another bicolor death during molt

so this is the second one within a couple of weeks that has died. i lifted up it's hide and found it clung to the top of it and about 1/3 of the way out of it's exo, so i bumped up the humidity and left it alone for a few hours. i return and its in the same position. i'm pretty sure that it's dead at this point

that one was the last of the 2i. now there are only five 3i. i'm hoping since they are bigger that they will have an easier time molting.

i'm trying to figure out what the key is. maybe bumping up temps/humidity when they look like they're in the premolt stage? i mist them once a week and sometimes a little under a week. i mist about 1/4 of it decently. the temps are never lower than 82*F or higher than 90*F.

i also keep them well-fed. i feed them about twice a week.

any thoughts?

What substrate are you using?

Hey, mine molted fine on sand. Even my P. liosoma. Is it maybe a stress thing?

its black sand and coco fiber. i don't see how they could be stressed. i provide them with heat, humidity, hides, and so on...  

Let's see your setup man.

Well even thou they are desert species they need water. But then again do what works for you. IMO, sands are not good moist holder this will just make the water stagnant so better use coco fiber.

it's a simple deli cup container setup: cup/lid with tons of holes, sand/coco substrate, little piece of box for hide. this one has a bit extra humidity because i thought maybe it would save him but i think he was dead by then.

i'm thinking i may need to replace hides with bigger ones. these ones also go flat after a little while...





as you can see, the lids have many holes in them:

Vixvy wrote:

Well even thou they are desert species they need water. But then again do what works for you. IMO, sands are not good moist holder this will just make the water stagnant so better use coco fiber.

i don't like the sand i'm using right now. it sticks all over the scorpions if its wet.

maybe i will switch to 100% coco fiber.

edit: i broke up pieces of cork board and put it in there. it's more than enough room for them to hide under. i think that they'll enjoy that a lot more so than bent pieces of thin cardboard. also have changed my misting method. i now mist about 1/4 of the substrate making sure that its reaching the bottom. doing it the other way with just a light spray on the top/sides resulted in a dry enclosure the next day or so. hopefully these changes results in better molts and healthier scorpions! *fingers crossed*

Hey Brandon, these things just happen sometimes. Molts are very difficult times for scorps and very stressful in it self. I don't think it's anything specific that your doing I think it's just a pinch of bad luck.

bjaeger wrote:

its black sand and coco fiber. i don't see how they could be stressed. i provide them with heat, humidity, hides, and so on...  

Scorpions become just as stressed with disturbances as they do with lack of environmental parameters/prey items. So they might be stressed regardless of you providing them with correct conditions.
Those deli cups look as if they have a click lock top to them. I never use those as i'm sure the act of taking the top of and replacing it causes quite a commotion down on a scorpion level. Also you found a scorp one third out of it's moult. If the scorp was alive and in the process of moulting when you checked up on it, that disturbance may have been fatal.
If on the other hand you have kept disturbances down to an absolute minimum then i'd be inclined to agree with Ed. Baby scorps are not clones. There will be biological differences between them with some being stronger and healthier than others. Also if your young are the result of generations of inbreeding that could also be detrimental and cause a higher mortality than what young from unrelated parents could possibly be subject to.

Vixvy wrote:

sands are not good moist holder this will just make the water stagnant so better use coco fiber.

Only if your ambient humidity is already high and/or you have poor air circulation within the enclosure.....otherwise sand is ideal as it's the substrate these animals normally live on.

i pop them open as gently as i can. i use a tattoo needle post to go through the airholes and check on them if need be. i don't even have to take the lid off. i feed them 1-2 times a week and mist once a week, so that's opening each one up to ~3x/week

i believe my disturbance during mid-molt were the reasons for the two deaths

from now on, i won't disturb a premolt scorpion.

thank you for that advice, Den!

i changed my setup around a bit. i'll be posting pics of my whole little operation later, bottom-to-top

last night when i was checking on my scorps and feeding/misting, i noticed one was mid-molt again. i thought for sure he was going to die since the others did after i checked on them. i bumped humidity and temps up for him. waited until now to check on him again. i thought i was going to find a dead scorpion under the hide, but he was ALIVE!! i'm pretty darn happy now

I should note that I had one molt when he wasn't in premolt, and he died. Just out of the blue decided to molt without showing any signs. It was super weird. I have 3 left now.

that is super weird! i agree. i guess its kind of hard for them to crack their exo without some extra pressure on it. i have another one that is in premolt right now. it dug a little burrow and is sitting in there. hoping it makes it. believe its my last 3i.

four 4i and one 3i

I'm all 3i at them moment. My death toll is really high.

i've had 1 DOA and 2 die in my care so far.

not sure why we're having these problems

They could just be really sensitive that's all.

I think I should share how I keep them and the cups that I use I will post some pictures. I have just a few bad molt incidents I wonder why you guys are having a hard time. Pictures to follow soon.

Vixvy wrote:

I think I should share how I keep them and the cups that I use I will post some pictures. I have just a few bad molt incidents I wonder why you guys are having a hard time. Pictures to follow soon.

Thanks man.

i'm very interested to see how you're keeping them, Vixvy

I do not know how to post pictures here but to people who are member of US scorpion classifieds on facebook check the picture there and if you guys can attach it here the better

https://www.facebook.com/groups/scorpionclassifieds/224070591074864/?notif_t=group_activity

Message me if you can't see anything.

Thanks Vix!

thanks, vix!

do you recommend the same setup for a 4i?

Yes all thru out. Not unless you will mate them. After mating separate them again.

they don't need hides?