Scorpion Eating Beetle Food?

[JoP]

So I saw something strange last night, and I'm curious if anyone else has ever observed something similar.

I keep a Dune Scorpion (S. mesaensis) communally with a few Blue Death-Feigning Beetles. I keep a little dish of food for the BDFBs in the enclosure that usually contains some diced fruit/veggies and then a mix of moistened dog kibble and turtle or fish pellets. I always feed the scorp roaches and crickets, but last night, I peeked into their enclosure with a blacklight and saw what looked like the scorpion eating some of the wet turtle pellets from the BDFBs food bowl. I'd always assumed that they'd only eat other invertebrates, but I'm curious if anyone else has ever seen their scorpion eating inanimate food items?

 

[pannaking22]

It may have been going after some of the moisture.

 

[JoP]

It may have been going after some of the moisture.

I thought the same thing, but it really appeared to be taking in clumps of the soggy food like it would pieces of a prey item. There was also a water dish right next to the food dish, so I wonder why he'd choose the moistened food instead?

 

[REEFSPIDER]

Don't know about scorps but i feed all my centipedes beetle jelly, honey, and an assortment of tropical fruit, and even let them lap up a little Naked juice every now and then. (No sarcasm at all)

 

[JoP]

Don't know about scorps but i feed all my centipedes beetle jelly, honey, and an assortment of tropical fruit, and even let them lap up a little Naked juice every now and then. (No sarcasm at all)

I've heard of centipedes eating things like that, and I honestly can't think of a reason why a scorpion (especially a desert species like mine) wouldn't be able to scavenge as well. I've never witnessed it before now, but it seems like being able to scavenge nutrients from random food items in the desert (like fallen fruit, decomposing food, etc.) might come in handy to a scorpion if prey were ever scarce. Obviously I'll continue feeding her live prey, but I just found it to be an interesting behavior to witness.

 

[pannaking22]

I thought the same thing, but it really appeared to be taking in clumps of the soggy food like it would pieces of a prey item. There was also a water dish right next to the food dish, so I wonder why he'd choose the moistened food instead?

Huh, maybe it's developing a taste for other things then. That'd be pretty cool if they could eat something like that every now and then.

 

[JoP]

Huh, maybe it's developing a taste for other things then. That'd be pretty cool if they could eat something like that every now and then.

Yeah, it's bizarre. I've never seen a scorp do this, but I also wonder if maybe desert scorps would be more open to scavenging, just because of their natural environment where resources can be scarce. I'll keep observing it to see if I can catch it doing it again. Such an odd behavior.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

Next time I'm giving fruit to my pedes im going to offer my pandinus and see if anything comes of it, not a desert species but i will return to this thread for the sake of documenting the results.

 

[StampFan]

So I saw something strange last night, and I'm curious if anyone else has ever observed something similar.

I keep a Dune Scorpion (S. mesaensis) communally with a few Blue Death-Feigning Beetles. I keep a little dish of food for the BDFBs in the enclosure that usually contains some diced fruit/veggies and then a mix of moistened dog kibble and turtle or fish pellets. I always feed the scorp roaches and crickets, but last night, I peeked into their enclosure with a blacklight and saw what looked like the scorpion eating some of the wet turtle pellets from the BDFBs food bowl. I'd always assumed that they'd only eat other invertebrates, but I'm curious if anyone else has ever seen their scorpion eating inanimate food items?

I don't know why you'd be surprised by this. Dog kibble, turtle and fish pellets are full of animal protein. Logical that the scorp would dine on these, really.

 

[JoP]

I don't know why you'd be surprised by this. Dog kibble, turtle and fish pellets are full of animal protein. Logical that the scorp would dine on these, really.

I was more surprised to see it showing any interest in eating something inanimate. In my years of keeping scorps of different species, I've never seen any of mine show feeding interest toward anything but live prey.

 

[StampFan]

I was more surprised to see it showing any interest in eating something inanimate. In my years of keeping scorps of different species, I've never seen any of mine show feeding interest toward anything but live prey.

I would also bet it would readily take Repashy Grub Pie as well. Some of the original marketing material suggested it could be part of a Scorpion's diet....

 

[Darktiger432]

I've heard rumors they are attracted to citrus.

 

[JoP]

I would also bet it would readily take Repashy Grub Pie as well. Some of the original marketing material suggested it could be part of a Scorpion's diet....

Ooh, I'll have to try that out. Where do you buy Repashy products? I've been trying to get my hands on some Bug Burger for my beetles, but can't find it anywhere in-store. I'm guessing it's only available from online sellers?

 

[Beedrill]

One of my C. vittatus scorpions pretty much exclusively scavenges its food. Not sure why, but he is just so much more timid than the other one and is frightened of every prey item I've ever offered.
The one exception being dying crickets, so pretty much still scavenging.
But yeah, I think that it is safe to assume that scorpions from any arid region, and likely from moister regions as well, are capable of scavenging their food. In nature it really pays to be flexible about what you eat.

 

[JoP]

One of my C. vittatus scorpions pretty much exclusively scavenges its food. Not sure why, but he is just so much more timid than the other one and is frightened of every prey item I've ever offered.
The one exception being dying crickets, so pretty much still scavenging.
But yeah, I think that it is safe to assume that scorpions from any arid region, and likely from moister regions as well, are capable of scavenging their food. In nature it really pays to be flexible about what you eat.

Interesting. That's kind of what I was thinking - it would make logical sense from a survival perspective, so I don't really see why a scorpion wouldn't scavenge if the food was available. But nevertheless, it was a unique thing to witness, because I'd never seen that behavior before!

 

[StampFan]

Ooh, I'll have to try that out. Where do you buy Repashy products? I've been trying to get my hands on some Bug Burger for my beetles, but can't find it anywhere in-store. I'm guessing it's only available from online sellers?

I'm in Canada, so my options are a bit different. Northern Gecko has the full Repashy line, and its by far the cheapest I've found (here at least). https://www.northerngecko.net/

You likely have a lot more options....

 

[JoP]

I'm in Canada, so my options are a bit different. Northern Gecko has the full Repashy line, and its by far the cheapest I've found (here at least). https://www.northerngecko.net/

You likely have a lot more options....

Ah, yeah, I'm in the U.S. so we have a few online options. I was trying to find it in-store if I could just to save on shipping, but it's not a big deal if I can't. I can just add it on to an order of other stuff from an online seller.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

Ooh, I'll have to try that out. Where do you buy Repashy products? I've been trying to get my hands on some Bug Burger for my beetles, but can't find it anywhere in-store. I'm guessing it's only available from online sellers?

I buy repashy bb from a reptile shop, petco carries repashy but doesn't stock bb in my area but I'm sure they could probably order it for you from their supplier if there is not a desinated reptile store in your area selling their line.

 

[Smokehound714]

It's the kibble. Very smelly and bone-mealy and meaty, probably walked over the dish and dropped a pectine and went "Oh hey that tastes good".

spiders will eat non-prey foods too, Tinus peregrinus has been documented eating goldfish flake food. the soy protein in alot of things is actually so close to meat protein that obligate carnivores can digest it.