worried about my flattie

[bigsky]

i apologize for having no knowledge of scientific names of scorpions, im just a mechanic from the praries who loves scorpions. anyways have a fairly serious question pertaining to my flatrock scorpion, hes been very sluggish for a while now, compared to how im used to all my other flatrocks being, hes practically comatose, only moves occasionally. hes looked fine, but lately ive noticed hes getting some brown spots all over his carapice that almost look like air bubbles under his shell, like the shell is starting to pull away, could this be a sign hes about to molt? or is a bacterial infection or mites more likely? could the humidity of his tank be an issue? hes been very slow for some time now but i just noticed the spots on him today, i will try to get some decent pictures but my camera is trash and doesnt show it very well.

any help is greatly appreciated. again, sorry im not up on the lingo.

 

[Nomadinexile]

Well flat rock would be a common usage for a Hadogenes sp. We all know what you are talking about.

As for your scorp:

Could you elaborate on the spots and the time since it became lethargic?

You say the spots are raised of the body? And they are brown? How many and where? Have you taken a look at the Disease and Parasite thread link in the first post yet? There are examples of fungal and bacterial infections you should look at in the link to compare.

And how long has it been lethargic?

*edit* Since you asked about humidity, I just wanted to add this: Hadogenes species do not need more humidity than your house already has. If you are adding moisture to the tank, I would stop. At most a small water dish filled irregularly in tank with good ventilation is all you would ever need.

 

[bigsky]

the spots appear like small air pockets under the shell, they look like the shell color if the shell had no backing, sortof a greenish brown color, and theyre all over the plates of the body, and the claws, around the face and such.

he has been very slow and dopey, especially for his species, for quite a while now, several weeks at least.

and i havent been adding moisture to his tank, i knew they were an arid species but if it happen to be too humid for him just from being close to other scorpion/tarantula tanks, could that cause an infection or something to that effect?

i have looked at that link, and looked at all the pictures really closely, but didnt see anything that looked like whats all over my flattie, i will try tomorrow in the daylight to get a clear picture, shouldnt be too hard lol not like he wont hold still.

edit: the spots or bubbles arent raised, they simply look like a spot on the shell, i have examined him very closely and i cant see any movement of parasites or anything to that effect, they just kinda look like hollow spots almost.

 

[Nomadinexile]

the spots appear like small air pockets under the shell, they look like the shell color if the shell had no backing, sortof a greenish brown color, and theyre all over the plates of the body, and the claws, around the face and such.

he has been very slow and dopey, especially for his species, for quite a while now, several weeks at least.

and i havent been adding moisture to his tank, i knew they were an arid species but if it happen to be too humid for him just from being close to other scorpion/tarantula tanks, could that cause an infection or something to that effect?

i have looked at that link, and looked at all the pictures really closely, but didnt see anything that looked like whats all over my flattie, i will try tomorrow in the daylight to get a clear picture, shouldnt be too hard lol not like he wont hold still.

edit: the spots or bubbles arent raised, they simply look like a spot on the shell, i have examined him very closely and i cant see any movement of parasites or anything to that effect, they just kinda look like hollow spots almost.

I have yet to see or hear of this. I will ask some European keepers if they have heard of this in case no one here knows.

Is it an adult? If not, do you know what instar? And if you don't know instar, could you give approximate length, total or body?

As for the humidity:
Do you have a lot of humid tanks in a room that is kept well sealed up? And I mean a lot.

If you have the door to that room open, and don't have dozens of humid specimens, there should be no problem.

Are you keeping any T. blondi or T. apopysis (sp?), or Goliath Bird Eaters? A couple of large swamps in there could cause a problem.

Outside of T. blondi tanks, or a huge collection of Avicularia and Jungle scorpions, it should not be a problem with humidity.

Humidity should only cause fungal infections, which we refer to as mycosis. However, I am unsure as to whether mycosis only applies to one type of fungal infection, or if it is meant to apply to them all. The fungal infections I have seen have all been relatively dark spots, opaque, and irregularly shaped.

Pictures would be great if you can do that. ~r

 

[alexi]

oh man i haven't been on here in ages. anyway: It sounds like you are/have been keeping other flat rocks for at least a little while, so if you are doing right by the others you are probably doing right by this one. Its possible your imagining it (I'm not kidding its so easy to notice things with these guys and think your scorp is deathly ill when its just not in the mood to amuse you). I'd make sure he's seperate from the others just incase of an infection, but probably just keep doing what you're doing and see what happens.

