Why did all of my scorpions die?

[Moakmeister]

Hi y’all,

been a while! I’m not dead yet. In fact I’m even getting married in a week! And I’ve recently been feeling the itch to get another scorpion lately. This time, I’m determined to do this right. I need to figure out why all four of my scorpions died so I won’t make that mistake again.

For two of them, I know why: one of my P. imperator slings actually had cancer when I got him, and he only lasted a few months. Then my H. arizonensis died of a mycosis infection. It turns out that even with a heat lamp and a dehumidifier, Houston is just too humid for a desert-dwelling scorpion to survive.

The other two, though, I don’t know how I could have avoided it. One of them was a Smeringurus mesensis, another desert-dweller, but he was a sling, so he could have molted out of any mycosis infection. And he didn’t appear to have any. He just never ate, as long as I had him. For a year and a half, since day one, he showed zero interest in any food. Poor thing. He just died one day.

Then there was my other P. imperator sling. She molted twice in my care, but ended up dying from impaction. She was horribly bloated for months and when she died, I cut off her tail, and exactly what you think would happen… happened. It was pretty nasty. I can only think that I was keeping her too humid. I would pour water on her substrate from a bottle with holes poked in the cap when it looked a bit dry. I was always told that a hydrometer would be useless for this, but why? It seems like it would have helped.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of either setup. This was a few years ago and I just never took any. The mesensis was kept in a little baseball display case with sand and a little hide. The imperator was in a shoebox-sized display case with soil/coconut fiber and 96 airholes drilled in it for ventilation.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Hi y’all,

been a while! I’m not dead yet. In fact I’m even getting married in a week! And I’ve recently been feeling the itch to get another scorpion lately. This time, I’m determined to do this right. I need to figure out why all four of my scorpions died so I won’t make that mistake again.

For two of them, I know why: one of my P. imperator slings actually had cancer when I got him, and he only lasted a few months. Then my H. arizonensis died of a mycosis infection. It turns out that even with a heat lamp and a dehumidifier, Houston is just too humid for a desert-dwelling scorpion to survive.

The other two, though, I don’t know how I could have avoided it. One of them was a Smeringurus mesensis, another desert-dweller, but he was a sling, so he could have molted out of any mycosis infection. And he didn’t appear to have any. He just never ate, as long as I had him. For a year and a half, since day one, he showed zero interest in any food. Poor thing. He just died one day.

Then there was my other P. imperator sling. She molted twice in my care, but ended up dying from impaction. She was horribly bloated for months and when she died, I cut off her tail, and exactly what you think would happen… happened. It was pretty nasty. I can only think that I was keeping her too humid. I would pour water on her substrate from a bottle with holes poked in the cap when it looked a bit dry. I was always told that a hydrometer would be useless for this, but why? It seems like it would have helped.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of either setup. This was a few years ago and I just never took any. The mesensis was kept in a little baseball display case with sand and a little hide. The imperator was in a shoebox-sized display case with soil/coconut fiber and 96 airholes drilled in it for ventilation.

P. imperator is a tropical species isn’t it ? I think your ventilation wasn’t good enough any pics of your ensures used?? That could help narrow down what your doing wrong .
You might want to keep a care journal. Personally I just memorize everything I can. Which often isn’t good enough…
Maybe @darkness975 can help?
I don’t know enough about these scorpions.

 

[viper69]

Don’t marry a scorpion- glad you’re alive

 

[Moakmeister]

P. imperator is a tropical species isn’t it ? I think your ventilation wasn’t good enough any pics of your ensures used?? That could help narrow down what your doing wrong .
You might want to keep a care journal. Personally I just memorize everything I can. Which often isn’t good enough…
Maybe @darkness975 can help?
I don’t know enough about these scorpions.

I do still have the enclosures but I made this post while away from home. I’ll post pics when I get there

 

[darkness975]

I live in a humid environment as well and my H. arizonensis are okay.

Yours might have already had the affliction which would mean there isn't much you could have done.

 

[Moakmeister]

I live in a humid environment as well and my H. arizonensis are okay.

Yours might have already had the affliction which would mean there isn't much you could have done.

These are a couple of early photos of him. I always assumed he was wild caught, and due to his super docile and calm demeanor, that he was elderly. But he doesn’t seem to have had any mycosis here. It ended up being on many of his leg joints. I made a post or two on AB in the past about his chelicerae seemingly losing their teeth after a few months too. No idea how or why that happened. Probably because he would use them to break up the clay in his enclosure, though.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

These are a couple of early photos of him. I always assumed he was wild caught, and due to his super docile and calm demeanor, that he was elderly. But he doesn’t seem to have had any mycosis here. It ended up being on many of his leg joints. I made a post or two on AB in the past about his chelicerae seemingly losing their teeth after a few months too. No idea how or why that happened. Probably because he would use them to break up the clay in his enclosure, though. View attachment 480324 View attachment 480325

Is that a beetle riding on its back ?
I hope your next one goes better! sorry again about the loss, I had an emperor once I probably could had done a better job too . But it was really old.

