Asian Forest Scorpion dead, molting, don't know...

[YanB]

Hi guys,
I've had my H. Spinifer for about half an year now and even though at first it wasn't too active, recently things got better. But then about a week ago (+/- 2 days) it burrowed into the substrate and I haven't seen him since. There seems to be no more crickets in the vivarium, so the night when he has burrowed he had most probably eaten two crickets. When I bought it , it was around one years old, according to the guy in the shop. Can the scorpion be molting. ( It hasn't since I've had it). Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Best regards and stay safe!

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

If it's just 1 year old it still has a few molts to go, so yes that can be the case.
How ever, if it ate 2 crickets a week ago, it won't molt in the coming days.
Pre-molt takes a bit longer for scorpions.
What do you call 'active'?
Normally when the scorpion is happy/healthy it will be hidden inside it's hide for 95-98% of the time, that's their normal behavior.
Are you keeping it warm enough ? What about humidity ?

 

[Dr SkyTower]

if the scorpion has buried itself in the substrate, it's a sign that says it feels comfortable with its environment. You probably won't see it for ages then!
You can also tell it's hungry when you see a pair of pincers sticking out of the hide/burrow entrance - they're ambush predators and wait for the prey to walk into their embrace!
They like it hot and humid so humidity should be kept high, will help with molting, feeding, growth etc
AFS can live up to 8-10 years.

 

[YanB]

Thanks for the quick answers,
So by ,,active'' I just meant that during the late hours of the night I would see it going trough the enclosure. At least on some nights, most of the time it would just have showed it's pincer.
The thing that was strange to me was that instead of staying in his hides, he burrowed just under the substrate without any opening really.
About the humidity, I spray the enclosure around every 3 days (when there is no condense on the glass).
By the way what temperature is considered ok, because I have read many different things. If during the day the temperature inside the vivarium is about 22 - 23 degrees celsius naturaly and during the night it falls to 19, do I need a heating source. I have a heating mat but it doesn't do too much when it is on the side and if I put it under the enclosure I'm afraid it will negatively effect the scorp. especially now when it is fully burrowed. (the heatmat isn't very powerful)

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

Your husbandry seems good, but these scorpions like it just a bit warmer.
They perform best at 26-30°C during daytime. Heat source off at night.
When you keep them colder they often stop eating and become more inactive.
The heat mat should not be placed under the enclosure, keep it on the side.
You may want to add one or get a more powerful one.
There are some tricks about getting your enclosure up to temp, heat mat outside/inside, heating just the air or a part of the substrate as well...
Please read this thread from a few weeks back:
https://arachnoboards.com/threads/need-maybe-critical-advice.332213/
And don't forget that this species also requires a bath that fits the entire scorpion, they love to bathe every now and then.