stuck in molt

i hadn't seen my emperor in a few days and wondered whats up. i picked up his little hide to find him stuck in his molted skin. it looks like his body and one pinscher is fine but the other is stuck. i tried to pull it off with tweezers only to end up picking him up with his arm attached. it looked painful as he squirmed about and actually used his stinger to try to get it off. what do i do? let him get if off on his own or try to cut and snip it of? will the arm and claw grow back if it comes off?

humidity is about 65%
temp about 70 degrees F
about 3 years of age
emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator

Well temperature and humidity should be around 80. Also, NEVER pick up a freshly molted scorpion. By picking him up, you may have cost it the chela. I would not stress or move it, bump the humidity by making an ICU, and try to get it off VERY CAREFULLY with a cotton swab and some olive oil. Ask Abyss about his way of doing this. Sucks this happened.

That pedipalp looks pretty bad. The good news is that it's not life threatening.

I recommend that you snip it off at the joint. Make sure you stop the bleeding after you do this by applying either cornstarch, flour, vaseline, or small bits of tissue. (Or some sort of combination of this.) After that, CAREFULLY put your scorp in an ICU. (Small container lined with moist paper towels placed in a warm place.) Be very gentle with moving it, as Shredder said it's not good to move a freshly molted scorp but in this case it's a necessity.

Unfortunately, scorpions rarely regenerate more than a small part of a severed limb. That being said however, I highly recommend  amputating in situations like this rather than just trying to remove the exoskeleton. Otherwise the limb will be deformed and could become stuck again in the following molt.

What instar is your scorp now by the way?

its not a fresh molt. he's been like this for a week. i see that the exo has hardened and that the old molt was stuck. well, i couldn't bare to see it struggle anymore. with a bright light and steady hands i snipped of the old molt. now my baby has a deformed chela. i'm not ready to amputate. but the deformed arm is in the way of his mouth and he can't move it. he is in an icu with moist and warm conditions. i'm worried that his eating is going to be affected. should i wait to feed? what should i feed him while he's in this state?

Yikes. That's gonna have to come off. Sorry about that. Scorpions with only one claw have been known to catch prey, but it'll have to be almost immobilized.

Okay, I don't like to say this, but after seeing just how bad the pedipalp is.....you NEED to amputate that.

If you don't there's a serious chance it could become infected, it will certainly get stuck next molt, it will inhibit feeding and mobility, and lastly your scorpion may decide that it's more trouble than it's worth and pull the limb off itself. The problem with the last if that it will not be a clean cut, and if it does this when you're not around it could potentially bleed to death.


After the limb is gone you can feed it as you normally would, with the exception that if you're feeding crickets you should remove the back legs to make them easier to catch.

Yikes is right  Seriously that has to go soon. I had a P. irminia that did the same thing, moulted and got it's one pedipalp stuck and then twisted it around. I had no choice but to amputate. It survived and is now a particulary small MM but he survived.

well, i had planned on waiting a day or so until i had the time to do the amputation. But now it doesn't matter. My little guy passed away. Kinda sad and pissed at the same time. I know it was my fault for not having the humidity high enough for a proper molt. Little Ozzy was only 3 years old. I had him since he was 1/2" long and a few weeks old. Not sure if I'm ready to try again with another scorpion. Maybe I'll stick to my tarantulas for awhile. Gotta let this wound heal. Thank you to all that replied with help and knowledge. Truly grateful for this forum and its members.

That sucks man. I really took it hard when I lost Shredder. I cried for a good 15 minutes at least. I feel your pain. I would say just keep at it, and don't give up.

I remember when I lost my first emperor. I started throwing things. Lol. We all know that feeling all too well. Take this as a learning experience. Once you are ready, get another scorp and try again and use this experience as knowledge to help the next go round.

Sorry to see that.

So sorry for your loss. Keep at it...we need people like you to keep the hobby strong!

I'm sorry. I lost my emp and was devastated. R.I.P Ozzy.