The magical dissapearing Scorpion!

[Jaffster]

Well well well!

My enclosure is secure. It's a wooden vivarium with a glass front.

I hadn't seen my scorpion for 2 days, no dirt had moved.... none of the obvious signs which I've read on here that he has been active (like substrate in the water dish etc) so i started to get a little concerned as I thought maybe he had burrowed but I couldn't see any burrow holes to confirm a collapsed burrow.

So I started to scoop out the potting soil mixed with vermiculite little bit by bit carefull not to harm him should I touch him.

I got to the bottom...... no scorpion.

It's kept in a shed with loads of places to hide, I looked in the obvious ones. Moved pieces of wood away and looked in any gaps / holes. The shed has no gaps for him to get out of it, the magical scorpion maybe?

Any advice on the best place to look?!? I though I'd leave it until it goes dark and it's nighttime, hoping to catch him out and about but if I don't see him.... where should I be looking? I have no idea how he's got out at all. There's NO way he could have escaped and if he did, it's a 3 foot fall to the floor. :?

 

[Metallicaman999]

what scorpion is it

 

[tabor]

leave all the bark and hides in his cage for a few days. he is likely in some nook of some piece of bark that you simply cant see no matter how hard you look. he will come out when hes hungry. or bored.

i had an h. spinifer do this to me once, could have sworn hed been canabalized, as he was no where to be found. two weeks later, out she crawls from impossibly tight spot in this piece of bark/log i had thoroughly searched.

 

[Jaffster]

leave all the bark and hides in his cage for a few days. he is likely in some nook of some piece of bark that you simply cant see no matter how hard you look. he will come out when hes hungry. or bored.

i had an h. spinifer do this to me once, could have sworn hed been canabalized, as he was no where to be found. two weeks later, out she crawls from impossibly tight spot in this piece of bark/log i had thoroughly searched.

It's a Pandinus Imperator.

No, he wasn't in the hide and I took every piece of substrate out slowly keeping a keen eye for him but nothing. I EMPTIED the viv but nothing so I presume he's got out of one of the air holes at the back!

Where do you think the best place to look would be?

 

[tabor]

It's a Pandinus Imperator.

No, he wasn't in the hide and I took every piece of substrate out slowly keeping a keen eye for him but nothing. I EMPTIED the viv but nothing so I presume he's got out of one of the air holes at the back!

Where do you think the best place to look would be?

I've never had an escape so i couldnt tell you. Those must be some pretty big holes if a P. imp can squeeze through them. Just trust me and keep all the hides and stuff in the aquarium. He could have been in one of the hides, then when you removed it from the cage (not knowin he was on it) scurried off.

If he's loose in your house i dont know what to tell you other than goodluck.

 

[Jaffster]

I've never had an escape so i couldnt tell you. Those must be some pretty big holes if a P. imp can squeeze through them. Just trust me and keep all the hides and stuff in the aquarium. He could have been in one of the hides, then when you removed it from the cage (not knowin he was on it) scurried off.

If he's loose in your house i dont know what to tell you other than goodluck.

Thanks

There's 2 air vents in the back with plastic covers in them, but one of them was left out to let the wires into the viv for the heat lamp. Thinking maybe he could have got out through there.

It's not in the house thank god, it's in the garden shed. There's no gaps though, it's a brick building. Going back there now, it's 22:20 in the UK and just gone dark, hope he'll be out and about

 

[BadBikaDamo]

Hi Jaffster, good job he wasn't in your girlfriends house yet! Get a black light and wait until dark, scan everywhere, especially anywhere warm (most sunlight etc) and damp. Your scorp should glow in the dark. Good Luck!

Damo

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I'm gonna go with what BadBikaDamo said -- using your blacklight is the best way to find an escaped scorpion (or one that's hiding where you didn't spot it at first). I'm surprised no one else said that first . . .