 

[darkness975]

These are a couple of early photos of him. I always assumed he was wild caught, and due to his super docile and calm demeanor, that he was elderly. But he doesn’t seem to have had any mycosis here. It ended up being on many of his leg joints. I made a post or two on AB in the past about his chelicerae seemingly losing their teeth after a few months too. No idea how or why that happened. Probably because he would use them to break up the clay in his enclosure, though. View attachment 480324 View attachment 480325

It's possible he had it but it manifested over time.

 

[Moakmeister]

Is that a beetle riding on its back ?
I hope your next one goes better! sorry again about the loss, I had an emperor once I probably could had done a better job too . But it was really old.

Yep, Carbide and Ms. Nightshade were best buddies <3 I did end up separating them for the last few months of Carbide’s life to make sure there was nothing stressing him. Now Ms. Nightshade has another blue beetle, Coyote, and two Ironclad beetles, Apollo and Rusty, she lives with.

 

[Moakmeister]

P. imperator is a tropical species isn’t it ? I think your ventilation wasn’t good enough any pics of your ensures used?? That could help narrow down what your doing wrong .
You might want to keep a care journal. Personally I just memorize everything I can. Which often isn’t good enough…
Maybe @darkness975 can help?
I don’t know enough about these scorpions.

Here are the pics. I still have the same substrate in the imperator’s enclosure. @darkness975 if you wanted to see this too.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Scorpions don't die of cancer. Emperors are very simple to care for:

75F-85F temps all year round.
100% semi-moist substrate of 4"-6" depth (keep moistened by pouring water directly into the substrate - keep it semi-moist not swampy).
A suitable waterdish (always full).
Moss.
If necessary restrict the ventilation by 50%-75%.

The two most important factors to keeping a Emp or AFS alive and healthy is the temps and the depth and the moistness of the substrate.

Scorpions don't die of cancer.

 

[Moakmeister]

Scorpions don't die of cancer.

He had a strange deformity at the base of his tail, two large pustule-looking things. I assumed it was some kind of tumor.

Also, any animal can get cancer. Not sure why you think scorpions specifically can’t get it.

 

[darkness975]

He had a strange deformity at the base of his tail, two large pustule-looking things. I assumed it was some kind of tumor.

Sounds like an injury that never healed.

 

[Moakmeister]

Sounds like an injury that never healed.

What are these growths?

• Moakmeister
• Jul 20, 2020
• 5

P. imperator 3i. Look at the base of his tail. There’s weird yellow lumps.

It was this. He was only 3rd instar, and I found pics of him with his siblings when he was 2i and he still had those pustules.

 

[darkness975]

Bad molt or deformity maybe. Hard to really know.

 

[Moakmeister]

Bad molt or deformity maybe. Hard to really know.

So what about the S. mesensis?

 

[darkness975]

The other two, though, I don’t know how I could have avoided it. One of them was a Smeringurus mesensis, another desert-dweller, but he was a sling, so he could have molted out of any mycosis infection. And he didn’t appear to have any. He just never ate, as long as I had him. For a year and a half, since day one, he showed zero interest in any food. Poor thing. He just died one day

I had an emp that did the same thing years ago. Never ate in the year and a half or so I had it. Was very sad to watch it wither away.

 

[Moakmeister]

I had an emp that did the same thing years ago. Never ate in the year and a half or so I had it. Was very sad to watch it wither away.

It’s sounding like my only mistake was keeping my one remaining imp too wet?

 

[darkness975]

It’s sounding like my only mistake was keeping my one remaining imp too wet?

As long as the substrate is moist (not saturated) all the way through you don't need any kind of measuring.

So possibly?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

It’s sounding like my only mistake was keeping my one remaining imp too wet?

It would be pretty hard to over moisture the soil it would look like a salamander or water frog enclosure. My issue was under watering mine , so exact opposite as yours . Mine was old it might had died of natural causes .

He had a strange deformity at the base of his tail, two large pustule-looking things. I assumed it was some kind of tumor.

Also, any animal can get cancer. Not sure why you think scorpions specifically can’t get it.

more of a cyst / molting deformity with inverts as far I’m sure no veterinarians study inverts and diagnose them with cancer a mammal/reptile issue etc vertebrate. It’s deadly, like cancer so your not entirely wrong.