Heterometrus spinifer Maggots

Scorpiobsession

Arachnobaron
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I bought a Heterometrus spinifer Sunday and when I got home I noticed he had maggots on it's left claw. They're under the exoskeleton and it stinks. I don't want to have to euthanize him and if possible not amputate the claw. I have a potato I can put in the enclosure in hopes that the maggots climb on that and I can throw it away. When I first got him he was attentive and moving around but now he's laying in a corner of his 6qt enclosure (planning to upgrade to a 16qt) with his tail laying flat. I gave him a dubia last night and I don't see it so I assume he ate it.
You can see on his left claw in this picture there are maggots at the base of the claw. IMG_4108.JPG
 

Smotzer

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I’m not great at where’s Waldo and it doesn’t seem to terribly in focus, but you are saying they are under its exoskeleton? Are they completely inside or are they coming out as well? Can you get a picture of it directly. I’m not sure if this means they are spread throughout it entirely or not?
I’m not a scorpion guy per se but I am intrigued here.

based on apparent size I’m assuming it’s WC so may be some parasite, I would immediately isolate this from any others of you have any.
 

Scorpiobsession

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They're in the joint and I think they're under the exoskeleton, they are coming out of it. I'll try to get a better picture later. This is the first arachnid I have kept and I don't have any others..

@BoyFromLA I got it at a reptile expo and I don't have the sellers contact information or business card.
 

CanebrakeRattlesnake

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IMG_4108.jpg

I think that's what he's talking about. OP do you think you can get a better picture, or carefully use a pair of tweezers to pick one of them off to take a picture of it?
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
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@Scorpiobsession Attention please. Common fly larvae, maggots, can ONLY eat dead flesh. NOT vascularized flesh. Amputation or debridement of THE DEAD FLESH is the medical method of control, if you can do it.
One crude method to determine if maggots are present is to isolate one or a few and feed them a drop of whole blood, as in yours. It is toxic to larvae and they will die within 24 hours or so. This is a very crude method but often works. The easiest way to perform this is taint dead flesh they appear to be eating with the blood.
HOWEVER, the maggots are it's friend. The underlying problem is a bacterial infection that caused the flesh to die.
 
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Albireo Wulfbooper

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@Scorpiobsession Attention please. Common fly larvae, maggots, can ONLY eat dead flesh. NOT vascularized flesh. Amputation or debridement of THE DEAD FLESH is the medical method of control, if you can do it.
Yeah if they're actually under the exoskeleton and coming out of it, the only reasonable explanation is that there was previous damage that the maggots are just taking advantage of. Super weird though. Is the chela functional still?
 

Albireo Wulfbooper

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One crude method to determine if maggots are present is to isolate one or a few and feed them a drop of whole blood, as in yours. It is toxic to larvae and they will die within 24 hours or so. This is a very crude method but often works. The easiest way to perform this is taint dead flesh they appear to be eating with the blood.
A literal bloodbath. Nice.
 

The Snark

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@Scorpiobsession The medical profession sometimes employs maggots, sterile, to remove dead tissue. A common practice with burn patients where the blood flow, vascularization, has been compromised. The smell you have noticed is often from C. Perfringens, AKA Gangrene bacteria. C. Perfringens is highly susceptible to topical antibiotics but said antibiotics cannot penetrate dead flesh. Thus the maggots do wound debridement.
Your problem is the maggots are contaminated, spreading the bacteria.

PS WASH YOUR HANDS and practice isolation protocols. Clostridium bacteria is very pervasive and the commonest cause of food poisoning. While an anaerobe, it's spores spread like wildfire.
 
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Outpost31Survivor

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Your scorpion has internal parasites. I know nothing of their treatment but these parasites are eating your scorpion internally. They will hollow out its claw.

The only thing I can possibly recommend is euthanizing.
 

RoachCoach

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Don't try to get rid of the maggots. They do not consume healthy biomass. They are just a symptom. You need to do a deep clean and reduction in humidity. Funk usually grows with elevated humidity uncontrolled.
 

Outpost31Survivor

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Don't try to get rid of the maggots. They do not consume healthy biomass. They are just a symptom. You need to do a deep clean and reduction in humidity. Funk usually grows with elevated humidity uncontrolled.
They are not maggots they are internal parasites.
 

RoachCoach

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Springtails, springtails, springtails. They stop mites and mite eggs, they compete with nematodes for food, and they keep mold at a zero sum. If it's maggots, then we need to know why. If it is parasites then we need to know why. Both have conditions that will help to diagnose.
 
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