 

[bigsky]

alright, thanks guys. just the same ill try to get pictures of the case his tank is in with all the other critters, and his spots. he is pretty fat so its possible he could just be plain lazy haha but the spots worry me. wont get a chance to snap a photo today, but i will tomorrow.

 

[Vfox]

I wouldn't worry about the lethargic part. I've had mine for nearly three and a half years now and he's only eaten a handful of times and rarely moves. He normally just sits either under or on top of his rocks and never ventures farther. He moves from a spot maybe once a day but sometimes doesn't move for several days...at least that I see.

The spots under the exocuticle would worry me a bit. Is this an adult or a youngster? An impending molt is likely, if it's not mature...but scorpions don't molt after they mature so if it's an adult it's certainly sick. As to the affliction, I'm at a loss...possibly internal parasites or possibly it got some sort of substance on itself that dissolved some of the waxy exoskeleton. It's hard to say...I wish you luck though, I love flatrocks.

 

[Nomadinexile]

I haven't gotten anything from Europe. Maybe the pictures will help? Get 'em up when you can.

 

[Michiel]

sounds like mycosis......The spots aren't always raised, but are dark brown to black, sometimes jet black and shiny. If you would look under a microscope, you would see that it has a charcoallike, spungy structure...
Adding moisture makes the infection worse. Just keep it dry.......

The lethargic behaviour can have various reasons, mycoidal infection is one of them.......it would help if you post pictures.

 

[Nomadinexile]

Michiel, it doesn't sound like mycosis. Re-read what he wrote. Despite the fact that is spots, it sounds nothing like mycosis.

 

[bigsky]

alright, we have photo evidence, i got the best pictures my crappy camera would allow, and just as an update hes been moving around alot more, hes at a friend of mines pet store right now being displayed, since she kinda just opened up and wants some neat stuff to look at, well she took out his rock and replaced it with a sortof a cup on its side, which he couldnt really hide under, could this be causing him to stress out, and thereby cause these spots? since i put his flat rock back in hes already pepped up quite a bit, so that answers the lethargy portion of my question. anyways heres the pictures, theyre the best i could do, but you can definantly see the light brown spots all over him, im hoping this is just signs of a molt, but i somehow doubt it.

 

[Nomadinexile]

Not having a hide could cause stress, but stress wouldn't cause the spots. Lethargy could have been from cool temps, was it cool in the store?

 

[bigsky]

it was about 75, so should have been about right, either way that part of it seems to be a case of just plain lazy scorpion. he is pretty fat after all. anyways its the spots im worried about, im hoping someone can tell me what they are and how to get rid of them :S

 

[Vfox]

I'm curious if because your flatrock is so lethargic that it doesn't clean itself properly and a patch of mold is growing on him? It doesn't look like it's under the exocuticle honesty; have you tried rubbing it with a damp Q-tip to see if it's on the surface?

 

[bigsky]

no, i havent touched him, i figured the last thing i wanted to do was accidentally cause some sort of problem, thinking its probably not wise to mess with something i dont understand or have never dealth with. ill try the wet q-tip thing... should i use a mild soap or something? im guessing probably not but cant hurt to ask.

 

[Vfox]

I would use warm (not hot) water without soap or cleaners. This is just to test the spots to see if they are on the surface or under it. Don't rub hard and be careful of the dorsal eye set. If you can remove the spot with little rubbing it's likely a surface mold issue and we can try to figure out removal from there.

 

[bigsky]

awesome, thanks alot man ill make sure to try that tomorrow, ill post results soon as i get some.

 

[bigsky]

hey guys! so theres good news, the spots washed off very easily with warm water, and hes been very active the last few days, so i think its probably just been a case of stress from lack of a proper hide. anyways thats whats going on, if the mold persists i can always just clean him off with a q-tip, but if its a sign of a greater problem then best to deal with it, otherwise hes probably just not been cleaning himself, being all lazy.

 

[Vfox]

hey guys! so theres good news, the spots washed off very easily with warm water, and hes been very active the last few days, so i think its probably just been a case of stress from lack of a proper hide. anyways thats whats going on, if the mold persists i can always just clean him off with a q-tip, but if its a sign of a greater problem then best to deal with it, otherwise hes probably just not been cleaning himself, being all lazy.

That's great news! Hopefully it was just a surface issue and it's not internal, keep us updated.

 

[bigsky]

thanks alot for the help, savy thanks you too. i would have never thought of just plain old giving him a bath lol.