Scorpion Questions - Important

My scorpion was in a very odd position today..and when I looked closer..I noticed the fact that he appears dead.

He was hanging around his burrow alot that day, and even in the water dish with his tail down for awhile.

His skin is very soft right now.

Any idea what killed him?

[edit on 1/26/2007 by JBurns]

I never heard of anyone keeping a scorpian before, gotta have some balls.

Maybe he/she was just old and it was time.

I got some questions:
What do you feed it?
What do you do with it?
Has it ever attacked you ie. bitten you or stung you with it's tail???

Thanks for the reply Chris.

The species I was kept was an Emperor Scorpion (member of the P. Imperator family). This specific type of scorpion is considered the most docile/least dangerous scorpion. Contrary to popular belief, most scorpions aren't dangerous to people (unless you're allergic to the venom).

This one was sadly still relatively young, and was quite a shock to me when I learned of it's death.

It's diet consisted of pin head crickets, and a meal worm every so often.

I just left it inside of it's cage. I've always been fascinated by the scorpion, therefore I only kept it to observe it's behavior. They are honestly beautiful creatures.

It's pinched me once when I was hand feeding it an injured cricket (they usually don't eat prey unless it's moving). The emperor scorpions generally prefer to use their pedipalps versus the stinger.

Just to be sure.

Are you sure he just hasn't molted?
You may already know this, but I thought I'd give it a shot

I'm assuming they molt, not unlike a lobster, or a crab.
They stay soft until the shell rehardens..and usuallythey keep very still as well.

See, I was thinking this too. However, I was unable to find the "other shell" and his tail seems to be almost hollow (as if the crickets in there ate away at him).

He's just completely lifeless.

He's been like this for 24 hours now...how long do you think I should wait before "pronouncing" him dead.

See, I was thinking this too. However, I was unable to find the "other shell" and his tail seems to be almost hollow (as if the crickets in there ate away at him).

He's just completely lifeless.

He's been like this for 24 hours now...how long do you think I should wait before "pronouncing" him dead?

hmm..

I'm not sure.
I just read a little bit about care and feeding etc..not much mention of the molting process, other than it does occur.

Could the crickets have eaten the old shell?

I hope he's not dead, but it's not sounding too postitive.
I guess the best thing is to give it a little more time, and take the crickets out.
Wish I had more for you..