Help needed - Tailless Whip Scorpion randomly lost whip

[Maxthesquid]

Title. I’ve had her since last year, she just molted two weeks ago, has eaten twice since. Today, I realize she only has one whip, I have no idea why. She hasn’t seemed stressed, took out both feeders with ease, and she still fits in her enclosure just fine, I just don’t know. She is if I had to guess 4inch legspan, I would say sub adult, maybe two or three more molts until maturity.

First picture is a couple days before (both whips) second is current

second pic you can see the remaining whip under the bottom leg and the broken whip facing right at a flat angle.

Any help or experience appreciated.

 

[that1ocelot]

What species is this? I'm not familiar.
Usually stress is the #1 lost whip cause. Saying that, I've had animals autonomize legs because they got stuck on a human hair that had fallen in their enclosure - sometimes they just do it.

Im not sure what species and therefore I'm not sure what the animal is supposed to look like. Could have been a bad molt?
Maybe @wizentrop can help? I'm curious

 

[entomologic]

A picture of the full enclosure would be helpful. Are you keeping the humidity in the enclosure high? The substrate should be kept completely soaked at all times, not just misted. I noticed it's one of the rubber-banded acrylic enclosures, which tend to dry out quick and leak. If you don't have a water dish you can put one in. If she goes and stays right over it then that's often a clear sign the humidity is low.

Also, somewhat pedantic, but that's a whip spider (amblypygi). Whip scorpions usually refer to vinegaroons. Helpful to be specific to make sure you don't get the wrong care advice.

 

[Maxthesquid]

What species is this? I'm not familiar.
Usually stress is the #1 lost whip cause. Saying that, I've had animals autonomize legs because they got stuck on a human hair that had fallen in their enclosure - sometimes they just do it.

Im not sure what species and therefore I'm not sure what the animal is supposed to look like. Could have been a bad molt?
Maybe @wizentrop can help? I'm curious

its a Damon medius - molt went great, I caught it live. Both whips appeared fine after but now one is gone.

A picture of the full enclosure would be helpful. Are you keeping the humidity in the enclosure high? The substrate should be kept completely soaked at all times, not just misted. I noticed it's one of the rubber-banded acrylic enclosures, which tend to dry out quick and leak. If you don't have a water dish you can put one in. If she goes and stays right over it then that's often a clear sign the humidity is low.

Also, somewhat pedantic, but that's a whip spider (amblypygi). Whip scorpions usually refer to vinegaroons. Helpful to be specific to make sure you don't get the wrong care advice.

Substate is always soaked, and there’s a big water dish I see her drinking from but she’s always up high on the log. And a tailless whip scorpion or whip spider refers to amblypygi while a whip scorpion refers to a vinegaroon

I’ll post a video of the enclosure soon when I get home

 

[Maxthesquid]

Couldn’t figure out video so here’s some photos

couple things to note

- she’s been in here awhile, since around January and has gone through 2 molts. I was thinking about rehouse but thought it was fine until one more.

- substrate is a bit low yes, I was a noob keeper when I made the enclosure but just make sure it’s always soaked (moist about twice a week) , and I don’t want to take her out to rearrange it.

- Last pic is where she resides in the morning until about 6PM. This is where her broken whip is. I’ve theorized that maybe her new size is pushing it for staying in here securely, so maybe she sacrifices a whip for enough horizontal space to be snug, I don’t know though because she’s been fine for the 2 weeks after the molt.

I’m upset because all went well and seemed to go well after the molt, she has seemed very calm, and I’m worried now because it will be awhile until she gets it back, I know she’ll be ok but it’s just sad.

 

[wizentrop]

Antenniform and walking legs autotomy is a common issue with whip spiders, and, despite not being reported often, happens A LOT more frequently than people think.
Normally it happens following an unsuccessful molt or an injury, but occasionally it happens seemingly spontaneously. This is usually a sign that there is something wrong with the environmental conditions the animal is being kept in. The latter can be pretty much anything - too dry, too wet, too moldy, a mite infestation, stress from live feeders that harass the animal, etc'. Another option is that the whip/leg got physically caught in something (for example between decor and the enclosure's wall, in the enclosure's lid, between parts of cork bark, and even in fungus filaments growing fast on substrate) and the whip spider decided to detach it to break free.
Best thing to do right now is to feed the animal well so it can reach its next molt without issues and regenerate that lost limb.