Tailless Whip Scorpion Is Lethargic

[Witrak]

Hi all!

So i recently picked up a pair of whip scorptions (sold to me as damon variegatus, but im not sure that thats the correct ID). I originally ordered 3, but the sellwe decided to send them all in the same container, resulting in one of them (the smallest) getting cannbalized.

The male (im assuming) is in great condition, despite missing a leg and anteniform, and has been eating just fine. The female has been very slow from the getgo, but ive noticed that she has been in the same corner of her enclosure for the last 3 days without moving. I went to check on her, and she barely responded to me gently touching her anteniform. I thought she might be dehydrated, so i gave her a water dish and positioned her on it.

Im keeping them in identical containers; critter keepers that ive turned on their side and modified a tad bit. I know they have a ton of ventilation, so i keep the humidity up by wetting the substrate.

Anyone have an idea as to what might be going wrong? Ive attached photos of both enclosures; the first is the male, and the second and third are the female.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Okay, these are very likely actually Damon medius, and wild-caught, which means however humid your enclosure is, it isn't humid enough. SOAK the substrate, block 99.9% of the ventilation, and fish that female out before she bloody well drowns. She's clearly not able to hold her body up out of the water. If you need to give a badly dehydtrated amblypygi water you can set the fangs in the water, but not the body. In fact, you're much better off just dripping water in front of them on the cork bark. It's very likely too late for that one.

 

[Witrak]

Okay, these are very likely actually Damon medius, and wild-caught, which means however humid your enclosure is, it isn't humid enough. SOAK the substrate, block 99.9% of the ventilation, and fish that female out before she bloody well drowns. She's clearly not able to hold her body up out of the water. If you need to give a badly dehydtrated amblypygi water you can set the fangs in the water, but not the body. In fact, you're much better off just dripping water in front of them on the cork bark. It's very likely too late for that one.

Theres VERY little water in the dish to prevent that, but ive moved her out of there. She still reacts just as much as before the water dish (barely at all, but still).

Ive been getting such mixed information on humidity; some people saying wait for it to dry between wetting, some say keep it fairly dry, and some saying to keep the substrate entirely moist at all times. Ive been keeping it wet by hydrating the substrate every day.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Theres VERY little water in the dish to prevent that, but ive moved her out of there. She still reacts just as much as before the water dish (barely at all, but still).

Ive been getting such mixed information on humidity; some people saying wait for it to dry between wetting, some say keep it fairly dry, and some saying to keep the substrate entirely moist at all times. Ive been keeping it wet by hydrating the substrate every day.

Damon medius (which is 99.9% of the Damon species on the market in north america) require EXTREMELY high moisture levels, especially when they are recovering from transport and storage after being captured in the wild (which is where basically all the adults you find for sale come from). You can literally turn that substrate into a swamp and block all but 3 slats of that ventilation and it won't be too humid for them. Your presumed female likely won't survive, but if you fix things now your presumed male might not go down the same path.

Nobody who knows anything about keeping Damon will advise letting the substrate dry out, ever.

 

[Witrak]

Damon medius (which is 99.9% of the Damon species on the market in north america) require EXTREMELY high moisture levels, especially when they are recovering from transport and storage after being captured in the wild (which is where basically all the adults you find for sale come from). You can literally turn that substrate into a swamp and block all but 3 slats of that ventilation and it won't be too humid for them. Your presumed female likely won't survive, but if you fix things now your presumed male might not go down the same path.

Nobody who knows anything about keeping Damon will advise letting the substrate dry out, ever.

Damn. I ought to just get a different enclosure for him then. I wish i had found more accurate info on how to keep these, even the seller was saying to keep them fairly dry. I really appreaciate the help though.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Damn. I ought to just get a different enclosure for him then. I wish i had found more accurate info on how to keep these, even the seller was saying to keep them fairly dry. I really appreaciate the help though.

I'm so sorry you ended up with a bad seller who gave you incorrect information. In general, I advise not buying adult animals from sellers (except in rare instances when a person is selling their personal pet for some reason), as they're invariably wild caught and often unhealthy and stressed out from their ordeal, and the sellers of such animals often don't care much about the animal's welfare (or they wouldn't be selling wild caught animals).

