# missing a leg



## Eric78 (Feb 27, 2010)

My wife and I traded our cichlids for an emperor scorpion at the local pet shop.  We're thinking it's a female.  Please correct us if we're wrong 

We got her home and discovered that she is missing the right front walking leg.  She still has the trochanter, and it still moves, but that's it.  Everything below that is gone, and we don't know how long he's been without it.  We were just wondering if this is a problem.  Will she die from this?  Will she learn to live without it?  Will it grow back?  She doesn't move around much, and when she does she seems very unstable.  Mostly she just lifts her body and shakes.

Another problem we've noticed is that her chelicerae don't move.  We're new to owning scorps, so any info would be helpful!  Thanks!


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## Eric78 (Feb 27, 2010)

Here is a pic of the missing leg.


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## AzJohn (Feb 27, 2010)

Your scorpion should be fine. I've had several scorpions with missing parts from legs to claws, all have done fine. Unfortunatly they will not regrow lost body parts. It kind of looks like a male to me. The pectines go all the out to the legs.


John


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## Eric78 (Feb 27, 2010)

Thanks, John

We took him/her (?) out and rinsed the substrate off to take the pic.  When we put it back in the cage, it was alot more active...everything seems to be moving just fine now.

We have 2 emperors, and we thought this one was a female because the pectinal teeth are smaller and shorter than the other one's.  Plus, the operculum is heart-shaped whereas the other scorp has an oval-shaped operculum.


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## AzJohn (Feb 27, 2010)

I can't realy tell in the pictures. It's a little blury.

You should be able to sex it using this thread check post 29.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=50720&highlight=sexual+dimorphism

John


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## Eric78 (Feb 27, 2010)

That was the best pic out of the 40 or 50 we took.  I'm gussing we're not so good at photography! 

Actually, we were referring to that exact thread when we were trying to sex them.  They're a little freaked out right now, so we've been trying to let them get adjusted to their new home.  We plan to inspect them further in a couple of days.


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## SixShot666 (Feb 27, 2010)

It should be alright with the missing limb. As for the limb regrowing....I'm not too sure about that. There are articles stating that a scorpion can regenerate it missing limb after each molt. But as for me I haven't seen it for myself. Look like a male from the picture.


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## T.ass-mephisto (Feb 27, 2010)

i had an emp with the same leg missing and she did just fine. in fact she was the ninja of my scorpions and managed to climb a plant all the way to the top of my tank and then grab on to the screen top and just hang for a little bit. thank goodness for screen clips or she may have figured out a way to open the top


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## SixShot666 (Feb 28, 2010)

T.ass-mephisto said:


> i had an emp with the same leg missing and she did just fine. in fact she was the ninja of my scorpions and managed to climb a plant all the way to the top of my tank and then grab on to the screen top and just hang for a little bit. thank goodness for screen clips or she may have figured out a way to open the top


WTF?!?!? Haha...COOL!!!


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## MiGZ (Feb 28, 2010)

+1 for the ninja emp! :worship:


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## dairy (Feb 28, 2010)

I've had several Emps with leg injuries and they've all done fine.

The first had a leg torn off by an angry about to pop gravid female when he climbed the lead for the electronic thermometer, fell off the downpipe for the false bottom and landed in her partition. He was a spaz case for a few days and then carried on just fine.

The second is adult I bought minus one leg and minus one foot on the other side. She's still going strong although her peg leg throws her walk off a bit on the soft substrate. 

The third is a juvie. He hitched a ride on a hide that I removed but didn't check :wall: and had about a week of freedom. Somewhere in his travels a back leg was broken - I'm not sure how to describe it but if that was a mammal I would say it needed to be set. It supported weight but it looked pretty mangled. 2 molts later and with 0 help/interference from me that leg is back to 100%.

Keep an eye on the stump from the lost leg. If it seems to be leaking you may need to do something to seal it (it is possible for a scorp to bleed to death) but $10 says you wont have any problem from it.

That unstable shaking thing could be what's known as juddering and it's completely normal. Based on when I've seen it I think it's a warning. My juvies tend to do it when they've got a prey item and there's another scorp around. I've also seen a male chasing another male and juddering the whole time. I've also read that it can be related to mating. IDK 100% why they do it but it's normal and you don't need to worry about.


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## Eric78 (Feb 28, 2010)

do they start to move around and hunt when they get hungry?or will they just sit and ambush


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