# Is there something wrong with my Emperor scorpion?



## UralOwl (Dec 23, 2012)

Hi,
I've had this scorpion for around 4 or so months now. He's the only scorpion I have at the moment. He's still a juvenile, around 8-9cm in length.

Today, I noticed he was acting a bit odd. He didn't seem to be able to walk very well and seemed to be dragged himself forward using his pedipalps/pincers. I also noticed that some of his legs looked somewhat curled up underneath his body. I tried gently nudging him with some tweezers, but he didn't react to them very much.

I'm currently keeping him in a 30cmx30cmx20cm critter keeper with coco fiber as substrate, a piece of cork bark for him to hide under and a large shallow water dish. The temperature is usually been 75c-77c in my bedroom, so I don't use a heat mat as I don't think it's necessary. I mist one side of his enclosure once every week, he normally prefers to stay on the dry side of his enclosure though.
He's never been a big eater, he'll usually only eat 1-2 crickets every fortnight. He's currently been refusing food for about 3 weeks. I'll usually leave a cricket in his enclosure for around 3-4 days and if he doesn't eat it within that timespan, I take it out and try to feed him again next week.

I don't think he's in pre-molt as he isn't fat, nor has he turned brown yet, but I'm uncertain.
He's also been more lethargic recently, he's generally doing nothing for the most part anyway, but he would fairly often wander around his enclosure for a while at night-time, I haven't seen him do that now for a long time.

Could there be anything wrong with my scorpion?


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## VictorHernandez (Dec 23, 2012)

Once he starts dragging his tail, he will be close to dieing.
He might be sick as of now, but only time will tell.


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## ShredderEmp (Dec 23, 2012)

Is the temp you said, what does the c mean? Does that mean in celsius, because that might be a little high. 

In all serious though, he probably is not going to make it. It is sad to see such a young one go.


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## UralOwl (Dec 23, 2012)

Made an obvious typo with the temperature, it should have been 75f-77f, not c.

I don't understand why it is he would be dying, I haven't made any changes to the way that I keep him.  I had another look at him earlier and it seems like he is able to walk, but very awkwardly. He drags his body along the substrate when moving and, as I mentioned before, uses his pedipalps to help him move.

He is still able to lift his tail perfectly fine, though I should probably note that I have occasionally seen him with his tail almost completely flat on the substrate (this was before he got ill), which would prompt me to panic and quickly poke him with some tweezers; he would always react very quickly and would raise his tail when I did so, and then he would seem perfectly fine afterwards.

I know there is probably nothing I can do to help him, but does anyone know the most common causes for scorpions to die/get ill like this?

EDIT: Another thing, when idle, he'll occasionally shuffle his legs about and somewhat bury himself in substrate. Not sure if that means anything. I'll try and get a photo of him tomorrow, he's underneath his cork bark at the time of writing this.


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## MarkmD (Dec 23, 2012)

The setup for my 3"+ cavimanus is, 10,10,7 deep Kk, 5"cocofiber sub with coconut hide and bottle cap for water, also mist 1-2x per day, temps 75-79f dropping temps at night, feeding once a week on crickets or other appropriate sized feeders. if not eaten by morning then I take it out, your temperature and substrate is fine, but don't leave food in for 3-4 days as it will stress your scorp out, post a pic if you can.

Edit, don't poke the emp with tweezers plz just gently nudge with a paint brush or something soft.


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## CRBP742 (Dec 23, 2012)

Misting once a week is not near enough. You have to remember they're native to rainforest biomes.


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## Michiel (Dec 24, 2012)

Kritter keepers are not ideal for rainforest species, because you cannot maintain proper humidity levels...you could duct tape most of the ventilation sections on the sides, besides the opposite sections to keep some airflow...temps should be between 25-30 celsius...a bit more spraying....A straight out "tail" is not always a bad sign, when scorpions defacate, they also stretch their tail....