 

[Rigelus]

Those must be some pretty big holes if a P. imp can squeeze through them

Actually not. My fat adult male emp escaped a few weeks ago through a gap that i measured to be 8mm....He's nearly 3 times that in depth.! These guys are master escape artists with a capital M.

I've also found that whenever i have escapee's (my arachnoroom is sealed so any escapee's are still in the room somewhere) i nearly allways find them in a position that suggests they have travelled in a clockwise direction away from their point of escape.

I would also use a UV light during the dark period to find them..However if you don't get any joy with that then create a few "false hides" around the edges of the room/s. Theres a good chance you can find your scorpion in one of these hides if you check every morning.

 

[jojobear]

Whenever I've had an emp escape it usually turns up in the bathroom or when having dinner guests over i am trying to impress...

 

[Jaffster]

The shed has been emptied. I took it upon myself to take some pictures, to show you all what I've done!

Firstly, how the hell does a scorpion get out of that enclosure? I left the glass open by around 1cm one night as it was very hot in there but there's no way even ONE of his claws could fit through that gap.

Secondly, I've taken out EVERYTHING in the shed apart from the ledge and vivarium. The wheelbarrow, all the plastic sheeting, EVERYTHING has been taken out of the shed, looked inside of and taken to pieces.

He isn't there. God knows what's going on!

 

[Rigelus]

I left the glass open by around 1cm one night as it was very hot in there

There you go.! that was plenty of room for an emp to crunch through.

but there's no way even ONE of his claws could fit through that gap

Well he obviously found a way..!

Houdini has got nothing on these characters.

 

[marcelo_987]

Was that plastic rock on top of the vivarium in with the scorpion? If so take a flashlight and shine it into the plastic rock. Those are hollow and scorpions just love to squeeze into those kind of decortations.

 

[~Abyss~]

instead of digginf through the substrate try emptying it completly.Slowly i lost a pimp that way too and when i digged in i couldnt find it but when i emptied the tank there she was.

 

[edesign]

no luck with a blacklight? I had a B. jacksoni escape in my apartment one day while I was at work...only reason I found it was because I was using my black light (and CAREFULLY checking every piece of clothing on the floor inside and out...found it under a pile of dirty clothes).

wait til it's cool outside (probably right now)...put a lamp or a heat source near the floor (but not hot enough to catch anything on fire!) and let it sit for a short while. The emp should be attracted to the heat to warm itself...but bring the black light along too just in case it decides not to sit out in the open for you to find

 

[~Abyss~]

It also depends on the type of scorpion I did some experimenting between various P.imps and H.spins on Heat v. Hide. H.spinifers seem to need heat more than P.imperators. They will actually die sooner if conditions aren't met (that was not part of the experiment but an ant attack led to this finding) and P.imps seem to prefer a hiding spot rather than heat. I'm sure if it gets too cold they will indead go towards the het pad but I've had no success this way on finding missing emps.

 

[Jaffster]

Those rocks on the top of the enclosure were it's hide. I checked in there don't you worry. I even left it out in the corner of the room for a night and came back in the morning to see if it had re-appeared but it certainly hadn't! I'm starting to think that it's managed to get out through some gap which I've never seen and is outside somewhere, probably dead by now.

I went through the substrate, all 2 bucket fulls I gently and slowly examined ALL of the substrate but he definately wasn't there.

Answer me a question, if he had of got through the small gap at the front of the tank, are they dumb enough to fall off the edge down a 3 foot drop onto concrete and if they are, do you think they would survive a fall like that?

 

[~Abyss~]

yes...TRUST ME.... but it might be injured.

 

[BadBikaDamo]

Even a small fall can be fatal to a scorpion as its blood does not conatain a coagilante, so it will bleed to death.

Sorry Dude

Did you get a blacklight?

Damo

P.S. If your scorpion does fall and is bleeding, a dusting of icing sugar can be used as a coagilant, but spray off any excess A.S.A.P or it will set.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

If blacklighting hasn't found him in the shed, try the surroundings of the shed (again with a blacklight). It may be hiding somewhere just outside if it's made it there.