H. Jayakari???

I few weeks ago I got an H.Jayakari. Thinking she was about to molt, I tried to keep part of the substrate damp. Today I misted the side of the tank and as she came up to get a drink I took some pic's to see if I could get a count of her pectin. This is what I found???
1.

2.

I moved her into a dryer critter cage and hopefully this will take care of it.
any input is welcomed!!!

Crikey...she doesn't look to well at all!...I'm tempted to ask whether or not you noticed this when you got her as whatever that white encrustation is, it looks well advanced...Little hard to imagine your scorp could go from perfectly normal to this in just a few weeks!.
I ALWAYS take pictures of my scorps on receipt, both Dorsal and Ventral views to check for such things as mycosis, fungal growths, mites plus any other obvious deviations from a healthy scorpion...Although this isn't going to help you now with your jayakari unfortunately.
Your pictures are a little blurred and as such it's not easy to see the full extent of the problem. Could you put it on a sheet of glass with a cup or whatever over top and take a clearer ventral picture?
That aside it looks as if you've had the humidity to high..I make that assumption based on the sand that is clinging to the lower half of her mesasoma as well as around the pectines and ventral side..If the sand was free of moisture it wouldn't cling to her that way.
Mycosis is a well known desert specie problem and usually shows up on the legs or ventral side of the scorpion as it's these parts that are more often in contact with the substrate. Yet the only experience i have with mycosis is that it shows as a dark or black spot that gradually grows larger until the scorpion is incapacitated and dies...The fungal growth (if that's what it is) on your scorp looks like a white powder (a better, clearer picture with a higher magnification would make it easier to see what the actual problem is) and although it is concentrated on one of it's pectines it can be seen many places over the scorpion.
I'm wondering...How often do you mist and is it normal for your scorp to come out and drink from droplets during the day?...How is she eating and does she have no problem catching and killing her prey? Lastly what are your temps/humidity?....(I've heard reports that nematodes increase a scorpions thirst as well as affecting their ability to dispatch and eat prey)
I Have 5 H.jayakari that i received in October..I keep them at approx 32-35C during the day and not under 26c at night and have never misted them, partly because at those temperatures and droplets will evaporate before the scorps get a chance to drink from them, plus it's my understanding that desert species obtain most or all of their moisture through osmosis and the prey they eat...Instead i put in a small bottle cap with fine pebbles that i'll dampen off. This is done every 2 or 3 weeks or so. I do this just before lights out and typically i'll remove the bottle caps the next day so as not to run the risk of increasing the overall humidity in their enclosures to much...Although saying that i've never actually seen them drink at all...My jayakari have all moulted since i've had them and i've not bothered with dampening any part of the substrate. They moulted just fine.
Without really knowing what the problem is (that white powder may be fungal/nematodes or some other parasitical entity) it's hard to give you a remedy (if there is one!) although i think it's fair to say that a drastic decrease in humidity together with increased ventilation could be advantageous....To get the new substrate totally dry it might be a good idea to put it in the oven set to 100C for 30 minutes or so and then let it cool of before introducing it back into your scorp enclosure..This should also kill any parasitical life in the substrate.

Thanks for all the info Bro. I don't think she's gonna make it. I had her for about 3wks and she hadn't eaten, but she eat a cricket last week. I thought she was doing well. Until yesterday. She looks worse today. I'll be surprised if she makes it though the night.

Thanks again!!!

tfleming wrote:

I don't think she's gonna make it. I had her for about 3wks and she hadn't eaten, but she eat a cricket last week. I thought she was doing well. Until yesterday. She looks worse today. I'll be surprised if she makes it though the night.
Thanks again!!!

Lets just hope for the best. She might just be going through a molt soon. When she has successfully molted and a week of exo hardening has took place, you may proceed put her in a dry substrate.

I was raising a bundle of fresh brood given by a good friend of mine. Substrate wise, i kept them in the following combination:

60% play sand, 35% coco fibre and 5% peat moss (just a sprinkle on the top layer).. all in dry condition.

Click here to view:

Water supply is provided once every week with a misting at one side of the enclosure's wall. The moss which is near the wall helps in retaining some water dew for drinking.

Sample on the amount of mist i do (weekly basis):

Click here to view:

With the above, they have no issue molting and no signs of mycosis. The rest of the husbandry are written on my Desert Scorpion Caresheet. There are other ways to keep them, mine will just be a simple reference.

Hope it helps and awaiting your good news on her molt soon bro

GS, beautiful animals! I'm not giving up. she's still alive this morning. I was trying to keep her the same way I kept my AA's, but that obviously didn't work. Thanks for all the input, this is a learning experience. I hate that it sometimes comes at the expense of a life.

I give them slightly more moisture than Androctonus australis. Just slightly more.
The crucial thing here is ventilation. It plays a very important role keeping scorpions.
Especially so for desert specimens with regards to mycosis issues.

How's your little bugger doing? Hope all is good so far..

She didn't make it. Really hurts my soul.

Sorry to hear that bro. I'm sure you will have better luck next time.
If you still have yet found a replacement when mine are ready. I'll work something out for you. Will keep you posted.

Sounds great GS. Those look like high quality animals you've got there. I would love to have some of them!