You will find a great deal of excellent information about caring for these beautiful creatures on this forum. You can use the search function to look for something like "Damon medius care" and you will find a ton of threads with great info from experienced keepers.

The enclosures you're using will work fine if you block off most of the ventilation (assuming they can't squeeze those skinny bodies between the slats - and don't underestimate their ability to squeeze) with some plastic or acrylic panels. You can even use cling wrap as a temporary measure. Since I'm paranoid I would probably add some wire mesh over the open part of the vents as well

 

[Witrak]

I'm so sorry you ended up with a bad seller who gave you incorrect information. In general, I advise not buying adult animals from sellers (except in rare instances when a person is selling their personal pet for some reason), as they're invariably wild caught and often unhealthy and stressed out from their ordeal, and the sellers of such animals often don't care much about the animal's welfare (or they wouldn't be selling wild caught animals).

You will find a great deal of excellent information about caring for these beautiful creatures on this forum. You can use the search function to look for something like "Damon medius care" and you will find a ton of threads with great info from experienced keepers.

The enclosures you're using will work fine if you block off most of the ventilation (assuming they can't squeeze those skinny bodies between the slats - and don't underestimate their ability to squeeze) with some plastic or acrylic panels. You can even use cling wrap as a temporary measure. Since I'm paranoid I would probably add some wire mesh over the open part of the vents as well

Cling wrapped the male's enclosure and wetted the substrate wayyy more.

Unfortunately, theres VERY few invert sellers in Canada, and this was the only one selling any Damon species. Im hoping they're willing to send me a replacement/refund, as this one has died less than a week since it arrived with me. Such are the difficultues of invert keeping I suppose.

Thanks so much for the advice though; hopefully im able to grow a pair into adulthood in the future.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Cling wrapped the male's enclosure and wetted the substrate wayyy more.

Unfortunately, theres VERY few invert sellers in Canada, and this was the only one selling any Damon species. Im hoping they're willing to send me a replacement/refund, as this one has died less than a week since it arrived with me. Such are the difficultues of invert keeping I suppose.

Thanks so much for the advice though; hopefully im able to grow a pair into adulthood in the future.

There is at least one amblypygi breeder in Ontario on this board He doesn't breed D. medius, but does sometimes breed Damon diadema (which is a bit less delicate than medius), as well as Acanthophrynus coronatus (which is a spectacular and beautiful species), Phrynus whitei, and a bunch of other species.

 

[that1ocelot]

Cling wrapped the male's enclosure and wetted the substrate wayyy more.

Unfortunately, theres VERY few invert sellers in Canada, and this was the only one selling any Damon species. Im hoping they're willing to send me a replacement/refund, as this one has died less than a week since it arrived with me. Such are the difficultues of invert keeping I suppose.

Thanks so much for the advice though; hopefully im able to grow a pair into adulthood in the future.

Are we allowed to mention vendors on Arachnoboards? I'm wondering the seller - was the suffix "Exotics"?

 

[Witrak]

Are we allowed to mention vendors on Arachnoboards? I'm wondering the seller - was the suffix "Exotics"?

It sure was!

 

[that1ocelot]

It sure was!

I see, what a shame. It was exciting to see another seller in Canada.

As @Albireo Wulfbooper inferred, Medius is super temperamental. I purchased a WC damon medius as my second ambly and while she is doing well she requires much more exhaustive care than my other animals (as exhaustive as caring for an amblypygi can get ahah). With any ambly in the pet trade you can never have too much humidity, doubly so with medius. I'm sure you're familiar with Tarantula Canada, they are excellent and to my knowledge they get some of their stock from at least one breeder on this board.

I believe this seller keeps a species of amblypygi that are pathogenetic and live in leaf litter. I'm sure they need less humidity than you're average amblypygi but they are very much the exception and not the norm, and any good seller would know that.
I'm fortunate that one of my local pet stores has amblybygi sometimes. It definitely introduces some variety into the collection but it never feels good buying wild caught. I hope this experience doesn't turn you off of these animals, I absolutely adore them!