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## vespers (Dec 24, 2012)

CRBP742 said:


> Misting once a week is not near enough. You have to remember they're native to rainforest biomes.


Misting frequency depends on a variety of factors. Some people don't really have to mist at all if using a false bottom set up, either.

Plus, some people tend to get a mental image of a "swampy jungle" when they hear the word "rainforest".  I've seen people post pics where the cage looks entirely too wet.

Here is a video of Emperors being caught in Togo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCj9a9JHGc0

Take note of the habitat conditions.

Reactions: Like 1


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## UralOwl (Dec 24, 2012)

Thanks for all the answers so far.
I'll try misting his enclosure more often, though it is always moist around the water dish area since I deliberately overfill it most of the time, normally to get bits of substrate out of the dish which he sometimes kicks in there. I assumed that would have been enough humidity for him, and as I mentioned before, he usually prefers to rest on the drier side of his enclosure. I apologise if I am wrong. By the way, the ambient room humidity is pretty high on it's own, so much so that I fairly often get mold problems, and I also have springtails roaming my bedroom and the water dishes of my tarantulas and scorpion.

As of writing this, he's still underneath his cork bark so I can't get a photo of him. I can just about see him when I shine a flash-light underneath the bark. I know he's not dead (yet) because he's often been in different positions when I check on him. From what I can tell, he is usually laying with his tail either curled up next to his body, or over it.
I tried feeding him another cricket last night, but he didn't seem to be at all interested and just kept backing away from the cricket when I dangled it in front of his pincers, so I took it out.
Maybe I'm just over-analysing every little detail here, but last week when I was misting his enclosure, he gave me what seemed to be a threat pose (pincers held up and tail in the air). He's never done that before (and no, I didn't spray any water on the scorpion, at least not as far as I'm aware), not sure if it's related to what's happening now.


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## ShredderEmp (Dec 24, 2012)

If his tail is up and curled, he shouldn't be dying.


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## UralOwl (Dec 24, 2012)

ShredderEmp said:


> If his tail is up and curled, he shouldn't be dying.


Well that would definitely be a relief, lol.
I'm not sure what could be up with him then. Is it possible for a scorpion to be in pre-molt without being evidently fat/large?


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## ShredderEmp (Dec 24, 2012)

I think the concern here would be that he is using is claws to move himself. I don't know why though. My only explanation would be mycosis on all the legs, but that's almost impossible in forest scorpions.


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## khil (Dec 25, 2012)

All I can think of, is forget misting and keep it in a ventilated tupperware container. Thats what I do for my moist-loving scorps. The substrate needs to remain moist, and with those containers its very easy to do so.


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## darkness975 (Dec 25, 2012)

I agree with the consensus that it may be too dry in there.  What does your hydrometer say?  Misting one side of the enclosure now and then in a kritter keeper is virtually useless as the moisture does not retain in those containers.


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## UralOwl (Dec 25, 2012)

The hygrometer is usually around 60%-80%. I might try and get a tupperware container when I can, but I'm a bit unsure about moving the scorpion at the moment. He's been underneath his corkbark for 3 days and hasn't been moving very much, though he has been moving every now and then, so I know he's still alive.


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## MarkmD (Dec 25, 2012)

It will be alright to move the scorp to new a new home, cause once you've put it in then the scorp will retreat to hiding, maybe even come out that night to explore.


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## UralOwl (Dec 26, 2012)

I'll try and get a tupperware container tomorrow.
Regarding the scorpion, he seems to have been in the exact same position for the past 2 days. He still moves his tail when I pick up the container or mist it out, so he's not dead yet. He's laying with his body flat on the ground with his claws out stretched in front of him; and his tail is usually curled up next to his body.
Would it be OK to move the scorpion in this condition if I do manage to get another container for it tomorrow?


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## MarkmD (Dec 26, 2012)

Yes especially if it's going into better conditions, if it's feeling ill then with time will recover.


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