h. spinifer conundrum

i set up a big (150L) tank for 4 het spinifers. 2 were adult males and 2 were subadult females, im sure they were, so i was hoping to breed them.
well, i checked on them today because it looked like they had burrowed under the water bowl, and found only two, both adults, and absolutely no sign of ANY burrows at all. and, no pieces of scorpion anywhere (i ran a blacklight over the whole enclosure, nothing). so i took the other two out so i could dig around and noticed that although they are both adults, only one is male! the other seemed to be fatter than it could have got on the amount of food they have been given, so i assumed it had eaten the others.
but... if this adult is female, it must have molted, but there is absolutely no sign of any parts of scorpions or scorp molts.
if they could climb the glass they could probably escape, but there big heterometrus, so i doubt even one of them would have managed to.

???????????????????????

so could she be gravid and have gone on a killing spree and managed to eat all of the bits of 2 scorpions?
she has the tip of her stinger missing and looks to have a damaged "face claw" eating jobbie (sorry about that, i dont know its proper name)
the male is a big old thing who is up for a fight with anything, so i would think he could keep her at bay, but if i dont find the others then i will put her in her own tank.



im so confused...
can you just confirm this is a female?


and this is a male right?:


HELP!

You've sexed them correctly -- first is male, second is female.

I'm a little perplexed as well. You'd almost certainly find SOMETHING if she ate her tankmates. Did you completely empty out the tank and search for remains?

My man, I had this problem with my first Het. S. colony. They climb, and they climb well. If there was a way for them to escape, they will be long, long gone. Check your shoes or slippers... that's where I found one of my missing 3 before they got rounded up.

Although they both look a little swollen, so they might have consumed the others, but I think Mordax and yourself are correct, you would find a limb, or a claw, or something if they had been eaten...

ah... mum will not be happy...
well, at least its unlikely they managed to get out of my room.
could they really climb the silicone sealant on the side of the tank, then climb 2 feet up the tank, then drop 7 foot to the floor??
how do you catch 2 scorpions in a room full of stuff, most of which you cant move...

i will have a really good dig around in their tank to try and find remains... wouldnt bits of moult glow under a blacklight too?

Yes, the pieces will still glow. I doubt they climbed it unless there's an object to assist them. Do you have any other pets or someone in the house who may have had their paws/hands in this?

Laoticus has it right, they will need an object to help, but a large fall is no big deal to these boneless wonders. Mine climbed the thermometer cord to escape.

This is a very weird situation.

i have nothing that reaches halfway up the tank, or touches the sides, except the substrate. there are no wires going into the tank and nothing is stuck to the sides.
the room always has the door shut and no cats are allowed in, they wouldnt be able to get up to the tank anyway. i hope that if they have escaped they will still be in the room, there are enough hiding places

Hey sounds like my B. Jacksoni, no way to escape yet they are missing :/ I'm wondering if I'll find them when I move.

Good luck to you Bro, I hope you find them! I agree on the unlikeliness of escaping as well as the likeliness of finding a limb or telson or something. A burrow could collapse and they could be very content in substrate for a good long time. If you are very worried, start removing the substrate carefully bit by bit and hopefully you will discover them. 150 gal is huge for 4 but after you get some babies that'll be a sweet set up!!

Do keep us posted and good luck!