Asian Forest Scorpion refusing food.

Medi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 23, 2019
Messages
45
Hi everyone!

I have my Asian Forest Scorpion over 2 years now. I bought him from a shop as someone dumped him. He had 1 molt since I have him and he looks fairly big. I can imagine it was his last molt, but I'm not an expert so I can't tell how old he is.

So he is not eating more than 3 months long now. He never had any problem with eating. I always bought him various foods (crickets, mealworms, dubia roaches, etc) and he was always happy to eat them all. He is moving around, making mess as he usually do, using his hide too, seems like nothing wrong with him, but almost 4 month long is unusual to me. When I let the food in into his cage, he is just looking at it, pinch it gently even walking away from it sometimes and then next day they are 'sleeping' together in his hide like a lovers. So I removing the food after 1 or 2 days
He is not skinny and not fat either.

I know it's hard to tell how old they are and how long they have left of they life. I need a little help to find out if he will molt again one last time or he is at his final size/age?
His last molt size was around 8 cm/3,5 inch (measured from his mouth to the end of his tail)
[3rd picture]
I can't measure him now as he is pretty defensive and aggressive and I don't wanna/can't stretch his body out but I guess he is around 12-13 cm/5 inch (I measured his body length only without his tail when I was cleaning his cage and kept him in a food container for a short time. It's around 9 cm/3.5 inch measured from his mouth).

Attached 3 pictures that might help a little.

Thank's in advance!
 

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Albireo Wulfbooper

Arachnoprince
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Aug 1, 2019
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Not unusual. Pretty sure at least one person on here has has one refuse food for over a year. It's fine.

That enclosure looks WAY too dry though - do you have plants in separate containers with wet soil and the accessible substrate dry? This is entirely inappropriate for this genus. They need moist substrate to burrow through.
 

Medi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 23, 2019
Messages
45
Not unusual. Pretty sure at least one person on here has has one refuse food for over a year. It's fine.

That enclosure looks WAY too dry though - do you have plants in separate containers with wet soil and the accessible substrate dry? This is entirely inappropriate for this genus. They need moist substrate to burrow through.
Thank's for your answer!
Any idea about his age and about the molting question?

Yes, he have 2 hides, one side is a bit drier and warm surrounded with heat mats on the sides he only using it occasionally. The other corner is colder and more wet he likes that side a bit more. I keep the soil moist, on the picture is just the surface of the drier bit. I also keep one shallow plate with fresh water and have a long plate filled with moss what I always keep wet and a small plant in the middle! He have a decent size of environment. Thank's for asking btw. I try my best for him, he is awesome!
 

Albireo Wulfbooper

Arachnoprince
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Messages
1,606
Thank's for your answer!
Any idea about his age and about the molting question?

Yes, he have 2 hides, one side is a bit drier and warm surrounded with heat mats on the sides he only using it occasionally. The other corner is colder and more wet he likes that side a bit more. I keep the soil moist, on the picture is just the surface of the drier bit. I also keep one shallow plate with fresh water and have a long plate filled with moss what I always keep wet and a small plant in the middle! He have a decent size of environment. Thank's for asking btw. I try my best for him, he is awesome!
How cold is the colder side? If it's forced to stay on the colder side in order to avoid drying out, that will affect its metabolism. Usually for these animals, people provide a warmer side and a cooler side, but both are moist, because these animals dehydrate much more easily than desert scorpions.

Either way, I cannot comment on the age of this animal. But if you're willing to take some advice, your animal will have a better time if you don't keep the warmer side dry.
 

Medi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 23, 2019
Messages
45
How cold is the colder side? If it's forced to stay on the colder side in order to avoid drying out, that will affect its metabolism. Usually for these animals, people provide a warmer side and a cooler side, but both are moist, because these animals dehydrate much more easily than desert scorpions.

Either way, I cannot comment on the age of this animal. But if you're willing to take some advice, your animal will have a better time if you don't keep the warmer side dry.
I would say it's only like 5°C difference between a two corners.
The soil is only dry on the surface on the actual bit on that picture as I said:)
I keep the whole environment moist, but not too wet as that's aslo no good for this species!
I learned everything here from the best members so hopefully everything is all good.
Thank's anagin for you advises and your answer!
 

Dry Desert

Arachnoprince
Active Member
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Mar 9, 2016
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1,552
I see. I thought usually desert species having this big gap between meals.
Thank you for your reply!
You will probably find it's now a fully mature male, and with the seasonal change he's off looking for a mate, not really interested in food now.
 

Joey Spijkers

Arachnoprince
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Feb 20, 2019
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You will probably find it's now a fully mature male, and with the seasonal change he's off looking for a mate, not really interested in food now.
I agree the animal is mature, but what makes you conclude it’s male? Females can go on hunger strikes just as well.
 

Joey Spijkers

Arachnoprince
Active Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
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Oh yeah, that’s definitely a male. I either didn’t see that post or didn’t remember it being yours.
Sorry Dry Desert.
 
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