Tailless Whip Scorpion (Damon Medius) health is suffering, I need advice!

[SupaGreenRubyRhod]

A few months ago I got a juvenile Tailless Whip Scorpion (the west african variety Damon Medius) and he was in bad shape when he arrived, I thought the site was reputable but he was missing an antennae-form leg and seemed underfed and malnourished.

Im doing some spot cleaning in his enclosure tonight and noticed some very concerning things he is now missing a part of a leg, several roaches I thought he killed and ate were actually alive and hiding under some cork bark, and one of the cork bark pieces had some mold in it.

im clearly doing something very wrong and want to take good care of my pet, his substrate is a mixture of top soil, cocoa fiber, and zoo med creature soil. There are dwarf white isopods as a cleanup crew, I mist regularly, and feed him about once a week (adjusting if he didnt eat prey the day before)

below is a picture of him when I got him and his enclosure (now empty as im cleaning it out) any advice would be appreciated.

 

[entomologic]

That substrate very dry for an whip spider, usually it should be kept damp at all times. Also, looks like you have a heating mat attached? Unless absolutely needed it's usually best to avoid using one, amblypygi can tolerate temperatures down to at least 65F without any real problems.

Mold is not a big concern for them, some even culture mold on their exoskeleton as a form of parasite control. Use springtails though if you want to make sure to keep it in check.

 

[SupaGreenRubyRhod]

That substrate very dry for an whip spider, usually it should be kept damp at all times. Also, looks like you have a heating mat attached? Unless absolutely needed it's usually best to avoid using one, amblypygi can tolerate temperatures down to at least 65F without any real problems.

Mold is not a big concern for them, some even culture mold on their exoskeleton as a form of parasite control. Use springtails though if you want to make sure to keep it in check.

Really? I had no idea they could handle temperatures so low. I try to keep the resting humidity at around 60-70% but I dont want it to get too swampy in there, I added eco husk shredded coco fiber and some sphagnum moss to address the dryness.

 

[Edan bandoot]

That substrate very dry for an whip spider, usually it should be kept damp at all times. Also, looks like you have a heating mat attached? Unless absolutely needed it's usually best to avoid using one, amblypygi can tolerate temperatures down to at least 65F without any real problems.

Mold is not a big concern for them, some even culture mold on their exoskeleton as a form of parasite control. Use springtails though if you want to make sure to keep it in check.

I can say that they can handle temps as low as 16-18 Celsius but they're growth and activity slows down a lot when compared to 22-25, Celsius

 

[aphono]

Really? I had no idea they could handle temperatures so low. I try to keep the resting humidity at around 60-70% but I dont want it to get too swampy in there, I added eco husk shredded coco fiber and some sphagnum moss to address the dryness.

They need "swampy" to thrive. This has been a particular challenge with new keepers of this species. It's hard to switch over to conditions that would be bad for the average pet. But trust, they thrive in sky high humidity. "Daily misting" doesn't do anything for them, except annoy/stress(they are a bit sensitive) during misting times. The best thing for more consistent humidity is to soak the substrate and reduce ventilation if there's a lot of it.

The substrate is a little overly complicated, unless it's more for the isopods. Straight coco coir is fine. Literally pour water until it's soaked. More than "very moist". Puddles in depressions would be great. For stressed or recent purchases, it would be better if the substrate is flooded plus very hard misting over everything except on the whipspider itself for the first week at least- that's to help them recover from dehydration(very typical for recent imports/purchases/shipped specimens).

Cork bark pieces or other materials used for lean tos should be long enough to either reach the very top or just a couple inches from it. Sheltered spots that high is one way to tell if a medius is happy or not. Constantly high up, they are ok/happy with the humidity. Low down- especially 'face sitting' on the substrate(body off ground except face/pedipalps is close to or touching substrate) or literally sitting on substrate- very bad, humidity is far too low no matter what the hygrometer says. The animal itself is telling you something. Adding this because it's another common thing with set ups- using only small cork pieces with the top half completely exposed. If they are forced to stay low due to lack of 'high shelter' it will be too hard to gauge their 'happiness'(humidity level, really) and that can also leave them more vulnerable to roaches or isopods chewing on them.

 

[SupaGreenRubyRhod]

They need "swampy" to thrive. This has been a particular challenge with new keepers of this species. It's hard to switch over to conditions that would be bad for the average pet. But trust, they thrive in sky high humidity. "Daily misting" doesn't do anything for them, except annoy/stress(they are a bit sensitive) during misting times. The best thing for more consistent humidity is to soak the substrate and reduce ventilation if there's a lot of it.

