LQs taking a long time to molt?

So all five of my LQs are in premolt, and have been for months now. The temps are around 80F and I LIGHTLY mist them every week or two. Some eat and some don't.

What's going on?

i have 2 nos of lq facing the same problem too and i wonder why .........

Yes indeed, Lester, what IS taking so long for them to molt? I feed them once a week, hydrate once every two weeks and, maintain a temp of 85 degrees day and 78 at night...

In my previous AFS brood there was a few of them who are in pre molt stage for around 2months
Some eat a little bit when i offer food occasionally but all of them molted just fine in the end

PaperTiger wrote:

Yes indeed, Lester, what IS taking so long for them to molt? I feed them once a week, hydrate once every two weeks and, maintain a temp of 85 degrees day and 78 at night...

hmm i have absolute no idea .. facing the same problem too

from my own experience i recomend to raise humidity and temperature even to 95F or more. under this conditions it took him less than a month from 4i to 5i. they seem to like a little higher humidity.

I've raised the temps and humidity a bit a few-days-ago. Hopefully this works!

Actually, now that I think about it ... Could they not be molting because their pre-made burrows are too small and they feel insecure with them?

bjaeger wrote:

I've raised the temps and humidity a bit a few-days-ago. Hopefully this works!

Actually, now that I think about it ... Could they not be molting because their pre-made burrows are too small and they feel insecure with them?

This raised another question: - How essential are burrows for molting of buthids that typically inhabit arid to semi-arid conditions?

If so, then it would seem essential to provide juveniles and subs with ample burrowing substrate for this purpose. Maybe even gravid females....

Overdue pre-molts and gravidity experienced by many desert keepers is a very frequent concern which leads to conclude that despite the considerable hardiness of lqs and other truly arid scorps, it is difficult to simulate comparable conditions in captivity to that which they are naturally suited for in the wild.

The famous pic of the molting lq by GIX seems to suggest the contrary.
https://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/scorpion-pictures-videos-f13/leiurus-quinquestriatus-molting-t2771.htm
I'm not expert but this virtually perfect molt on not-completely dry peat supports the idea that humidity could be an important factor in the care of this desert species despite the trepidation of many keepers like myself to mist in fear of mycosis setting in.

Raising the temperature as freeman suggested, from what I understand accelerates metabolism and consequentially growth and development rate, but whether this would trigger molting, I find this too uncertain to go with (sorry freeman, not calling you out or anything, but your argument for humidity is a good one).

I wonder however if the large contrast in temps in their natural range is hot wired into the molting requirements, meaning: In addition to raised humidity, could lower temps (closer to that of desert night conditions) help equally or even better prior to molting?

i have the same problem aswell with my 2 stalkers and also with my A.crassicauda , could it be something to do with it being winter?????

my current lq ...



been this fat for almost a month .. not eating yet molting ..i wonder

I have the same problem but with a Grosphus Grandidieri, refuses food, is pretty fat and doesn't molt, hope I don't find him dead.

I had a 2i Imperator refuse food for quite sometime premolt and I found him dead today but his tank mate molted successfully thankfully. But just means I needa get another to take the dead ones place .

Good news! I just discovered a freshly-molted LQ!

Judging by his size, I'd say he's now 5i. He's gettin big!

Seems like this is another xmas present

congrats! how about some pics?

Its pretty hard to get him out of his hole but I'll try to throw up some pix later

He's getting to that stage where his body is changing shape and maturing more noticeably than before.

wow! congrats! LQ are known for there long-time premolt.

Thanks

Got him setup in his own 10 gallon (way too big .. oh well) and got some pics. I'll be uploading them later

Three more have molted. I found them all at once! Only one more to go!