Care Tips for Disabled Scorpion

Frogophrys

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 5, 2017
Messages
2
My scorpion has two good legs on his right side and three on his left -though one is missing it's lowest segment-, with stumps left over from the others. He also has difficulty opening his left pinchers. The store of which i bought him had many scorpions together in one 5 gallon tank. He now lives alone in a 10 gallon tank and only measurs up to 5 inches. In the few, mayby five, months I've had him he has yet to molt and i have no idea how old he is.

Because i also have a lizard and frog i breed dubia roaches, which i feed to the scorpion. He eats in a seperate tank lined with felt. I often have to hold the roach in front of him for him to eat it. He has never once used his stinger but seems to feed fine, primarily with just his right pincher. He seems incapable of hunting on his own. He is however active at night and often hides under his log or fake plant, though he has never burrowed.

My questions:
Are roaches a good staple or should i be using crickets?
Will this co-dependant feeding process inconvenience any future molts?
Molting tips in general.

He is my first scorpion so any tips will help. Thank you all so much.
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
921
Why are you feeding him in a seperate container? They CAN just feed in their own enclosure. It could be stressing him out. Also, roaches are perfectly fine :D Some will say even better than crickets, since roaches have better "nutritional" value (more meat in a roach = less leftovers and a more hearty meal). Also, what scorp do you own? A pic would help, but I am guessing it is some Heterometerous genus scorp. If it is, then they mostly use their claws, regardless of whether one is good or not. As long as he eats and moves around, then he is most likely fine. Again, pics of the scorp would help, but it sounds fine to me ;) For molting as a big, black scorp (Emporer scorp, forest scorp, etc.), just keep it on damp substrate and it should be fine. Just not sure about feeding it in a different enclosure. It doesn't do anything for them really.
 

Frogophrys

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 5, 2017
Messages
2
Why are you feeding him in a seperate container? They CAN just feed in their own enclosure. It could be stressing him out. Also, roaches are perfectly fine :D Some will say even better than crickets, since roaches have better "nutritional" value (more meat in a roach = less leftovers and a more hearty meal). Also, what scorp do you own? A pic would help, but I am guessing it is some Heterometerous genus scorp. If it is, then they mostly use their claws, regardless of whether one is good or not. As long as he eats and moves around, then he is most likely fine. Again, pics of the scorp would help, but it sounds fine to me ;) For molting as a big, black scorp (Emporer scorp, forest scorp, etc.), just keep it on damp substrate and it should be fine. Just not sure about feeding it in a different enclosure. It doesn't do anything for them really.
Thank you!! And yeah hes an emperor cant believe i forgot to mention. Ill stop moving him for each feeding but ill keep giving him his food directly. I was doing that cause he often drops the roach then it hids in the tank and i dont know if hed eaten or not. Also i read somewhere that i should not heat the tank from the bottom? Ive already moved the heating mat to a side but confirmation would be nice ^_^ thanks again.
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
921
Most people here in the scorp hobby will tell you heat mats aren't necessary. As long as your house is about 70 F or up, then it is fine for your scorp. Heat mats can cook scorpions that sit next to them. You're right that you should never heat a scorp enclosire from the bottom, but it probably doesn't need the mat. If you want to increase the heat, there are a lot of safer options. If you can, space heaters that are in it's room work much better, as there is no risk to the scorp. Hope your scorp does well, love emps :D
 

shutout2000

Arachnoknight
Joined
Nov 12, 2016
Messages
162
Most people here in the scorp hobby will tell you heat mats aren't necessary. As long as your house is about 70 F or up, then it is fine for your scorp. Heat mats can cook scorpions that sit next to them. You're right that you should never heat a scorp enclosire from the bottom, but it probably doesn't need the mat. If you want to increase the heat, there are a lot of safer options. If you can, space heaters that are in it's room work much better, as there is no risk to the scorp. Hope your scorp does well, love emps :D
I agree. Man every time I go to post someone has already said what i was going to say. haha
 

TheScorpionMan

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 6, 2014
Messages
190
I agree. Man every time I go to post someone has already said what i was going to say. haha
I personally use red infrared bulbs for my scorps. I have my lamp mounted above my scorp tanks and position the enclosures to have a side out of the lamps rays. I've also used space heaters and they work good too but can be a fire hazard if you're not too careful. I know from experience o_O
 

Collin Clary

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
490
You sure it's a Pandinus imperator? I ask because they're pretty hard to find these days, and other species are often misidentified as them (deliberately or otherwise).

Any chance you could post pictures?

Also, adult scorpions do not molt, and unlike spiders, scorpions rarely regenerate more than part of a lost limb.
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,610
Also, adult scorpions do not molt
This.

@Frogophrys It is unlikely you have a true P. imperator as they are difficult to find nowadays. Post some pictures.
As I quoted above, if the scorpion is adult it will not molt anymore.

If you are removing the scorpion from its enclosure that often I am surprised it is eating at all. That is severely stressful and 100% not necessary. Feed it in its enclosure.
It also sounds like you may not have the proper substrate given that you are able to so easily remove it from its enclosure. It should have several inches of the appropriate substrate to burrow in and the only way you would be able to remove it from that would be to destroy its home (do not do this).

Post images of the enclosure so we can critique it.
 
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