The substrate is a little overly complicated, unless it's more for the isopods. Straight coco coir is fine. Literally pour water until it's soaked. More than "very moist". Puddles in depressions would be great. For stressed or recent purchases, it would be better if the substrate is flooded plus very hard misting over everything except on the whipspider itself for the first week at least- that's to help them recover from dehydration(very typical for recent imports/purchases/shipped specimens).

Cork bark pieces or other materials used for lean tos should be long enough to either reach the very top or just a couple inches from it. Sheltered spots that high is one way to tell if a medius is happy or not. Constantly high up, they are ok/happy with the humidity. Low down- especially 'face sitting' on the substrate(body off ground except face/pedipalps is close to or touching substrate) or literally sitting on substrate- very bad, humidity is far too low no matter what the hygrometer says. The animal itself is telling you something. Adding this because it's another common thing with set ups- using only small cork pieces with the top half completely exposed. If they are forced to stay low due to lack of 'high shelter' it will be too hard to gauge their 'happiness'(humidity level, really) and that can also leave them more vulnerable to roaches or isopods chewing on them.

Thank you this is great advice!
The stuff I had seen online stressed that high humidity is important but made it seem like puddles of water would be bad for it, im gonna disregard that and give soaking it a try and really let it get wet in there.

You were absolutely right about the 'face sitting' I very often find him lower in the enclosure, I will look for larger corkpieces to provide higher hides and help him feel safer high up.

Will post an update when I can adjust his enclosure again.

 

[aphono]

Thank you this is great advice!
The stuff I had seen online stressed that high humidity is important but made it seem like puddles of water would be bad for it, im gonna disregard that and give soaking it a try and really let it get wet in there.

You were absolutely right about the 'face sitting' I very often find him lower in the enclosure, I will look for larger corkpieces to provide higher hides and help him feel safer high up.

Will post an update when I can adjust his enclosure again.

Welcome! I too was very confused during my first months of keeping medius. Diadema were my first, they did very well with 'moist' so I tried to keep the medius same as these. I didn't know how to read their 'signals' other than they were inactive, not eating much, and yes they were low down or sitting on the substrate a lot. My final straw was when one of them died in molt- it tried to pull free but some legs and whips were stuck in the old molt. Something needed to change... but what? One idea was what if it was too dry and it got stuck by the low humidity before it managed to molt completely or...? Anyways, out of frustration I poured into the substrate- to be honest poured way more than I intended and it did get flooded with standing water, misted everything super hard and covered the top with plastic cling wrap- it was a big glass front door enclosure like yours, there's the ventilation bar in front plus the gaps along the doors. Next day there was a complete change in behavior, all were mid or high up, far more active and no longer 'clinging tight' to things and quite revealing- they became very aggressive and frequent eaters(which is the norm for this species)! The difference was day and night.

Good luck and looking forward to update!

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

You've been given some great advice. If you follow it, you've got a decent chance of this critter surviving its next moult and eventually thriving.

Generally speaking if you're feeding reasonably large prey, they don't need food every week (except when they're VERY young). Your animal doesn't appear to be super skinny, so focus on getting the enclosure conditions right and then worry about food. It's better while its settling in and recovering from transport for it to have moisture, darkness, and not too much movement around to stress it out.

 

[SupaGreenRubyRhod]

Thanks to everyone who put their advice in this thread im happy to report the changes to his enclosure have had an immediate positive effect on my Damon Medius (his name is Hastur).

His substrate is properly swampified and he no longer face sits, in fact the first day I soaked it he was climbing higher and enjoying the nicer humidity. The larger cork bark leaves him less exposed to his prey and he is exploring with some more confidence.

Since im sure the change in his enclosure caused him some stress im gonna try to just let him be for a while and adjust before interacting with him. Also I put the grow light on a timed power strip and he seems to enjoy having a more consistent day/night cycle.

Updated enclosure below.

 

[aphono]

That's great news! Don't worry about going wetter/or "too wet" if you want- it's especially good for new specimens. Dehydration is very typical and going "nuts" with the flooding hard misting everything and keeping it that high for at least a week will help them recover fully even quicker. Reduce ventilation if the enclosure dries out a bit fast. After full recovery, they don't need to be kept so wet but definitely keep the substrate wet and keep eye on where they rest.

When Hastur stops eating but the abdomen stays plump, that's probably a premolt sign. Probably good idea to keep on more wet rather than slightly drier during the whole premolt period. Not sure how much effect it would have on regenerating limbs but hey, anything to help right? High humidity will help at molting time though.