Worried for our scorpion..

[Outpost31Survivor]

No it was flipped over in the water dish when i got home. I dont know if you read the rest of the thread but i dont think shes dehydrated. We mist the enclosure pretty frequents so i dont think thats the issue. its pretty dry at the moment but thats because we havent wanted to do anything with her acting pretty crazy

Misting is a complete waste of time. It provides a very brief humidity spike that quickly evaporates and then humidity rapidly drops back down. There is a genuine life hack to keeping these scorpions very much alive and very healthy (this includes Emperors too). Keep them on 4"-6" of moist substrate. And waterdish always full. Proper temps also helps 75F-85F.

 

[Babycakes1902]

I understand everyone is stressed about the enclosure. For the last time, this scorpion has been with us for over a year - almost two. I do not think that the recent events have anything to do with what her place looks like in the pictures i have sent because with her odd behavior and possible demise, we havent done much upkeep. And this has been ongoing for two days now. So while I appreciate the advice on substrate and comments on how that looks, please realize that is not what im asking in my posts. Its her odd behavior.

Update: this morning, she is upright but her tail is flat. I gave her a blow and she started moving again, even partially curled her tail? she cant move really but she tries to walk. just moves her legs as if shes moving but does go anywhere. Im going to suggest to my boyfriend (her owner) we just treat her as if shes not dying and focus on her enclosure

 

[darkness975]

The behavior is likely a correlation of the conditions. They don't always show signs of issues immediately.

 

[Babycakes1902]

Wrong substrate and far too dry in the enclosure.

Dude come on.

 

[darkness975]

Dude come on.

Dude read the suggestions.

They do not always succumb to improper keeping right away, it is not a surprise that they could have lasted for an extended period of time before showing signs of stress.

If it is gravid, that would also further stress the animal.

 

[Babycakes1902]

Dude read the suggestions.

I have . Have you not read the rest of the thread? Firstly, this is not my scorpion - its my boyfriends. I understand from the pictures it looks too dry however this is not how it is. Its usually kept very moist. The substrate - im not totally sure what he has in there. Hes had the same thing for over a year. These changes in her behavior (the stiffening of her tail, inability to move, flipping over, fattening up, etc) are new. I truly do not believe they are due to her enclosure that has not changed over the last 1-2yrs. Please read the rest of the thread (which admittedly is very long in my panic) before commenting. I know the state of her enclosure. What im concerned about is how quickly and drastically her behavior changed. Unfortunately i cannot post a video. This site hates the format my phone uses. But she moves now as if shes in agony/harassed. She was unable to move her legs but this morning us able to move them jusy isnt walking. Her tail us finally curved but last night it was straight with on her stinger moving. We originally thought shes pregnant cause thats what a couple reddit uses suggested but how shes acting doesnt make me feel confident.

So yes i am reading the suggestions but please take into consideration everything else i said before telling me “wrong substrate and too dry”. its completely unhelpful, im sorry

 

[darkness975]

thats kind of my fear too. Quick side story: My boyfriend (these are his scorpions) left the lid open to the roaches ( hissing roaches) and they got out. So as we find them, we give them to the scorpions. So this one was found and maybe it got a parasite? Would there be any way to tell?

This is also a possibility, they could have gotten into something toxic, which may not affect the roaches, but could affect the scorpion.

 

[darkness975]

I have . Have you not read the rest of the thread? Firstly, this is not my scorpion - its my boyfriends. I understand from the pictures it looks too dry however this is not how it is. Its usually kept very moist. The substrate - im not totally sure what he has in there. Hes had the same thing for over a year. These changes in her behavior (the stiffening of her tail, inability to move, flipping over, fattening up, etc) are new. I truly do not believe they are due to her enclosure that has not changed over the last 1-2yrs. Please read the rest of the thread (which admittedly is very long in my panic) before commenting. I know the state of her enclosure. What im concerned about is how quickly and drastically her behavior changed. Unfortunately i cannot post a video. This site hates the format my phone uses. But she moves now as if shes in agony/harassed. She was unable to move her legs but this morning us able to move them jusy isnt walking. Her tail us finally curved but last night it was straight with on her stinger moving. We originally thought shes pregnant cause thats what a couple reddit uses suggested but how shes acting doesnt make me feel confident.

So yes i am reading the suggestions but please take into consideration everything else i said before telling me “wrong substrate and too dry”. its completely unhelpful, im sorry

You commented before I edited my post, so feel free to go back and re-read it again.

 

[Babycakes1902]

Dude read the suggestions.

They do not always succumb to improper keeping right away, it is not a surprise that they could have lasted for an extended period of time before showing signs of stress.

If it is gravid, that would also further stress the animal.

If this is a long time coming - then i guess all we can do is continue to keep her temps/humidity well and maybe change her substrate. Im sorry, Im just highly stressed cause i do not like seeing this animal in pain, especially since she has been so well for forever. I do appreciate the suggestions tho. I know everyone is commenting their best advice based on what i have provided

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Your scorpion is the throes of dying. The legs are in a death curl and the straightened tail are both signs of an imminent death. You also admitted your boyfriend fed it a roach that had escaped and he recaptured. It is possible the roach came into contact with residual toxic chemicals or poisons such as bugspray or any other number of things. But the fact remains, that substrate is horrible and is a death sentence. It is going to die soon and the only possible chance of increasing its survival is providing it a proper substrate. The scorpion is as good as dead. Straightened tail and legs in death curl are grave signs it's basically reached beyond the point of no return.

