why is my scorpion holding his mouth open

i just misted the tank and i looked in a few minutes ago and my scorpion is holding his mouth open and i looked in 20 minutes later and he's still holding his mouth open...... and last night i tryed to feed 2 of them superworms and they were being really mean to me , they were covering there face with there claws and trying to sting me .....

he's still holding his mouth open and its been like 45 minutes since i sprayed the tank

sounds like a humidity problem, maybe you have the temp to high... something.... you sure are having a lot of problems with something has hardy as the old emp. ??? post some photos i got to see this lol ""they were covering there face with there claws and trying to sting me"" Not calling you a liar.. but ehhh i never heard of this Behavior from a emps. covering there "heads with there claws" and stinging wildly please post a photo and a video so i can see this for myself....

he wasnt stinging " wildly" he just tryed to strike at me twice,, it was probably becuase i wasnt useing my tongs and my fingers were right in the scorpions face holding the superworm... it was the most aggressive ive ever seen my emps maybe they were just in a bad mood .... yeah his claws were covering his face completly... both emps covered there face with there claws..... the temperature is only 81 degrees and the humidity is 70 % .....

oh i forgot and i know emps are usually calm but i know for a fact that one of my emps is aggressive he trys to pinch and run away when i attempt to pick him up ....... but my smallest one is really calm

i just tryed to feed them superworms again they didnt take it ,, this time they didnt display the same aggressive behavior as last night ....they were normal this time so last night they were probably just in a bad mood

sounds like to me your stressing them out.

Emperor5,
I recommend that either you use a false bottom, or you may pour water directly to one corner of the substrate. The moisture will spread in time. Misting may be a tedious way to maintain humidity. If they do not take the feeder you've provided, it simply means that they are not hungry..

SmileWiper wrote:

you sure are having a lot of problems with something has hardy as the old emp. ??? post some photos i got to see this lol ""they were covering there face with there claws and trying to sting me"" Not calling you a liar.. but ehhh i never heard of this Behavior from a emps. covering there "heads with there claws" and stinging wildly please post a photo and a video so i can see this for myself....

SmileWiper,
Be nice. This isn't a contest to show who is the detective.
If you are in doubt, ask in a polite manner.
Sometimes, it's the excitment and they way new hobbyist expressed themselves. We were once new to all this.. aren't we?

Please continue

thanks for the advice GS i plan on putting in a false bottom soon

update = i wish i had a video camera.... as for one of my emps being aggressive. ... i just went in the tank to put a piece of moss where he got stuck between the cork bark tunnel and the glass ,, and he literally tryed to attack my hand , and i was about two inches away from him as soon as my hand got close he lunged at my hand with his pinchers and stinger , lucky i have quick reflexes ,, i couldnt get the moss in becuase the scorpion wouldnt stop trying to attack my hand, ill do it tomorow when he's sleeping

yeah i have one that is sometimes more interested in attacking me more then the food i feed it

GS wrote:

SmileWiper,
Be nice. This isn't a contest to show who is the detective.
If you are in doubt, ask in a polite manner.
Sometimes, it's the excitment and they way new hobbyist expressed themselves. We were once new to all this.. aren't we?

Please continue

Thank you++

I have one young 2 inch P. imp that is very defensive/aggressive, you look at his container hard and he jumps and snaps. My g/f has one about 3 in that is very d/a. Then I have 2 adults; they are housed together, one is very aggressive and the other is is quite docile. The 5th P. imp we have is an adult female that will let you do pretty much anything to her without any reaction. Scorpions have attitudes and personalities like people, some deal with interaction, others not so much

I would actually have to agree with SmileWiper. Sounds like you are stressing them out big time.

jus curious but do you have a water dish in your enclosure that's big enough for them to get into, but shallow enough for them to get out? i use a hermit crab dish with pebbles in it so they don't drown. they will LITERALLY bathe if their humidity is too low, and they WILL drink. before I had the water dish I've seen mine drink the bubbles on the wall of their old enclosure to regain some humidity.

they may have their mouth open trying to get moisture from the air? i'm not sure

as far as their aggressiveness I have had my hands in my enclosure, i've touched their chelae, i've hand fed, handled, tong fed, etc. Neither of mine have tried to sting me. they just position themselves to face me and threat posture, and try to pinch.

I'd say mist your enclosure so that the subtrate is moist, and leave them for a while. as other have said they may be overly stressed! if you just leave them be they'll calm down.

do you have hides for them? emperor scorpions are avid burrowers. you need appropriate substrate depth and conditions for them to burrow. A hidden emp is a happy emp. I NEVER see my emps. the onyl time i see them is when they stick their claws out of the hole of their enclosure. means it's feeding time. otherwise they're burrowing, or relaxing in their burrow

ALSO it's a scorps natural reaction to BURROW to reduce their body temp. if its too hot they borrow. if they cant get away from the heat they will burrow until they get away from it. obviously that's not possible for our pet buddies, so they end going nuts. they'll also make tight ftitting burrows--burrows where their backs touch the top of the burrow--and this will also help them to absorb some of the moisture from the moist substrate they have burrowed into.

how are you heating the enclosure?

im not sure what you're doing or what your conditions are so i cant really say anythign FOR SURE. this is just what /I/ do. I get a lot of my info from GS or his care sheet. Some of this may even be inaccurate. I am still VERY new to the hobby, but here is some info that I have picked up over the year I've been here. good luck, hope things turn out well!

there water dish is pretty small, there is gravel in it so they dont sink, i was going to get a bigger water dish but i didnt want them to drownd.... as for heating... its hot out rite now but in the colder months there is a infrared heat light.....im putting in a false bottom tommorow but i was pooring water onto there subrate and misting a few times a day..... they burrowed a tunnel all the way across the tank down to the glass, its only about 3 1/2 inches deep but when i put the false bottom in tommorow im adding an extra bag of coco fiber substrate....