Desert Hairy AWOL

[Mila]

Did it survive the molt? Yup after a fresh molt they dont glow under blacklight lol weird

Fresh molt scorpions don't glow because the cuticle layer of their exoskeleton hasn't solidified fully. It will only glow when fully hardened

 

[Dovey]

Keep in mind that it is monsoon season here in Arizona. In the area around Sedona, where I work, we get torrential downpours every afternoon for several days. In New River, where I live, we have had several inches of rain in the last week. It's my suspicion that desert hairy keepers tend to err on the dry side, particularly this time of year. I recently read a dissertation on desert sand roaches that reported 100% humidity and 74 degrees in roach colonies' dens when the surface temperature was 116 degrees. These are not conditions we can reproduce in captivity, but I have a feeling the wild desert hairy's den is cooler and more moist than we are really accounting for in our care. I suspect this might have something to do with their tendency to have molting difficulties in captivity.

 

[Dovey]

Do any of y'all use endoscopes to check on your burrowers? They are available really inexpensively online.

 

[Rik Cuddy]

He was going through a molt and got stuck halfway out. Unfortunately died

 

[Jason Brantley]

He was going through a molt and got stuck halfway out. Unfortunately died

Ah man, sorry to hear that Rik.

 

[Dovey]

Well, damn and blast. I'm so sorry.

 

[Jason Brantley]

I've got a Parabuthus transvaalicus and an Androctonus teniussimus molting right now as I'm typing this...

 

[Rik Cuddy]

I hope things go better. If I'd have realised he was molting earlier I would have sprayed the burrow he was in a little more and earlier. I'm only going to get adults in desert species from now on as it's not nice to watch and not be able to do anything. Thanks for the messages, appreciated

 

[Dovey]

I've got a Parabuthus transvaalicus and an Androctonus teniussimus molting right now as I'm typing this...

I say mist. Others may disagree.

 

[Jason Brantley]

Yeah me too. I always mist the enclosure but not the scorpion itself. I make it a little on the wetter side when they molt and check frequently

 

[soldierof4cheese]

Sorry to hear about your loss, I wouldn't give up though, one of these days when life slows down, I want to build a Haddy encloser and make the substrate deep for burrowing and at the bottom a controllable moisture source. I have that type of setup now for my Trogs but don't use it, they really don't need a whole lot of humidity to molt and it can take days for them to complete their molt from what i have read. I haven't seen either of my Troglodytes in quite some time, I know they are getting ready to molt. So I wait and see what happens.

 

[ArachnoDrew]

Very sorry to hear for the loss man. You made such a nice enclosure for it.... buuuut please dont let it discourage you from buying other desert sp as slings..... desert hairy are particularly known for the molting problem.... i have about 90% desert sp. In mu collection All purchased at 4i and under for the most part and i have not had 1 failed molt... not even with the burrowing sp.that i keep on non burrowing substrate (loose sand).... just about all other sp. You will have great success with in the future... but yes next DH maybe an adult

 

[Rik Cuddy]

Very sorry to hear for the loss man. You made such a nice enclosure for it.... buuuut please dont let it discourage you from buying other desert sp as slings..... desert hairy are particularly known for the molting problem.... i have about 90% desert sp. In mu collection All purchased at 4i and under for the most part and i have not had 1 failed molt... not even with the burrowing sp.that i keep on non burrowing substrate (loose sand).... just about all other sp. You will have great success with in the future... but yes next DH maybe an adult

Thanks buddy. So I've now redone the enclosure and added some more substrate. Exact same setup. Just had an email back from www.thespidershop.co.uk letting me know that they are due an import of various Hadrurus in about 4 weeks. Said they are getting pallidus and spadix, so contemplating a spadix if I can!

 

[ArachnoDrew]

Going to PM you

 

[darkness975]

Keep in mind that it is monsoon season here in Arizona. In the area around Sedona, where I work, we get torrential downpours every afternoon for several days. In New River, where I live, we have had several inches of rain in the last week. It's my suspicion that desert hairy keepers tend to err on the dry side, particularly this time of year. I recently read a dissertation on desert sand roaches that reported 100% humidity and 74 degrees in roach colonies' dens when the surface temperature was 116 degrees. These are not conditions we can reproduce in captivity, but I have a feeling the wild desert hairy's den is cooler and more moist than we are really accounting for in our care. I suspect this might have something to do with their tendency to have molting difficulties in captivity.

I find it curious that they are the only arid species that seem to have this problem on such a widespread scale.

 

[Mila]

I find it curious that they are the only arid species that seem to have this problem on such a widespread scale.

Hasn't DH being observed burrowing really far down? Maybe they need more humidity and a bigger temperature drop