SeanCasey
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Nematodes claim a scorpionAll,
I lost my H. spadix tonight.
The nematode issue that affected Denise's tarantulas apparently also affects scorpions. The scorpion was from the same source as her T's. It probably took longer to manifest itself due to the dryness desert species are kept in. However, the last couple of feedings I noticed that the H. spadix was more thirsty than normal for a desert species (usually just ignores offered water, but was agressive at drinking it). The last feeding I noticed it took two days to finish eating a medium size dubia roach.
Tonight it was refusing food, but when offered water it immediately spent about 5 minutes drinking and just plunged into the water. After I removed the water I attempted to feed again. It grabbed the cricket I offered and seemed to have difficulty moving its tail to sting, although I did noticed a small droplet of venom on the tip of the stinger. It then started rubbing its mouth in the ground like it was trying to eat the dirt but that its chelicerae were not functioning correctly. After watching this for a minute or so the scorpion released the cricket.
I moved the scorpion into a clear deli cup to inspect. No signs of mycosis or any other damage. It took a couple minutes for the dirt to fall out of the mouth. Once this happened I noticed a bunch of nematodes moving forward to the front of the mouth. I monitored this for some time and noticed the amount coming out was significant. I noticed that the tail was quite limp and in attempting to provoke the scorpion into stinging that it was unable to move its tail.
At this point I made the decision to euthanise the poor girl. I have lost a couple of scorps before but never due to something like this, and the Hadrurus spadix is one of my favorite scorpions, so I am really bummed out right now.
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lizmotobike
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sorry to hear about your loss.
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Celeste
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Oh, man -- that is too sad, Sean! I am so sorry to hear about your poor scorpion. I hope all your others are O.K.
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balam
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Sean,
I was able to see at dinner that you care very much for your scorpions. I am sorry to hear this, hope the dealer has taken the necessary measures so that no other hobbyist have to go through this.
Once again, sorry to hear about it.
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