I found out that a string or coconut fiber of some type is tangled around one leg and possibly wedged under one of the armor plates under my scorpion.
The scorpion seems to be OK, but I'm not sure. It doesn't look comfortable to me. I recently cleaned the cage and it moved normally into the big gulp cup and the critter keeper with no ill effects. The scorpion appears incapable of pulling it out on its own. My girlfriend cut the free end shorter so it wouldn't get stuck on anything. I've been unable to find any info on doing surgery on scorpions or exactly how to free them from bad molts if it comes to that.
Is there a way to safely and humanely immobilize a scorpion so that I can carefully remove it? Is this type of thing harmless? Could this be causing a loss of appetite or preventing molting?
My intention is to immobilize the scorpion, grab free end of fiber and then loop a piece of thread under it pulling towards the scorpion. This will free the opposite end tangled up by getting between it and the scorpion. If it doesn't work, I can simply withdraw the loop. I plan on using a bit of Olive oil on it to help it slip along.
I found the technique was one used to pull out ingrown hairs and other objects in humans and other animals.