Little bit worried :-(

My emp solarus has been in one of his hides since i first bught him nearly 2 months ago and i havnt been worried. He just stays there shifting position and eating crickets rarely..well about 3 days ago i came home to find him under another hide whichwas very unusual. Just thought he was a bit bored and maybe more comfortable in his tank. Any how he comes out in the open all the time now and doesnt seem to hide from me at all any more...i was a bit worried about the change in this behaviour and noticed some white spots on him that look a bit like white powder. just went up to check him and there are afew more and i saw one of them move...is this mites??
If so what is the best thing i can do for hime, i havnt cleaned him yet as i was told only every few months but was planning on it this weekend. i have cleaned the dead crickets out all the time but did miss a leg which i found today. i have looked at other posts but cant find any on advice of what to do...should i clean solarus?? should i clean his tank?? or just leave him, i really would appreciate some help and advice guys as im quite worried about him.
thanks in advance
rach

Would be really helpfull if you could post pictures so we could decide weather it's mites or not! Sounds like it though! Was there mites on the cricket leg?

i didnt notice any but i didnt really look at the time just cleaned it up and threw it out. i just tried to take some pics but they are soooo small i couldnt get any, now he iss just outside on the substrate, his tail was down but when i lifted the lid off he took his normal stance but didt run off to hide..is this normal for them to just be out and about??

Well, mine stays in the burrow most of the time but right now the female is actually out for a stroll (I had to check up on them after I just saw this thread)!

i took himout and took some pics, ill post them up now.

https://2img.net/h/oi55.tinypic.com/t9a5j4.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

https://2img.net/h/oi55.tinypic.com/t9a5j4.jpg

not very good sorry, but i cant see them moving now though...

could just be water marks if it looks dusty....however is your scorp an adult? its behaivour sounds very simular to our emp that we recently lost, he never burrowed just sat in hide and for the last 3 weeks of his life just kinda sat outside not eating only moving occasionally then right at the end i found him tail flat (which is a bad sign)

It's kinda hard to tell weather or not it's mites from those pictures

Hm, try and "hand" feed it a cricket or something and see how it reacts! If it's aggresive and going for the meal it's fine, if not, i'd say something is up!

Ive tried to feed him and he's not interested, i just took some out i out in there kast night. he has never been a big eater though and has always seemed a bit scared of the crickets it seemed to me, thats why i started feeding him myself sometimes. im not even sure how old ihe is, he has grown since i bought him but not much. i hope he will be ok,,,,,

rachy1975 wrote:

he has grown since i bought him but not much

Say what? they grow by molting... Has he molted since you got him? If yes, how long ago?

When a scorpion reach adulthood they don't molt anymore, so last molt should give you an idea of how old it is!

he hasnt molted since i got him...maybe its just me eyes thinking he has gotten bigger then...lol

rachy1975 wrote:

he hasnt molted since i got him...maybe its just me eyes thinking he has gotten bigger then...lol

Well, it seems like it

Emperors are known to go a loooong time without food, I've had one go 5 months, and i've heard of them even going a year without food. If it's out alot I wouldn't worry about it, it sometimes is a by product of the scorpion being familiar with its surroundings.

Mites look like a clump of round thingies that usually group around joints, if you think it's mites just take a wetted Q-tip and brush them off then change the substrate. Usually mites come from feeder's that already are contaminated with them.

I haven't heard ya say anything that would bring up a red flag just keep doin what you're doin, emps are unusual at times. Just wait till you see it doing a handstand or something similar.

It sounds to me like your scorp has finally settled in.

The "white powder" sounds like scorp-o-poo, so nothing to worry about -- a good sign, in fact.

once they have explored there tank and know where everything is they dont really have a reason to walk about unless they want food or water. it wouldnt be good if they constantly walked around without a reason because they would just be wasting energy.

first time having my emperor shes walking like mad..and now shes hiding like mad..

thanks guys, he seems ok today and ill inspect him properly later and you let yu know if anything changes.

Okay... Good luck!

well ive changed his tank and cleaned it all out, i now keep finding him up against the side of the tank sort of standing up with his underside againct the side of the tank (at least i now know he is def a male). Not sure whats up with him, he's very slow moving and the temperature is correct. i have some pics but will have to wait til my other half is up as im not that good on the old uploading on photobucket.

Well, he should have time settling in after you re-did the enclosure!

But! Slow-moving is just not a good sign to me! They should be jumpy and defensive...

my emp was doing that alot, would sit againt a edge with stinger high up in the air and almost face in the ground but she dont do it anymore and is fine, they are strange creatures but i wouldnt get to worried about it.

Is he doing this at the warmer end of the tank? Even if the temp is correct, scorps respond to a warm spot like cats respond to a floor heat vent.

Mr. Mordax wrote:

Is he doing this at the warmer end of the tank? Even if the temp is correct, scorps respond to a warm spot like cats respond to a floor heat vent.

+1

Some of mine are real heat-mat-huckers especially my Hadrurus Arizonensis!

yes it is at the heat end. I may move his tank as even though its not by the window it is at that end and the temperature has dropped so much the last few days with the snow and ice...