H.silenus Molted

[adam james]

My 4i H. silenus finally molted Friday at 11:30pm and finished to 5i at 3:30am Saturday morning.
The premolt hunger strike started a month+ earlier, which was longer than I expected.
The scorpion had no issues during the molt other than it started on the edge of the burrow which caused it to fall over and finish the molt from a side position.
I did not get a real good view of it post molt yet but wow, I am surprised how much it has increased in size.
I noticed the chela look very bulbous now. Since this is the first molt with me(I have owned this scorpion since last october), and the breeder sold me this as an 3i H.spinifer, then I am wondering how old it could really be.
Are there any particular features on H. silenus that only appear at particular instars that can give you a good idea to its age or instar?
Below are before-molt images again for reference, to what I thought was 4i. (~2.75" chelicerae to telson tip), and was sold to me as 3i.
Also how long does it take before they are out of the sluggish/squishy phase and I can try to retrieve the old exo for sexing?

Edit: I notice there is a slight tooth in the chela's movable finger now. Not very pronounced though. Does this tooth start small and get larger in successive molts, or does it appear only when fully mature?

 

[MorbidArachnid]

Hard to say for sure, because their size can be kind of variable.


This is mine, and he's either a 4i or 5i.


This is a pic of when I first got him, he was maybe an 1" long and he's molted twice between here and the pic where he's on my hand, so I'm not sure if when I first got him he was a 2i or 3i. I will say the chela tooth only appears in the final molt in my experience. I wish I had taken some better pictures of his chela before and after, but I had purchased my adult male believing he was an adult female because he seemed adult length (over 3") and didn't have a tooth at all, but he molted for me and then his tooth appeared.

 

[adam james]

Thank you for the reply.
I notice the scorpion is now back to sitting at the hide entrance again, so makes me think I can probably start to offer food again.
I notice that there are many new features on the surface of the chela and a drastic change of shape in the chela as well. The metasoma has changed shape as well and has much more detail (the vesicle is now much larger in proportion than it used to be, lighter in color and more round shape now than the oval-football shape it used to be) Since this is my first time observing this process closely, I don't really know if this change is an indication of any particular growth stage. I will try to get some new pictures to show the change. It would be great to find a series of images at each stage of development, that would be a huge help! I would like to get a mate and need to know what stage I am at with this one first.

 

[adam james]

Finally retrieved some of the old exo. Looks like I may have a male, although there is some dirt around the operculum that kind of makes it look more 'pointy' than it actually is.

 

[Joey Spijkers]

I agree, looks very much like a male.

 

[adam james]

I agree, looks very much like a male.

Hi Joey,
Does the development of the operculum indicate a 'minimum' instar that this scorpion could be?
I do see that it does have small bumps on the chela now where the tooth would be on a male. they are very slight though, more like what you would see on a female adult.
I am guessing these appear before the final instar, but just get larger with successive molts?

 

[Joey Spijkers]

The tooth on the movable finger is only pronounced enough as an indication when they're adult.
Based on your pictures my guess would be i5, but it's always really hard to say from pictures, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[adam james]

I know these are horrible pictures but I typically only use red light these days. It is clear enough however to see the change in size before and after, and also the more bulbous chela. I will try to get a better one if scorp co-operates. First one was before molting, second one was taken today.

 

[adam james]

Finally saw him out during the day for the first time in a long while.
I notice he is starting to get that deep reddish tint, which I think looks great