Urgent help needed: Desert Hairy lying on it's back

I recently received a rather chubby juvenile desert hairy and I've just checked on it and it's lying on it's back. Do scorpions ever molt on their back? Or should I help it back on it's feet as maybe it fell over and can't get back up due to being fat?

Scorpions molt right side up. Bark scorpions can molt vertically. I've never heard of any scorpion molting on it's back...tarantulas do tho. Is it moving? Is the tail straight or curled? I'm not 100% on this, but I would say give it an hour and watch it closely. A picture might help if you can post. If not you can text me a pic at 208-946-0953. Google didn't tell me anything.

Tail is curled. It was moving earlier but now it is completely still =/ I'll upload a pic in a moment

It's moving a little now that I've put the light on.

It's movements seem very similar to what I've seen in tarantulas when they molt. Slight twitching, though I guess could also be because it's too weak to right itself. If it has fallen over, how long could a scorpion last in that position?

Looks like it's due to molt. I would wet a paper towel with warm water, squeeze it out really well into a ball and place it about 2 to 3 inches away from the front of the scorpion...against the glass. You don't want it in a direct path from the head, as they come out head first. turn off the lights. I wouldn't touch it because they should not be disturbed when molting. It went on it's back for a reason is my guess. Twitching is good. Desert Hairy's usually molt underground, so this is a very unique situation. Other's with more experience may recommend turning it right side up...if they do, then turn it carefully. Keep the tank warm. Just flying by the seat of my pants here. Good luck and let us know how it's doing man. Unique situation, for sure.

Ok I've placed a wet paper towl in there, just like you said, and I've also turned the heating on to warm the tank up. I'm still unsure if i should flip it over though, is it at risk of dying by being on it's back?

I'm afraid to say molting is fairly hard for this species in captivity and I've never witnesses an actual molt with this species but they're not know to molt supine but it does happen in buthids
www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3227238?uid=3739256&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101810995263
Keep it moist for now with a moist towel and turn up the heat as was mentioned do not disturb it and maybe turn off any lights

It's at risk if it's molting just because it's a Desert Hairy...they don't do well molting in captivity. My best guess is that it went on it's back intentionally. So I'd leave it as that doesn't look accidental. They are very sensitive to vibrations and from what I know about tarantulas, moving or touching them during a molt will kill them. Scorpions break their exoskeleton by increasing their "blood pressure" when they molt. You increased the humidity with the paper towel (which makes it easier to remove if needed than spraying the substrate), heat is up, lights are out. Time to let mother nature and instinct do the rest. You can watch it with a red light if you have one. There is even a cell phone app which you could use. Or just put a lamp on the other side of the room to give you enough light to observe. If it helps at all, I'm stressing with you...feels like delivering a baby in the back of a car. You have helped it as much as I can think.

Oh and Don't TURN IT UPSIDE UP

Ok...Abyss is here. I'm feeling better. Man I want this to work!

Yeah i linked my pms to alert me via text. Good luck man this is unusual please keep us posted.

How is it doing?

Yeah man keep us updated, the results can prove beneficial as far as learning their molting behaviors.

Also

SHAKUDO!!! I need a hug! I don't want someone else's pet to die this week.

I am getting a pair of subadult Hadrurus this week so really interested to see the outcome. Hope it all goes well

my p.trans molted on it's back twice before. folks from my local forum say it's also kinda weird that she does that haha

Patcho wrote:

Yeah man keep us updated, the results can prove beneficial as far as learning their molting behaviors.

Also

SHAKUDO!!! I need a hug! I don't want someone else's pet to die this week.

Lets keep our fingers crossed!!!

Still slight twitching, but no progress as far as molting goes =/

exoticvirus wrote:

my p.trans molted on it's back twice before. folks from my local forum say it's also kinda weird that she does that haha

All Parabuthus have been observed molting on their backs None of mine have ever molted in another way.

Abyss gave the best advice and thats to just leave it. Molting can take hours to complete. Longest I have witnessed was 6 hours.

I hope it goes well! I have a sub adult Haddy, so when, or if, it does molt, It is OK How is it doing?

Still no progress and theres zero movement. I suspect it may be dead =[

I'm sorry to hear that let it be just a little longer, it's not your fault H.arizonensis are known to not molt successfully in captivity.

~Abyss~ wrote:

I'm sorry to hear that let it be just a little longer, it's not your fault H.arizonensis are known to not molt successfully in captivity.

But WHY is the question?

Humidity. It plays in important role I'm molting with this species. I'm tempted to get a bunch of juvs to experiment with some humidity set ups.