Possible Pre Molt within days of Pet Shop Buy

Ok, so i have just bought my Emperor Scorp, Alastor, 7 Days ago. Ive been trying to read up on pre moulting, and think i can identify it. Without a Pic, i know it will be hard for you guys to help. The biggest contradiction for me is that he just ate yesterday morning, or the night before. Hunted it down even. And hes pretty agile atm.

Ok, the factor of why i think he might be getting ready. Right at his joints, you can see his white undergrowth. Looks like his shell isnt covering his body effectively. Is this common for subadults? Biggest spot is right after his telson joint, its almost a whole 1/8 of an inch.

Now, hes only 1.7 inches (1.698 in fact), so you can imagine this looks rather big.

I also understand that the pre-molt could even be starting as early as 4 weeks prior to his molt.

As soon as my uncles family is up ill run over and grab theyre good camera and get some pics up.

In the 7 days i had him he wouldnt eat the first 3, then ate one of the biggest crickets out of the bunch ( had to hand it to him), then he ate a very small one i had dropped in just in case. Now i am going to wait to feed him one of the D. Roaches i got around monday or teusday.

Thanks for any advice, comments, or even questions.

Joe


P.S. Do they ever put a molt off till conditions are favored? maybe he did not want to molt bieng around 4 other scorps in a 3.5 gal tank? Maybe their non gutloaded crickets put him off as well?

Also, heres a link to my intro post, i explained his habitat and all that there
http://www.scorpion-forum.com/t10809-hello-from-washington-usa

If it still eats then it's probably weeks away from molting. It's just itself fattening up in preparation

Yes, thats what i figured, if he was, still atleast 3 weeks away from what ive read. Do i feed him normally, or should i provide an extra feeding in the week? ( Currently is 1 large cricket, then 1 small, alternating) I also have 3 D. Roaches that ill be feeding him this next week. (moving away from crickets as ive found someone who has about 30k of them, which was a godsend, since i live in the middle of nowhere. literally. Google Tonasket, WA sometime! lol

Try feeding it one last time next week then put it on hold til it molts.

Ok thanks

May also be an indicator: hes made his first couple of burrows, burrowed under the side of the lizard cave i have in his cage. Although he sits in it backwards! his rear end and tail are visible from the outside of it! Any idea why, if not becuase of the molt?

Probably just digging some more. I usually see that tail outside thing when my scorpions are cleaning and rearranging the inside of their burrows.

ok awesome, thanks

One thing i havent read about yet is substrate Temp, i have the ability and means to measure it, and since hes burrowed most of the time, what would be the ideal range? i imagine it would be on the lower side of the scale.