 

[Babycakes1902]

Your scorpion is the throes of dying. The legs are in a death curl and the straightened tail are both signs of an imminent death. You also admitted your boyfriend fed it a roach that had escaped and he recaptured. It is possible the roach came into contact with residual toxic chemicals or poisons such as bugspray or any other number of things. But the fact remains, that substrate is horrible and is a death sentence. It is going to die soon and the only possible chance of increasing its survival is providing it a proper substrate. The scorpion is as good as dead. Straightened tail and legs in death curl are grave signs it's basically reached beyond the point of no return.

View attachment 467872

Thank you for your reply. I do want to add that this morning her legs are out and moving (she doesnt really go anywhere) and her tail is curved back to normal. Do you (or anyone here) think thats still sign of death? Tomorrow, or tonight if my boyfriend hasnt i might take over care and change her substrate and see if that does anything. Should i keep her in a tank.

Again i apologize to any attitude or seemingly ungrateful comments on my part. I am really just upset over the whole thing. Ill probably just end up taking the big load of her care at this point but as i said i dont know much to anything about scorpions myself.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Thank you for your reply. I do want to add that this morning her legs are out and moving (she doesnt really go anywhere) and her tail is curved back to normal. Do you (or anyone here) think thats still sign of death? Tomorrow, or tonight if my boyfriend hasnt i might take over care and change her substrate and see if that does anything. Should i keep her in a tank.

Again i apologize to any attitude or seemingly ungrateful comments on my part. I am really just upset over the whole thing. Ill probably just end up taking the big load of her care at this point but as i said i dont know much to anything about scorpions myself.

The only possible chance of saving it is by replacing the substrate. But I think it's too late now. It is going to die in a day or two maybe possibly even today and there is nothing you can do about it besides provide it a deep moist substrate like 2-3 bricks worth of freshly prepared Eco-Earth.

 

[Babycakes1902]

You commented before I edited my post, so feel free to go back and re-read it again.

I replied to a different post but this is my boyfriend’s scorpion but after this im going to try to take over her care. Even if she is dying, I want to give her the best chance but i know next to nothing on scorpions. Can i ask what substrate you recommend, where her humidity should be and what her heat should be at? I do appreciate it and im sorry for my frustration earlier

 

[Babycakes1902]

The only possible chance of saving it is by replacing the substrate. But I think it's too late now. It is going to die in a day or two maybe possibly even today and there is nothing you can do about it besides provide it a deep moist substrate like 2-3 bricks worth of freshly prepared Eco-Earth.

Damn, I understand that. Im going to tryShes been this way a couple days and i was convinced she was a goner yesterday with how flat she was and lethargic but seeing her perk up a bit today and curl her tail…im going to try.

 

[Tbone192]

I am very sorry for your loss, it feels awful to have a pet pass. I lost an O aureotibialis sling, ~0.5", because I rehoused it and the enclosures humidity was imperfect enough to kill my gorgeous little sling, I should mention this is one of my favourite species. I took it pretty rough but I used it as a learning experience, never again will I make that mistake. I know the comments can sometimes get intense, but they are only being posted out of concern for your scorp. Don't take it to personally, just try extracting the useful info. Stick with it and be sure to be diligent in your research. I'm sure you'll be master of scorpions in no time

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

I replied to a different post but this is my boyfriend’s scorpion but after this im going to try to take over her care. Even if she is dying, I want to give her the best chance but i know next to nothing on scorpions. Can i ask what substrate you recommend, where her humidity should be and what her heat should be at? I do appreciate it and im sorry for my frustration earlier

100% moist substrate at 4"-6" deep (I have had great success with Eco-Earth personally)
75F-85F all year round (80F is optimal).
Water dish always full

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Is the scorpion still going strong?
Unfortunately, I agree it looks like she's dying.
I also agree with the suggestions given about humidity and substrate. Even though it is seemingly not the answer you want to hear. They seem hardy animals at first and can withstand bad conditions for a bit, but they will inevitably crash if kept in suboptimal conditions. The fact that you found it in the water dish could mean it was trying to get hydration, but was too weak to get out. Pouring water directly into the substrate and potentially restricting ventilation for less evaporation is the way to go.
And even though it may seem unrelated to you, I have seen scorpions in their last days before dying showing similar behavioural and movement issues (almost neurologic), before dying within a day to a few days. It is interesting that it seems to last longer in this individual. When topics like this pop up, it's rarely an individual that is kept ideally, and hydration is regularly one of the main issues, so we're not just mentioning it for no reason. The correlation becomes clear after a while.
Another instance in which such behaviours are often observed is when explosed to toxins or harsh chemicals. I've had small scorpions killed by accidental exposure to contaminated substrate, and since this is a bigger scorpion it might take longer to kill it. Check if there's any way it could have been exposed to harsh chemicals /toxins.