this species.  experimentation is half the fun and battle in keeping scorps successfully !

Reactions: Like 2


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## Chickenfeeder100 (Sep 17, 2017)

My vision is 3:1 mixture with a little bit of that eco earth that's 6 inches deep that's in like a slope.  One of those shallow rock dishes and some crushed sea shells.  I'm not going to spray my cage heavily everyday is he molting cause to much moisture might kill her cause I'm hoping to get a she.  If you guys are really really really interested (or if you guys don't have anything better to do than watch a beginner ramble on) I'll give you people an update in like a month.


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## keks (Sep 17, 2017)

Chickenfeeder100 said:


> My vision is 3:1 mixture with a little bit of that eco earth that's 6 inches deep that's in like a slope.  One of those shallow rock dishes and some crushed sea shells.  I'm not going to spray my cage heavily everyday is he molting cause to much moisture might kill her cause I'm hoping to get a she.  If you guys are really really really interested (or if you guys don't have anything better to do than watch a beginner ramble on) I'll give you people an update in like a month.


I'm sitting in the first row, watching your successes .


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## gromgrom (Sep 17, 2017)

Havent had a brood in about a year, I'm hoping for another! 

I tend to keep them on a sand/coco mix.


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## JavaJacketOC (Sep 21, 2017)

Great post! I feel bad about how I'm keeping my adults now, lol. I'll be setting up more burrowing options for them this weekend.




Scorpionluva said:


> Yes i have to agree the easiest way to avoid molt issues with any hadrurus species is to buy adults  and because alot of people seem to doubt my setups that did work for me ( and didnt work for others ) im reluctant to post my methods anymore.....although 1 of my best attributes i possess is i love to help people ... so here goes
> I used play sand , excavator clay , aquarium gravel , chunks of broken sea shells as my substrate about 2 inches deep. I used clear solo cups that had 1/3 of a side cut off buried under the substrate with tiny holes poked through it for water to drip through  ( this was to simulate the conditions where my cousin found all of my specimens in scrapes under creosote bushes )  i asked him to bring me a few small bushes to use but all the plants died or got mangled on his way to Pa from AZ.  The cup idea was crude and not appealing to look at by any means but everytime i found a newly molted juvie - it was inside 1 of the " humidity dome" solo cup hides.  I added about a 1/2 cup of water once a week to each cup on top straight through the substrate and misted over top seashells and other rocks to create tiny pools of water for them to drink if they were out and about.
> I kept them this way for over 10 years and had great success ( and had no idea of the troubles most people had with them until i joined AB a few years back)   this was the species that started my passion for scorps over 20 years ago and because of hadrurus - im still keeping scorps now.
> Even though this method worked well for me  after i sold my tanks + hadrurus to a friend who kept them relatively the same way i did - he failed miserably and sold them to keep bearded dragons (which meant i couldnt even use the tanks again for scorps )
> ...


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## ArizonaAmanda (Jul 15, 2018)

keks said:


> Thank you very much that you're sharing your experience once more .


I don't quite understand the solo cup thing.. could you explain more in detail?


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## darkness975 (Jul 15, 2018)

ArizonaAmanda said:


> I don't quite understand the solo cup thing.. could you explain more in detail?


@Scorpionluva did what I was talking about in your other thread. Basically providing a moist area for them to go to if they wanted higher moisture but also make sure they have the ability to go to dryer areas. Being stuck in too moist conditions is bad.  I know constant humidity that I can't escape from bothers my sinuses, never mind an animal that is used to being able to burrow  away from it or towards it in nature .

It's kind of like when keeping leopard geckos, you provide them a moist hide to go in to help with shedding though they come from Desert regions and thus not High in ambient humidity.


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## ArizonaAmanda (Jul 15, 2018)

darkness975 said:


> @Scorpionluva did what I was talking about in your other thread. Basically providing a moist area for them to go to if they wanted higher moisture but also make sure they have the ability to go to dryer areas. Being stuck in too moist conditions is bad.  I know constant humidity that I can't escape from bothers my sinuses, never mind an animal that is used to being able to burrow  away from it or towards it in nature .
> 
> It's kind of like when keeping leopard geckos, you provide them a moist hide to go in to help with shedding though they come from Desert regions and thus not High in ambient humidity.


So is anything in the solo cup, what makes it more humid? Just because it's a smaller area?


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## darkness975 (Jul 16, 2018)

ArizonaAmanda said:


> So is anything in the solo cup, what makes it more humid? Just because it's a smaller area?


