Scorpion drowns in tiny water dish

[bborysow]

I never would have thought it possible. My 2 inch body length (not including tail) Giant Arizona Hairy Scorpion drowned in a couple of table spoons of water!
He climbed into his water dish, that is hardly bigger than a plastic pop bottle top, and drowned. His head and tail were still sticking out of the water. If he had stood high on his legs, he would have been above the water line and could have stepped out of the dish.
I can only assume, because this species would see pooling water so rarely in the wild, he did not know enough to climb out. With his abdomen covered, he drowned.
He had been fat and healthy, so I do not suspect other causes.

Just a warning for everyone. The experts say to keep water available, but beware how easy these guys will drown.

Anyone with similar experience, please share what you know.

Thanks.

[Blackwidow69]

:( Awwww thats very sad to here.. Poor thing.. Are you sure it wasnt gona molt and needed the extra humidity and moisture and just tried to soak but ended up drowning? I use flat jar lids that will only hold enough water to barely cover even a toe tip.. for the smaller scorps and i keep a small pebble in the dish just incase.. For the larger scorps i do use a larger water cap but the sides still arent high enough to where the scorp would drown. And i keep a pebble in there as well... Very sorry for your loss..:(

[Darlene]

Oh my gosh....that's so sad. I'm so sorry to hear. Thanks for sharing though. As a scorp owner to be it will be a lesson learned for me. Once again, my condolences.

[SCReptiles]

I think its possible the scorpion died of other causes and picked the water bowl as a final resting place. I have kept this species for years and watched them run in and out of the water dish.

[arachnomania]

Sorry for your loss but I tend to agree with SCReptiles.

[TheRedDragon]

I'm sorry for your loss. :(

[CornSnakeMan]

that does make sense

[OttawaChris]

I have heard of this happening before... stories of them drowning and also over-drinking when they are given a water dish.

I never give a water dish to desert species of scorpion (they get plenty of water from the insects they devour)

[spyderman]

Sorry to hear about the loss of a seemingly otherwise healthy scorpion. Have you had it checked out? You might be able to stop a disease spreading.

[reverendsterlin]

when I first started keeping scorps I lost 2 in a water dish in the same night. since then I cut a square of sponge that touchs the water dish with all 4 corners and haven't lost one that way since.

[bborysow]

Thanks for the input folks. I don't know where I would get a necropsy done on an invert, I had enough challenges when I wanted one done on a Melleri Chameleon. I've got the scorp body in the freezer, so will make a few calls, maybe to the local university, to see if any one wants to take a peak at it. But generally necropies after being frozen are not as valuable as fresh.
Thanks again.

[Linds]

Sorry to hear about your loss :( We use to only keep a small amount of water is our Scorpion tank at work. Maybe 2-3 millilletres for a 6"+ adult.

Originally posted by reverendsterlin
since then I cut a square of sponge that touchs the water dish with all 4 corners and haven't lost one that way since.

Have to excercise caution when using sponges. Its best to just use natural sponges, as many of the synthetic ones are treated with anti-bacterial agents, even if they don't mention it.

[OttawaChris]

Sponges as a rule of thumb are a bad idea. They tend to make the water go foul (they attract lots of bacteria and get mouldy and mildewy if you arent careful)

What I recommend instead is to dump in some clean marbles or pebbles into the water dish. This gives the scorps (and crickets too) something to walk on to get themselves out of the water dish if they get stuck. They also keep the water as fresh as it would be without anything in the dish.