Vinegaroon buried for ten months?! What do I do?!

[Tharin Tabris]

As the title suggests, my Vinegaroon has been buried for a little over ten months! Substrate’s still moist and the enclosure doesn’t smell like rot like I’ve read on other forums regarding if they die. So my question is do I leave them in there or do I pull them out? The burrow isn’t exposed on the walls so I have no idea what’s going on in there. I’ve also read that some vinegaroons can stay buried for a year, but I’m just unsure. This is my first vinegaroon, so any and all advice is much appreciated. : (

 

[Smotzer]

Simply, you leave it!!

Especially the north american species we have, Mastigoproctus spp., absolutely can be buried that long and be just fine, and is also part of how their life cycle evolved. My breeding group all just came back out this week and they were mostly buried since around september 2024. But when I had freshly hatched offspring a few years ago I had a few young ones that were burrowed, and sealed away for around 11 months. They burrow down during these time and build a chamber to molt it, molting about 1 per year until adult hood.

Shown below is a young male that I fed today after noticed it was back out and looking for food. Don't worry, and dont give in to the urge to dig it up! It will come out when its ready, likely not before that. Until then, wait!!

 

[Tharin Tabris]

Simply, you leave it!!

Especially the north american species we have, Mastigoproctus spp., absolutely can be buried that long and be just fine, and is also part of how their life cycle evolved. My breeding group all just came back out this week and they were mostly buried since around september 2024. But when I had freshly hatched offspring a few years ago I had a few young ones that were burrowed, and sealed away for around 11 months. They burrow down during these time and build a chamber to molt it, molting about 1 per year until adult hood.

Shown below is a young male that I fed today after noticed it was back out and looking for food. Don't worry, and dont give in to the urge to dig it up! It will come out when its ready, likely not before that. Until then, wait!! View attachment 494676

Oh thank goodness. That’s a relief. : D

Many thanks for the reassurance! What strange and fantastic creature. Mostly strange. lmaooo

 

[darkness975]

As the title suggests, my Vinegaroon has been buried for a little over ten months! Substrate’s still moist and the enclosure doesn’t smell like rot like I’ve read on other forums regarding if they die. So my question is do I leave them in there or do I pull them out? The burrow isn’t exposed on the walls so I have no idea what’s going on in there. I’ve also read that some vinegaroons can stay buried for a year, but I’m just unsure. This is my first vinegaroon, so any and all advice is much appreciated. : (

Child's play. Mine was buried for almost 2 years and just re-emerged in February of this year.

Yours will be fine.

 

[kingshockey]

you just wait and stare at that box/jar of dirt until it comes up again. maybe leave a pre killed feeder now and then to remove the next day if uneaten thats how i do it with my tiny baby one gotta admit though it seems more like i am raising springtails in its jar than a vinegaroon

 

[Smotzer]

Mine was buried for almost 2 years and just re-emerged in February of this year.

Thats a achievement!!

the moral of the story is it:

re-emerged

 

[darkness975]

Thats a achievement!!

the moral of the story is it:

I was concerned around the 8 to 9 month mark. But then I realized I was going against my own experience so I let it go. No odd smells or anything so settled into being happy I have more than a few invertebrates to enjoy.

Oh and last but not least my cat!

Since her re-emergence I have noticed she is more defensive but other than that she's eating and acting normal.

 

[The Snark]

They are supposed to be common here, according to the Wildlife folks at the university but so far, in 25 years, I've seen 1. I've been given the impression their normal lives never include public appearances. Rather, unlike our scorps that emerge for romance, these folks have social lives entirely in and under the detritus.

 

[darkness975]

They are supposed to be common here, according to the Wildlife folks at the university but so far, in 25 years, I've seen 1. I've been given the impression their normal lives never include public appearances. Rather, unlike our scorps that emerge for romance, these folks have social lives entirely in and under the detritus.

For the most part that has been my experience as well.