Spraying it inside , having damper sub inside, basically creating a small moist micro dome.


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## Scorpionluva (Jul 16, 2018)

ArizonaAmanda said:


> So is anything in the solo cup, what makes it more humid? Just because it's a smaller area?


I cut about 1/3 of the side but left the whole bottom of the solo cup intact.
  The cut part goes down in the substrate on an angle so they can be on the substrate 
the top of the cup gets tiny holes poked in it so tiny drops of moisture can seap through the substrate. 
I placed the bottom of the cup almost flat on the bottom of the tank and the front of it about 2 inches above the substrate and covered it with substrate ( in a corner of the tank) then I dumped water straight on the substrate slowly until I saw tiny drops come through.  I posted pics earlier in this thread if that helps to see what im trying to say here lol


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## Chris WT (Jul 16, 2018)

This is a good thread for anyone with scorpions


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## Smokehound714 (Jul 17, 2018)

You need several inches of stable substrate.  Hadrurus need to seal themselves off in a cell to molt properly, humidity doesnt influence it at all.  You also need to provide your hadrurus with a deep water dish, they often dehydrate because people fail to give them a deep enough dish, without enough water in their body they will fail the molt and die.  they must be allowed to submerge the pronotum, not just chelicerae, otherwise they wont be able to drink.

 For optimum stability, the substrate must be at least twice the depth of the scorpion's width (5-inch adults need at least ten inches, the more the better.)  

 The reason hadrurus need so much water is because they regurgitate it to groom their bodies, and they lose alot in the process.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jul 17, 2018)

I've considered a desert hairy, but the moulting issues always steered me away. I've seen the advice to obtain mature specimens, and that raises a question. What is the life-expectancy of a mature specimen? The ones offered as wild-caught specimens would definitely be a roll of the dice since there would be no way to determine when they had their final sub-adult moult, I guess, and I don't know if captive-born raised adults are even commonly available. Would likely be expensive if they are, I imagine.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## XaviorJace (Nov 28, 2019)

Scorpionluva said:


> Yes i have to agree the easiest way to avoid molt issues with any hadrurus species is to buy adults  and because alot of people seem to doubt my setups that did work for me ( and didnt work for others ) im reluctant to post my methods anymore.....although 1 of my best attributes i possess is i love to help people ... so here goes
> I used play sand , excavator clay , aquarium gravel , chunks of broken sea shells as my substrate about 2 inches deep. I used clear solo cups that had 1/3 of a side cut off buried under the substrate with tiny holes poked through it for water to drip through  ( this was to simulate the conditions where my cousin found all of my specimens in scrapes under creosote bushes )  i asked him to bring me a few small bushes to use but all the plants died or got mangled on his way to Pa from AZ.  The cup idea was crude and not appealing to look at by any means but everytime i found a newly molted juvie - it was inside 1 of the " humidity dome" solo cup hides.  I added about a 1/2 cup of water once a week to each cup on top straight through the substrate and misted over top seashells and other rocks to create tiny pools of water for them to drink if they were out and about.
> I kept them this way for over 10 years and had great success ( and had no idea of the troubles most people had with them until i joined AB a few years back)   this was the species that started my passion for scorps over 20 years ago and because of hadrurus - im still keeping scorps now.
> Even though this method worked well for me  after i sold my tanks + hadrurus to a friend who kept them relatively the same way i did - he failed miserably and sold them to keep bearded dragons (which meant i couldnt even use the tanks again for scorps )
> ...


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## XaviorJace (Nov 28, 2019)

Hey so you're the man to talk to I guess. I have 2 desert hairies, both scorplings. Been keeping them mostly dry 50~60% humidity, same tank, same food. Ok so I think that one is dying. About a week ago I was misting their enclosure and they both came out of their separate hides and started like attacking attacking the air. Like pinching all around and trying to sting and then they started running in and out of their hides. So up to today I notice they've been kinda twitchy since, one way more so than the other. And today I walked over to the enclosure to check on them and the biggest one is stinging the air and dirt again. Just going at it, spinning in circles, then finally just fell over into a tarantula death curl kinda. So I gave him a few minutes and he didnt move, so I sat him upright and he was super twitchy for like another 10 mins. Now hes kinda okay, like he walked around for a min but hes holding his claws over his head. And I misted the enclosure again and the same thing happened. They started freaking out. I dont know what any of it means. I was thinking they might be having trouble molting so I raised the humidity for now to about 70%. This is my first time with this species so I'm kinda learning as I go. All my other scorpions are forest species. Did you ever go through anything like this?


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