Hi, I've been a regular guest visitor on arachnoboards for years now, but felt the need to register an account today as I haven't been able to find any threads with my exact current problem. Apologies in advance for my wording as I've been awake all night trying to research & am extremely sleep deprived at this point.
I've had my old boy, Hades for roughly 5 years now (bought him as an already mature adult). He's never had any health issues before up until last year when he suddenly dropped a leg he had been dragging for a while (no idea what happened, as there is nothing to injure himself on in his enclosure). Read up on a few threads here and noticed that it's quite a common occurrence, so I just let it be knowing he's still got a good appetite & is otherwise acting normal.
Fast forward to today, I was doing the usual water rounds/enclosure checks & I came across another whole leg he has just discarded. Peeked into his hide and noticed that it is the right rear leg, on the same side next to the other one he dropped last year (I don't wish to disturb or stress him further due to his age) but I am beyond worried since I have never heard of this happening twice & for no apparent reason. The leg itself appears to be completely hollow with no tissue left inside. I thought maybe it could've been mycosis at first, but the leg itself doesn't seem rotten, just hollowed out & the outside still glows under uv light (mycosis affected areas don't glow as far as I'm aware). Has this exact thing ever happened to anyone else? Is it due to old age or some other kind of infection that needs to be treated? I'm worried sick & would appreciate others' advice on this. TIA.
Sorry, just to clarify. I know that mycosis would be very rare in a tropical Heterometrus species & I've never had any previous issues arise from ventilation in the past. Just confused at what else could be the cause hence it's mention.
I've had my old boy, Hades for roughly 5 years now (bought him as an already mature adult). He's never had any health issues before up until last year when he suddenly dropped a leg he had been dragging for a while (no idea what happened, as there is nothing to injure himself on in his enclosure). Read up on a few threads here and noticed that it's quite a common occurrence, so I just let it be knowing he's still got a good appetite & is otherwise acting normal.
Fast forward to today, I was doing the usual water rounds/enclosure checks & I came across another whole leg he has just discarded. Peeked into his hide and noticed that it is the right rear leg, on the same side next to the other one he dropped last year (I don't wish to disturb or stress him further due to his age) but I am beyond worried since I have never heard of this happening twice & for no apparent reason. The leg itself appears to be completely hollow with no tissue left inside. I thought maybe it could've been mycosis at first, but the leg itself doesn't seem rotten, just hollowed out & the outside still glows under uv light (mycosis affected areas don't glow as far as I'm aware). Has this exact thing ever happened to anyone else? Is it due to old age or some other kind of infection that needs to be treated? I'm worried sick & would appreciate others' advice on this. TIA.
Sorry, just to clarify. I know that mycosis would be very rare in a tropical Heterometrus species & I've never had any previous issues arise from ventilation in the past. Just confused at what else could be the cause hence it's mention.
Took another look at him today & saw that he was absolutely crawling with the springtails I have in his tank. So scooped him up and placed him into a smaller icu type enclosure with paper towels & another makeshift hide, Gave him a few drops of water onto mouthpiece and will leave him there to keep a closer eye. Was quite easy to pick up as it seems he can only shuffle along now but still has good enough response to threat pose with his claws as I was placing down new hide. I've no idea if it was the springtails that caused this or if they were just taking advantage (got me concerned about all my other tropical scorp enclosures now as they all have springtails too). Will update further soon. Thank you.