 

[Witrak]

I see, what a shame. It was exciting to see another seller in Canada.

As @Albireo Wulfbooper inferred, Medius is super temperamental. I purchased a WC damon medius as my second ambly and while she is doing well she requires much more exhaustive care than my other animals (as exhaustive as caring for an amblypygi can get ahah) I'm sure you're familiar with Tarantula Canada, they are excellent and to my knowledge they get some of their stock from at least one breeder on this board.

I'm fortunate that one of my local pet stores has amblybygi sometimes. It definitely introduces some variety into the collection but it never feels good buying wild caught. I hope this experience doesn't turn you off of these animals, I absolutely adore them!

I've heard that TC sometimes has them available, hopefully I catch the next time they do!

And on the contrary; the male is still in good condition and is an absolute pleasure to watch!

 

[that1ocelot]

I've heard that TC sometimes has them available, hopefully I catch the next time they do!

And on the contrary; the male is still in good condition and is an absolute pleasure to watch!

I saw them have a medius in their last shipment! Sexed and all. It might be worth it to shoot them an e-mail and see if they have anything in the works.

 

[Witrak]

I'm so sorry you ended up with a bad seller who gave you incorrect information. In general, I advise not buying adult animals from sellers (except in rare instances when a person is selling their personal pet for some reason), as they're invariably wild caught and often unhealthy and stressed out from their ordeal, and the sellers of such animals often don't care much about the animal's welfare (or they wouldn't be selling wild caught animals).

You will find a great deal of excellent information about caring for these beautiful creatures on this forum. You can use the search function to look for something like "Damon medius care" and you will find a ton of threads with great info from experienced keepers.

The enclosures you're using will work fine if you block off most of the ventilation (assuming they can't squeeze those skinny bodies between the slats - and don't underestimate their ability to squeeze) with some plastic or acrylic panels. You can even use cling wrap as a temporary measure. Since I'm paranoid I would probably add some wire mesh over the open part of the vents as well

Well now my male has gotten slow/sluggish?? I'd cling filmed the enclosure and deeply wetted it like you suggested, and upon getting home my "male" was low to the ground and slow. Ate yesterday and when I hydrated the enclosure this morning, he was VERY responsive and bolted quickly.

 

[that1ocelot]

Well now my male has gotten slow/sluggish?? I'd cling filmed the enclosure and deeply wetted it like you suggested, and upon getting home my "male" was low to the ground and slow. Ate yesterday and when I hydrated the enclosure this morning, he was VERY responsive and bolted quickly.

I wouldn't worry about it, as long as humidity requirements are kept and he ate, he could just be exploring or hunting.
I find that when they are cared for properly (humidity) they are more willing to go out and about. If he was quick and responsive it's whatever, they can be weird sometimes.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Well now my male has gotten slow/sluggish?? I'd cling filmed the enclosure and deeply wetted it like you suggested, and upon getting home my "male" was low to the ground and slow. Ate yesterday and when I hydrated the enclosure this morning, he was VERY responsive and bolted quickly.

Increasing moisture is not going to ever cause harm to this animal. It could simply have been resting. If there is something wrong with it, it won't be because you increased the moisture.

 

[that1ocelot]

Cling wrapped the male's enclosure and wetted the substrate wayyy more.

Unfortunately, theres VERY few invert sellers in Canada, and this was the only one selling any Damon species. Im hoping they're willing to send me a replacement/refund, as this one has died less than a week since it arrived with me. Such are the difficultues of invert keeping I suppose.

Thanks so much for the advice though; hopefully im able to grow a pair into adulthood in the future.

Did they ever end up refunding you or sending you a different animal?

 

[mantidsRcool]

Increasing moisture is not going to ever cause harm to this animal. It could simply have been resting. If there is something wrong with it, it won't be because you increased the moisture.

amblypygi loves moisture so much, at least one species can actually breathe underwater! (thanks Dr Hebets) forgive me but I just love throwing that factoid out