H. Arizonensis is gone

[Frank]

Hello, yesterday night I found my H. Arizonensis to be gone... I've got him about a year ago, when I found him, he was in his burrow, and he smelled bad (very bad, for an animal of that size), the last time I saw him was 2 or 3 days ago.. I wanted to ask some questions about that, if ever I did something wrong, in which I could learn from....

I think that there's maximum 4 things that could have resulted in his death:

1-Old age: he didn't molt in the year I got him.. so he was already old, and he was WC (I'm pretty sure)
2-Humidity: summer comes by, and humidity increase alot.. that's still not enough to kill a desert hairy, but I know that they are very sensitive to humidity..
3-Desease: I saw something gray that looked like small rocks, or sand, but his sand is somewhat golden.. I saw that about a month ago, it was stuck on his telson or vesicle (I don't see the difference on the picture to tell you the truth ) but the gray thing was near the telson's arrow from the picture of the dorcal scorp's anatomy. I touched it, to see if it was sand, but it was stuck on the vesicle, it was hard like a rock too. If anyone ever seen that answer please
4-Deshydratation: I'd rarely gave a water dish to my scorp, as it must not live in an humid place, I removed all the sources of humidity, but I've read at alot of places that h. arizonensis takes their fluids from their preys.. so I didn't botter to give him a water dish, as it would increase the humidity and as it was almost useless for him..


I loved that specie.. I really don't know what could cause his death.. what I think could be #1-3-4, he was healthy the last time I saw him, he was hunting his preys, he was aggressive as usual.. he was the scorps I loved the more (in my 2 scorps' collection )..



If ever I get another h. arizonensis, I would probably give him a water dish.. once a week for a night.. to be sure that he have enough water....



If anyone have any comments, ideas, about the way I kept him, or for the desease thing, please answer, but remember that we learn from our errors, and everyone did errors in the past, even if you are currently keeping hard-to-keep scorps; everyone starts at the same place: at the beginning.







Thanks, Frank

 

[XOskeletonRED]

Hey Frank!

Indeed, everyone has made mistakes and I, for one, am more than willing to admit it. So, accordingly, I don't blame anyone for killing a scorpion because the fact of the matter is, as you said, it could've been old age, no matter what I, we, or anyone else determines, for that matter.

The manner I keep my Hadrurus (same follows for all species) is a dry climate. Dry and medium toned humidity levels. What I usually refer to when I say that they are sensitive to humidity, is actual water and the existance of thick water in the air. They prefer a dry humidity level and I've been keeping them in a range of 50-65% humidity for quite some time now. I do provide a water dish, but I only fill the water dish once every three weeks for H. arizonensis and every 2 weeks for H. spadix (spadix require more water intake than arizonensis while they are gravid). A wet humidity level comes from misting, but a dry humidity level comes from nature during warmer months around me. Naturally, it is around 50-70% humidity in my area, so it works out perfectly! I used to use lighting to disappate the moisture in the air, prior to getting a larger enclosure built for them. I do mist, but I only trigger the spray bottle twice in the arizonensis' while I do so, four times with spadix.
What type of hide had you provided the scorp with? They all prefer thoroughly dried wood over rocks. Most nocticeably with breeding.
As for the grey coloration, it was probably a mixture of poop and the substrate. Scorpions of this genus, as like many others, will run their tail through the sand in order to cleanse themselves. Moisture on a brush can take it off.
As Kugellager had stated in the past, the joints of the legs on his desert scorpions had turned a slight blackish coloration. I had noticed the same, but had not noticed it on my deserts, but rather my rainforest scorps. Accordingly, I believe it was stated that it would probably have been old age, though I did have quite a number of younger and or smaller scorps with this occurance as well. An H. arizonensis I currently have also has had this occurance very recently. When he arrived to me a couple years back, he had no signs of this, but now, he does. He is the only desert species which I have seen this. That is not to say it doesn't occur in any others as I believe Kug had said in the past, that he had seen it in more than one desert scorpion, if not all the species he keeps. I'll let him refresh my memory a little and possibly give an update on it as well, if he so chooses.

well, adios,
edw. :?

 

[Frank]

Thanks for anwering and lighting me up

The hide was a big flat rock, under which, he burrowed his small castle




Frank

 

[XOskeletonRED]

Yea, you could always try some dried wood next time. They apparently love it! I catch mine breeding on it quite frequently.

adios,
edw.

 

[Reitz]

Honestly, I think you'd be hard pressed to kill an H. arizonsis from lack of water. I may get some disagreement on this, but even if humidity in the tank was less than ideal, the amount of water these scorpions need to survive could be found in the food you give them. Rest assured that the death was probably unavoidable. You might want to consider adding a small water dish to the tank if you replace the scorpion, but that's just a recommendation.

Peace,
Chris

 

[Frank]

Yup, if ever I get one another, I'll do like edw, I'll refill the water dish once every month (3weeks)..

But I won't get any other scorp for now anyways I'll keep reading to learn more, instead of getting a bunch of animals at the same time, without knowing much (when I got my H. Arizonensis, I wasn't in any scorpion group/forum) about scorps.. I learned much more in forums because of people's experience, because you don't find personnal experiences in caresheets..



Frank