HELP! My tailless whip scorpion died and I don’t know why

[Aron W]

In the past few weeks I was lucky enough to find a tailless whip scorpion for sale at my local pet shop. I was ecstatic as I had been searching everywhere for one. I bought the animal for $29.99 and bought some cork bark bringing the total to $55.99. I brought it home and made sure to closely follow all information I could find about care ( how often to mist/feed etc). I opened the enclosure to put a mist/feed him, and noticed he was in the same spot he was the nigh before. I picked him up ant he didn’t move at all. I am really worried I did something wrong, but I don’t know what. I do know that I had a difficult time getting it to eat, I’ve never seen it eat but the few crickets I left in were usually gone by the next day (after the first several days of him not eating anything)

 

[mantisfan101]

Pics of the setup? What sp? How much moisture did you give it?

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

Did you use any glue for the bark ?
If so, what kind of glue ?
Did you get crickets from a reputable source or known trusted seller ?
Or did you feed him wild caught crickets ?

 

[Aron W]

Did you use any glue for the bark ?
If so, what kind of glue ?
Did you get crickets from a reputable source or known trusted seller ?
Or did you feed him wild caught crickets ?

No glue for bark
Used both pet store and wild caught Crickets. (I wasn’t concerned about the Wild caught Thought since we live in a heavily wooded area with no pesticides in the area)

Pics of the setup? What sp? How much moisture did you give it?

I misted the tank daily/bi-daily depending on humidity in the house. I’ll post a pic of the setup when I get back home.

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

we live in a heavily wooded area with no pesticides in the area

Sure, Ok
Another reason to stay away from wild caught feeders/crickets is that they often carry parasites.
That's how parasites stay alive, by using such hosts.
That's why tarantula keepers also stay away from wild caught feeders, they fear the notorious nematodes.
You kept the enclosure up to temperature and humidity, so that shouldn't be the problem.
Do you think that bark was clean ? Bark can also host parasites and other nasties.
Many keepers 'clean' their bark by baking it in a oven for at least 30 minutes. (longer is better)
It's hard to tell what caused it after the fact, but be sure to clean the entire enclosure before getting a new tailless whipper.

 

[Aron W]

Sure, Ok
Another reason to stay away from wild caught feeders/crickets is that they often carry parasites.
That's how parasites stay alive, by using such hosts.
That's why tarantula keepers also stay away from wild caught feeders, they fear the notorious nematodes.
You kept the enclosure up to temperature and humidity, so that shouldn't be the problem.
Do you think that bark was clean ? Bark can also host parasites and other nasties.
Many keepers 'clean' their bark by baking it in a oven for at least 30 minutes. (longer is better)
It's hard to tell what caused it after the fact, but be sure to clean the entire enclosure before getting a new tailless whipper.

I bought the bark from the pet shop when I got the whip scorpion. And to be honest, I hadn’t even thought of parasites. I really hope that wasn’t the problem because if it is I’m going to feel really sorry.

edit: just to clarify I do feel sorry, but I’ll feel much worse if it was my fault that it died.

 

[paumotu]

Most of the tailless whip scorpions found in pet shops are imported wild-caught specimens. As such, they often arrive in bad shape, heavily dehydrated. There’s a chance that the ventilation was too high/not enough moisture was provided, and it was ultimately unable to recover from its journey.

 

[scolopendra277]

nematodes can infect everything, right?

 

[Aron W]

Most of the tailless whip scorpions found in pet shops are imported wild-caught specimens. As such, they often arrive in bad shape, heavily dehydrated. There’s a chance that the ventilation was too high/not enough moisture was provided, and it was ultimately unable to recover from its journey.

I wondered about this as the other tailless whip scorpion they had was missing a leg or two and part of its feeler. I googled and the pet shop i got it from didn’t have that good of reviews.

