Emergency Molt Removal

[Rugg the bug man]

In most cases interfering with a molt is almost certainly a death sentence, but do to the rarity of the species I had no choice but to attempt it.

Last night at about 11pm ish while doing my nightly check on everyone I noticed my 3i male L. jordanensis was molting into 4i. So like I normally would do I let him be to do his thing and decided to check back on him about an hour later to see how it was going. At that point he was about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way out (sorry bad pics I know) so again I let him be for a 1/2 hour figuring he'd most likely be done by that time. Again I go in to check but no progress so I begin to worry a little but leave him be and check back in another half hour. Still nothing so I sit and watch, every few minutes he would have a little burst of energy and try to slip out but to no avail, I watched him do this about 10x and every time nothing. I then noticed the problem, his telson and last metasomal segment seemed to be stuck. Now I'm like WTF!!!!!!! After about another half hour of watching him struggle I decided to intervene. Now knowing that most likely intervening would be a 50/50 shot at best I grabbed a pair of fine tipped tweezers and an razor knife and began the long tedious process of trying to help free him. After about an hour he was freed but not really moving much so I figured he was probably exhausted from the whole ordeal OR unfortunately on his way out. So I let him be for another 2-3 hours till I had to get up for work. Cuz either way it was out of my hands and much to my surprise when I went to check on him the little bastard was up and about as if nothing went wrong.

Now I don't know why I'm really writing this cuz I can't give any tips on doing this nor would I even advise doing such a thing. It sucked and was the most nerve racking thing I think I've ever done. NO BS. I was so focused on trying to free him I don't even know how I was able to get him out without a problem. Now I know it's still early but he seems completely fine. (Pic taken about hour ago) I opened the cover of his enclosure and he's ready to go lol. I know probably 9/10x this doesn't end as good for everybody as it did for us.
So I guess I just want to know if anyone else has had to do this ? And if so how did it go for you ?
Cause we were both incredibly lucky

Cheers
Eric

 

[Galapoheros]

Oh yeah I did this several times years ago with P. transvaalicus. They had just started to pick up here in the US, prob about 10 years ago, I got them from BrianS, I think, I haven't seen him here for several years. There wasn't much experience with them here in the US. They naturally take a break after most of their body is out while the metasoma is still in the old exo but I didn't know this. So with several, I picked them up and slowly pulled them out with never a problem. Then I sat and observed several more and saw that it was natural for them to take a break. I still have them going over here. But yeah I've also freed several that were truly stuck, sometimes using a pin, that works well, going under and pulling up to slowly break the old exo on limbs.

 

[Stugy]

In most cases interfering with a molt is almost certainly a death sentence, but do to the rarity of the species I had no choice but to attempt it.

Last night at about 11pm ish while doing my nightly check on everyone I noticed my 3i male L. jordanensis was molting into 4i. So like I normally would do I let him be to do his thing and decided to check back on him about an hour later to see how it was going. At that point he was about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way out (sorry bad pics I know) View attachment 243430 so again I let him be for a 1/2 hour figuring he'd most likely be done by that time. Again I go in to check but no progress so I begin to worry a little but leave him be and check back in another half hour. View attachment 243431 Still nothing so I sit and watch, every few minutes he would have a little burst of energy and try to slip out but to no avail, I watched him do this about 10x and every time nothing. I then noticed the problem, his telson and last metasomal segment seemed to be stuck. Now I'm like WTF!!!!!!! After about another half hour of watching him struggle I decided to intervene. Now knowing that most likely intervening would be a 50/50 shot at best I grabbed a pair of fine tipped tweezers and an razor knife and began the long tedious process of trying to help free him. After about an hour he was freed but not really moving much so I figured he was probably exhausted from the whole ordeal OR unfortunately on his way out. So I let him be for another 2-3 hours till I had to get up for work. Cuz either way it was out of my hands and much to my surprise when I went to check on him the little bastard was up and about as if nothing went wrong. View attachment 243432

Now I don't know why I'm really writing this cuz I can't give any tips on doing this nor would I even advise doing such a thing. It sucked and was the most nerve racking thing I think I've ever done. NO BS. I was so focused on trying to free him I don't even know how I was able to get him out without a problem. Now I know it's still early but he seems completely fine. (Pic taken about hour ago) View attachment 243434 I opened the cover of his enclosure and he's ready to go lol. I know probably 9/10x this doesn't end as good for everybody as it did for us.
So I guess I just want to know if anyone else has had to do this ? And if so how did it go for you ?
Cause we were both incredibly lucky

Cheers
Eric

My heart rate started increasing as I read your little story xD Phew! I hope your scorpion will be ok!

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Glad you had success! Would provide a bit of extra humidity ( misting lightly nearby, but not directly on the scorp ) be as advisable in assisting desert species out of their old exoskeleton?

 

[Galapoheros]

Glad you had success! Would provide a bit of extra humidity ( misting lightly nearby, but not directly on the scorp ) be as advisable in assisting desert species out of their old exoskeleton?

Yes, I use a dropper and put a drop directly at the edge of the stuck area. It's like adding water to a lubricant that has gotten to dry and it also softens the old exo. You want just a little water to seep under the old exo, ime.

 

[Rugg the bug man]

@Galapoheros
Im glad to hear you had success with your stuck molts as well. In all my 15+years of keeping I had only heard of this happening but never experienced it first hand. And with the species it happened to it was quite nerve racking. I hate to say it but if it had happened to probably any other species i have, I more than likely would've just let nature take it's course but now after doing it and the

@Stugy
The little bastard seems to be just fine