P. Imperator barely grown/never molted - Purchased September 2019

[Hoolia]

Hey guys! Still pretty new to scorpions and want to get this right before I get anymore.

My P. Imperator seems really skinny. I feed him mealworms usually, occasionally small dubias about twice a week, it sometimes takes a bit of coaxing to get him to eat. I'm wondering if maybe I should be feeding more, different prey, or bigger prey? I raise both dubias and mealworms so that's why I use those but can go out and get crickets if need be.

It seems to have not really put on any weight at all and he doesn't seem at all to be adult size, are there other factors I should keep in mind that could be preventing growth?

My current set up is a smaller glass tank with 3 inches of substrate, I have a shallow water dish which at its current size, can fit in, and I usually give its enclosure a good spray every time I feed (so twice a week) never letting the water in the dish entirely dry out.

I've included some pictures cos I feel it's obligatory (additionally if I've ID'ed it wrong). But also to try and show it's body condition, as you can see, its abdomen doesn't exactly look to big or "full". I would think by this point I'd be getting close to a molt, but it really doesn't seem to be getting any closer than when I first got it. Thoughts?

 

[FrankiePinchinatti]

It does look a bit on the skinny side, a molt is nowhere in the near future for sure. When my emperors went through a phase where they weren't growing at all I found out it was due to my tank heater going out and me not noticing. Once I replaced the heater and got it nice and tropical in there they all exploded (literally, I think every single one of them molted within about a month). So, assuming you're just keeping it at room temperature or so, that might be your problem. If you are heating it around the mid 80s already then I'm stumped.

 

[darkness975]

Hey guys! Still pretty new to scorpions and want to get this right before I get anymore.

My P. Imperator seems really skinny. I feed him mealworms usually, occasionally small dubias about twice a week, it sometimes takes a bit of coaxing to get him to eat. I'm wondering if maybe I should be feeding more, different prey, or bigger prey? I raise both dubias and mealworms so that's why I use those but can go out and get crickets if need be.

It seems to have not really put on any weight at all and he doesn't seem at all to be adult size, are there other factors I should keep in mind that could be preventing growth?

My current set up is a smaller glass tank with 3 inches of substrate, I have a shallow water dish which at its current size, can fit in, and I usually give its enclosure a good spray every time I feed (so twice a week) never letting the water in the dish entirely dry out.

I've included some pictures cos I feel it's obligatory (additionally if I've ID'ed it wrong). But also to try and show it's body condition, as you can see, its abdomen doesn't exactly look to big or "full". I would think by this point I'd be getting close to a molt, but it really doesn't seem to be getting any closer than when I first got it. Thoughts?
View attachment 350242 View attachment 350243 View attachment 350244 View attachment 350245

Post images of the whole tank please. From what I can see it appears the substrate is immensely inadequate. If it is kept on solely "bark chips" or whatever I see in those images it would be a major factor in issues with keeping the specimen. They should be kept on several inches (the more the better) of moist coco fiber or top soil substrate that they can burrow into (kept at proper temperatures to avoid them getting too cold).

 

[Hoolia]

It does look a bit on the skinny side, a molt is nowhere in the near future for sure. When my emperors went through a phase where they weren't growing at all I found out it was due to my tank heater going out and me not noticing. Once I replaced the heater and got it nice and tropical in there they all exploded (literally, I think every single one of them molted within about a month). So, assuming you're just keeping it at room temperature or so, that might be your problem. If you are heating it around the mid 80s already then I'm stumped.

I think heating is my issue. I'll put in an order for a heat mat and thermostat tonight. I was mistaken in thinking that it could be kept at room temps.

Post images of the whole tank please. From what I can see it appears the substrate is immensely inadequate. If it is kept on solely "bark chips" or whatever I see in those images it would be a major factor in issues with keeping the specimen. They should be kept on several inches (the more the better) of moist coco fiber or top soil substrate that they can burrow into (kept at proper temperatures to avoid them getting too cold).

It's not just wood chips, it's Exo Terra plantation soil with leaf litter/wood debris mixed in and on top, I can remove some if that could be impeding his ability to dig. I'm upgrading shortly in a new tank I just got in to try and increase substrate depth a little more. I'll get updated pics in just a sec.

I think the lack of heat is really my issue :/ I'll get something ordered right away.

 

[Hoolia]

Post images of the whole tank please. From what I can see it appears the substrate is immensely inadequate. If it is kept on solely "bark chips" or whatever I see in those images it would be a major factor in issues with keeping the specimen. They should be kept on several inches (the more the better) of moist coco fiber or top soil substrate that they can burrow into (kept at proper temperatures to avoid them getting too cold).

Alright, I was waiting for some of the compressed substrate to expand so I could get some new stuff without any wood mixed in, only has a small amount of charcoal and then leaf litter on top. The last tank I had him was a lot more shallow so I wanted to try and improve on that, I tried to do a deep end on this so he could make a burrow. The heat mat has been ordered.

Anything else you feel I could improve on? I really want this guy to do well.

I think he did a little better over the winter just because we had the heat on in the house and now with summer, we have the AC running which probably makes things not as consistently warm indoors for him.

 

[Dr SkyTower]

That's a much better enclosure for little scorpy! I love that little house It appears the issue is a heating issue, they become sluggish and their feeding response is very slow. A heat mat one one side (not under) the enclosure will help with heating.

 

[darkness975]

Alright, I was waiting for some of the compressed substrate to expand so I could get some new stuff without any wood mixed in, only has a small amount of charcoal and then leaf litter on top. The last tank I had him was a lot more shallow so I wanted to try and improve on that, I tried to do a deep end on this so he could make a burrow. The heat mat has been ordered.

Anything else you feel I could improve on? I really want this guy to do well.

I think he did a little better over the winter just because we had the heat on in the house and now with summer, we have the AC running which probably makes things not as consistently warm indoors for him.

View attachment 350351 View attachment 350352

try bumping up the temperatures a bit

 

[Hoolia]

try bumping up the temperatures a bit

Heat mat is on its way!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I'll have the heat mat setup once it gets here. Hopefully, I'll have a fat scorpion after it gets the proper heating.

 

[darkness975]

Heat mat is on its way!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I'll have the heat mat setup once it gets here. Hopefully, I'll have a fat scorpion after it gets the proper heating.

Remember to stick it on the side hot the bottom. Don't want a cooked scorpion.