Whats wrong with my scorpian?

Embers To Ashes

Arachnoknight
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Feb 14, 2011
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I whent to a reptile show today and purchased two emperor scorpians. There where about ten in a big plastic container setting under a black light. I picked up a boy and a girl. I thought the big one was a girl and the little one was a boy (always get confused, I always think the long combs should go with the female)

Anyway, they all looked in pretty good health (I think.) My boy is a good 1-2 inches bigger than the girl and has a way heavyer build. When I put them in the box (about 2pm) they where both very active. When I finaly got home and whent to put them in their enclosure (about 8pm), the smaller one (female) was not moving alot

She cant lift her tail up and doesnt put up much of a fight when I try to pick her up. Could she have been hurt because the male is so much bigger than her? Could she just be dehidrated? They didn't have any watter at the stand. Does anybody know what could be wrong?
 

Roblicious

Arachnodemon
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I whent to a reptile show today and purchased two emperor scorpians. There where about ten in a big plastic container setting under a black light. I picked up a boy and a girl. I thought the big one was a girl and the little one was a boy (always get confused, I always think the long combs should go with the female)

Anyway, they all looked in pretty good health (I think.) My boy is a good 1-2 inches bigger than the girl and has a way heavyer build. When I put them in the box (about 2pm) they where both very active. When I finaly got home and whent to put them in their enclosure (about 8pm), the smaller one (female) was not moving alot

She cant lift her tail up and doesnt put up much of a fight when I try to pick her up. Could she have been hurt because the male is so much bigger than her? Could she just be dehidrated? They didn't have any watter at the stand. Does anybody know what could be wrong?
Black lights are bad for scorpions that might have done it, but i dono if the effects are that quick though

it might be hungry? give it a water dish and see what happens.

What kind of substrate are you using?
 

AzJohn

Arachnoking
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A picture might be helpful.
I kind of dought that the smaller one is mature, if it is 1-2" smaller, especially if the smaller one is female. A scorpion that holds it's tail wrong is a big worry. All sorts of things could cause that. It could be in premolt. The only thing you can really do is make sure it's in the proper environment now that it is in your care.
 

Embers To Ashes

Arachnoknight
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The smaller one has short combs. That means female, right? That is the one with the tail problems. She had probably been around room temp for a little less than 24 hours. However, the bigger one was in the same conditions and is doing fine. Right now they are on eco earth and are in diffrent enclosures. How does the black light effect them?
 

scorpionmom

Arachnobaron
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The smaller one has short combs. That means female, right? That is the one with the tail problems. She had probably been around room temp for a little less than 24 hours. However, the bigger one was in the same conditions and is doing fine. Right now they are on eco earth and are in diffrent enclosures. How does the black light effect them?
Well, I think I see one possible problem right away. I think they need the temperature higher than room temperature, around 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Substrate seems fine as long as it is about 3 inches deep or more. They are fine under a black light for a while but it has detrimental effects if they are kept under it too long or too much. Make sure it is eating well, the temperature and humidity are up, and has some hides. Like John said, it could be in a premolt. Hope it gets better.;)
 

Roblicious

Arachnodemon
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It might just be getting old since there is no way to tell age once they are adults unless you had it from birth, oh and the black light is like having UV lights on them its bad for their eyes and such, every now and then is ok though.

Is she eating? I see that she is drinking though lol.

Try upping the temperature btw, I had mine at room temperature for a while and they didnt do anything, once I got a heat pad/lamp on them they started becoming more active and out and about
 

Roblicious

Arachnodemon
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So the tail is straight flat back like that all the time? Never 'erect' or curled to its side or even curled at all?

Is it skittish, slow, or even do its defensive posture (claws ready to attack and tail up ready to sting)?

Was the tail up when you first picked her up at the show?

Scratch that age comment, the stinger is still white and not red so it cant be too old as it still has a molt or 2 to go before adulthood.

Bump up the heat and humidity and see how it is in a few days.
 

Embers To Ashes

Arachnoknight
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She was curling it yesterday when I picked her out. Now it just lays there. She does not go into a defencive posture. Could she realy be that old? The people I got her from said she was probably 2-3 years. Does she look full grown?
 

Roblicious

Arachnodemon
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From what I have read that their stinger becomes red when they are adults, they lose the milky white color at that point, so it cant be 'that' old.

If it is curled up its fine, my scorpion tails are often curled up to the side a lot especially when resting inside their hide.
 

Roblicious

Arachnodemon
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Weird, that its not old, but its eating and drinking yet it drags its tail.

I have no clue man sorry, maybe someone else can chime in :(
 

scorpionmom

Arachnobaron
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Not to make you worry, but that really does not look good. I seems to be alright though. One slight possibility is that it is having trouble defecating. I'm not really sure either. I would say that it seems alright if it is eating and drinking and still walking around once in a while. Like I and Roblicious said, I would elevate the temperature to aobut 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, good luck!
 

Embers To Ashes

Arachnoknight
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Alright, I did that and she is 10 times better than she was this morning. She is still not as fisty as my other one, but she is walking fine and drinking ALOT. I have had to fill her dish 7 times today. The other one has an identical dish and is not drinking that much. Is she realy drinking all that water?
 

Roblicious

Arachnodemon
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she must have been really dehydrated, each scorpion has their own little personality so she might be more docile then the other or whatever

yeah the temperature makes a difference, people always told me room temp is enough, but you notice a huge difference when you up the temperature for most scorpions as they do live in warmer and more humid environments.

glad shes doing better
 

SC Tarantulas

Arachnoknight
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Feb 27, 2011
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Maybe its just me but it looked like the scorpion has an injury in the first picture (ventral shot) on the top left side of the pic. next to the claw. I'm not sure if that would cause the issue your having. I hope everything works out with him/her.
 

BAM1082

Arachnoknight
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Jun 10, 2010
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Glad it is starting to recover.

Dehydration could be the culprit.

keep us informed if this get better or worse down the road.
 
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