Advice for a potentially bad molt?

Khanti

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
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26
Hey guys, I'm just a little concerned about my Asian forest scorpion. I went to check on her and found her almost completely molted except one leg, and she was just sort of walking around dragging the molt with her. I;m hoping she just simply isn't finished molting, but it seems weird to me that she is just dragging it around. I've misted her enclosure though it was already super humid since I knew she would molt soon, but are there any other tips you can give? It's been about an hour and her leg still seems stuck.

Also, I know that is a tarantula loses a limb it can eventually grow back, is it the same for scorpions? I'm hoping it doesn't come to that of course, but I'd like to know.

Anyway thank you in advance guys!
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
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Feb 22, 2014
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921
Pretty sure it is the same with scorpions losing limbs as T's. Do you have any pics of the enclosure? I have heard that too humid conditions can cause bad molts, so that may be it. I'd just keep an eye on her. If it does turn out to be a bad molt, she will be okay without use of one leg ;) There are some T's that go without almost half their legs, so I'm sure she will be fine. Not the expert on scorps, as mine have yet to molt in my care, but I assume they are the same. Hope it goes well! :D
 

Khanti

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Messages
26
Pretty sure it is the same with scorpions losing limbs as T's. Do you have any pics of the enclosure? I have heard that too humid conditions can cause bad molts, so that may be it. I'd just keep an eye on her. If it does turn out to be a bad molt, she will be okay without use of one leg ;) There are some T's that go without almost half their legs, so I'm sure she will be fine. Not the expert on scorps, as mine have yet to molt in my care, but I assume they are the same. Hope it goes well! :D
That's good to know! I hope she doesn't lose it, but I'm glad that she will probably grow it back if she does. I don't have a picture of the enclosure right now, I'd have to move it too a get a decent picture and I don't want to disturb her right now.
 

G. pulchra

ArachnoGod
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Are you able to place it in a shallow container of water for bit to get it thoroughly saturated?
 

Khanti

Arachnopeon
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Oct 17, 2016
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Are you able to place it in a shallow container of water for bit to get it thoroughly saturated?
I could, but I worry about stressing her out too much, would it be safer to gently mist her? I could at least place a dish in with her and maybe she will go into it by herself...?
 

Khanti

Arachnopeon
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Oct 17, 2016
Messages
26
Update: It's morning now and it doesn't look like much progress has been made. She was a bit more active when I checked on her than she was yesterday. After misting her gently I checked the molt and it hasn't hardened yet thanks to the humidity, however her new exoskeleton does look like it's beginning to harden which worries me. I guess there isn't really anything to be done except wait and hope.
I have a picture of her now, sorry it isn't better quality.
. 15781512_10206120064361036_7964946340842807093_n.jpg
 

Jmtz88

Arachnopeon
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Apr 28, 2016
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1
I would grab the old shed with feeding tongs and let her have a sort of anchor to pull it off
 

darkness975

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@Khanti Unlike Tarantulas, Scorpions do not molt any more once they reach adulthood. Therefore, unless it loses a limb early on in its life cylce it will not regenerate. If it is early on then it will.
 

Khanti

Arachnopeon
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@Khanti Unlike Tarantulas, Scorpions do not molt any more once they reach adulthood. Therefore, unless it loses a limb early on in its life cylce it will not regenerate. If it is early on then it will.
Ok, I would say she is about half the size of an adult right now, so that gives me hope, thanks for clearing that up!
 

darkness975

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Ok, I would say she is about half the size of an adult right now, so that gives me hope, thanks for clearing that up!
Well remember something too, different individuals of the same species are not all going to be the exact same size so the size alone cannot be used as an "ends all" method for ballparking how long the specimen has been alive thus far.
 

Khanti

Arachnopeon
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Oct 17, 2016
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Well remember something too, different individuals of the same species are not all going to be the exact same size so the size alone cannot be used as an "ends all" method for ballparking how long the specimen has been alive thus far.
That makes sense, I'll just hope for the best
 

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
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Oct 6, 2016
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How's she doing now? And no scorpions cannot regrow any limbs, but they CAN regenerate the end segment of a lost leg. If the tip of its foot breaks off, it can regrow that, but if the entire foot is gone, then nothing happens. If it loses several segments and the last segment is damaged, it heals, but doesn't grow any more segments.
 

Khanti

Arachnopeon
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Oct 17, 2016
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How's she doing now? And no scorpions cannot regrow any limbs, but they CAN regenerate the end segment of a lost leg. If the tip of its foot breaks off, it can regrow that, but if the entire foot is gone, then nothing happens. If it loses several segments and the last segment is damaged, it heals, but doesn't grow any more segments.
She hs made very slight progress. I'd say a little more than half her leg is out of the molt but the rest wont budge. After misting her I've tried very gently tugging at it, but pulling it off without hurting her is gonna be impossible so that's not gonna work. I kind of thought about cutting away a portion of the molt so she isn't dragging it around, but that won't help her leg at all.
 

Moakmeister

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She hs made very slight progress. I'd say a little more than half her leg is out of the molt but the rest wont budge. After misting her I've tried very gently tugging at it, but pulling it off without hurting her is gonna be impossible so that's not gonna work. I kind of thought about cutting away a portion of the molt so she isn't dragging it around, but that won't help her leg at all.
You need to remove it. The leg will die due to its blood flow being cut off, and this can spread gangrene to the rest of the scorpion's body and kill it.
 

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
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Oct 6, 2016
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What's the best way to do that?
Use tweezers. The old exoskeleton is thin and should tear easily. Alternatively you could just grab the old exoskeleton and crumble it up in your hand. It's possible that you may need to remove the leg. If the scorpion has hardened up already then it should be somewhat safer to tear the old exoskeleton off. I would go to an expert on this rather than continuing to listen to me, though.
 
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