 

[ThatOneGuyInAus]

Hmmmmm... most whip scorpions are wild-caught and most wild-caught have lots of assorted nasties on them and don't do that well in captivity. Also, I saw above that you said that you feed it wild-caught and that's a bad idea since you don't know what it came in contact with. Also, pet stores are not the best place to buy animals soooooo mabey they weren't taking care of it properly. It most likely isn't your fault unless it was those wild-caught crickets. What pet store? I want to google it and find info about it. (edit whip scorpions aren't true scorpions)

 

[Aron W]

Hmmmmm... most whip scorpions are wild-caught and most wild-caught have lots of assorted nasties on them and don't do that well in captivity. Also, I saw above that you said that you feed it wild-caught and that's a bad idea since you don't know what it came in contact with. Also, pet stores are not the best place to buy animals soooooo mabey they weren't taking care of it properly. It most likely isn't your fault unless it was those wild-caught crickets. What pet store? I want to google it and find info about it. (edit whip scorpions aren't true scorpions)

It was we love pets in mount Vernon Ohio. They have kinda low ratings I found out recently. I guess some of the locals started calling it “we hate pets”

 

[mantisfan101]

Broken legs or whips don’t mean much, and even if they’re missing both whips with some tlc they’ll regenerate them within the next molt. For future references I’d make sure to get a stable safe supply of feeders, generally avoid wild caught as much as you can.

 

[schmiggle]

Did you have a deep substrate that you poured water into? Damon medius is commonly imported rn, and I'd say the most common killer is that people spray the enclosure but don't moisten the substrate. A moist substrate provides much better long-term stability for the humidity than spraying.

Don't feel guilty, just see if you can figure out what went wrong and if you can fix it next time.

 

[Aron W]

Did you have a deep substrate that you poured water into? Damon medius is commonly imported rn, and I'd say the most common killer is that people spray the enclosure but don't moisten the substrate. A moist substrate provides much better long-term stability for the humidity than spraying.

Don't feel guilty, just see if you can figure out what went wrong and if you can fix it next time.

I actually didn’t know that I should dampen the coco fiber. I asked the employee at the pet shop (guess that was a mistake) and he said that I only need to mist it daily/bi-daily. I believed him since he said that he owns three of them and I kinda just assumed he knew his stuff.

 

[MasterOogway]

There's no way feeding wild caught bugs would kill an animal through parasite infection in a matter of a week or two. Just not gonna happen. It's not a good idea, regardless, but that wasn't the culprit here. I agree with the wild caught statements above. These are almost always WC, and if they don't adapt to the new setups they will die within weeks. But once they adapt they're nigh invulnerable.

 

[schmiggle]

I actually didn’t know that I should dampen the coco fiber. I asked the employee at the pet shop (guess that was a mistake) and he said that I only need to mist it daily/bi-daily. I believed him since he said that he owns three of them and I kinda just assumed he knew his stuff.

Not really your fault, there's tons of misinformation floating around. Not to mention, a. he may have assumed dampening the substrate was a given, b. (more likely) he got healthier specimens or different species with different requirements, c. maybe he was lying to you (though I doubt it), or d. he just hasn't killed his yet and thinks it's fine because it's been a few days. There are probably other scenarios I'm not thinking of. Usually, based on posts I've seen, it seems keeping the substrate damp helps a LOT, so if you get a chance to try again I would go for it.

 

[The Snark]

WILD CAUGHT IMPORTED ANIMALS-WARNING

I usually avoid bad mouthing my brother in law but... He just lost his job. Got too busy playing with his girlfriend down in Bangkok and didn't show up for work. So he came home, beat up his wife and punched his mom, giving her a black eye. Then reverted to his alternative source of income and...

arachnoboards.com

 

[ThatOneGuyInAus]

It was we love pets in mount Vernon Ohio. They have kinda low ratings I found out recently. I guess some of the locals started calling it “we hate pets”

uhhhh... i just searched it up its ratings are actually pretty high but most good ratings are to do with mammals sooooooooo

 

[Aron W]

uhhhh... i just searched it up its ratings are actually pretty high but most good ratings are to do with mammals sooooooooo

Huh! Strange. When I googled it, it had only 2 stars. Sorry for all the confusion.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

If you decide to try again, give it a couple of inches of moist substrate - coco fibre works, but you can also use soil (make sure it contains no additives like fertilizer or pesticides). It just needs to be something that holds moisture well. For a Damon medius (the most common pet store species), misting in addition to the moist substrate and a small amount of ventilation will maintain a suitable environment. Other than that, all they need is a suitable vertical climbing surface such as cork bark, and they're good to go.