# Dune Scorpion Help



## shxrksy (Dec 5, 2016)

Hello there! I am relatively new so bare with me! But my dune scorpion has me a little concerned.

It hasn't eaten in the past month or two, and whenever I put food in its enclosure, the scorpion acts scared of the prey? It will tentatively pinch it and then run or back away. It will repeat this process. I have been trying to feed it small crickets, and a mealworm once. To no avail. 

I am not super familiar with scorpions but when I first had it, it jumped on its prey immediately. 

Please forgive me if there is a thread similar to this, I looked and didn't see any.
Is this normal for my kind of scorpion? Do I need to change anything? Feed it something different?

Any help would be appreciated!


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## Scorpion Luke (Dec 5, 2016)

I've had scorpions go many many months without eating. I'm not to familiar with this species so i'm not sure on how they regularly behave. I would make sure the scorp is in a comfortable habitat with hides and good temperatures. Offer it food once a week if not twice. If its comfortable for the Dune I wouldn't worry.


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## shxrksy (Dec 6, 2016)

Scorpion Luke said:


> I've had scorpions go many many months without eating. I'm not to familiar with this species so i'm not sure on how they regularly behave. I would make sure the scorp is in a comfortable habitat with hides and good temperatures. Offer it food once a week if not twice. If its comfortable for the Dune I wouldn't worry.


Hello!! Thank you so much for answering! The scorpion has a hide that they use constantly, and temps are good. I'll make sure to keep offering it food, twice a week. Are crickets good or should I be feeding it something else?


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## Scorpion Luke (Dec 6, 2016)

Gut load crickets are good. You can think of them as walking stomachs what ever u feed them goes right into your Scorpion. Dubia / meal worms are good alternatives if you don't want to deal with the cricket smell.


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## shxrksy (Dec 6, 2016)

Ok, I will definitely do that!! Thank you so much!!


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## TheScorpionMan (Dec 6, 2016)

shxrksy said:


> Ok, I will definitely do that!! Thank you so much!!


Looks like you have crushed walnut shells in there. I'd change the substrate to a sand/coco husk mix.


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## shxrksy (Dec 6, 2016)

TheScorpionMan said:


> Looks like you have crushed walnut shells in there. I'd change the substrate to a sand/coco husk mix.


The sub I have in there right now is the sand that PetSmart sells for reptiles. Where can I get a sand/coco husk mix?


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## TheScorpionMan (Dec 6, 2016)

shxrksy said:


> The sub I have in there right now is the sand that PetSmart sells for reptiles. Where can I get a sand/coco husk mix?


I just buy a big bag of playground sand from my local hardware store and coco husk comes in a brick from most petstores. Then i bake the substrate in the oven for about an hour just to be safe


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## Smokehound714 (Dec 15, 2016)

Smeringurus are easily stressed.  if they're stressed they wont eat.

 You dont have to place the prey near them, they can detect it from 12" away.


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## WeightedAbyss75 (Dec 15, 2016)

Smokehound714 said:


> Smeringurus are easily stressed.  if they're stressed they wont eat.
> 
> You dont have to place the prey near them, they can detect it from 12" away.


Just wondering, any specific causes for the stress? Is it huge enclosures, or something else? @shxrksy your enclosure looks a little big just from the pic. What does it look like?


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## JoshBC (Dec 15, 2016)

Zero experience with reptisand. I remember reading somewhere a couple of years ago to avoid keeping scorps on calcium sand. No idea if there's truth to that or not. I use quartz sand for my desert scorps and they love it. It's very soft, almost feels like flour between my fingers. 

I feed mine crickets, and appropriate sized dubia roaches. They love crickets. They're just so defenseless lol. 

Any update on how yours is doing?


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## shxrksy (Dec 15, 2016)

Hi! Thank you all for the replies. 
I didn't think the enclosure was too big for him... he has enough room for a hide and to explore minimally.
 I haven't been able to run to the store to get him new substrate yet, but was wondering if coco fiber or peat moss would work? Or does it strictly have to be sand?

I've been keeping an eye on him, I put a small cricket in there but he's acting the same way. Pinch and run.


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## WeightedAbyss75 (Dec 15, 2016)

shxrksy said:


> Hi! Thank you all for the replies.
> I didn't think the enclosure was too big for him... he has enough room for a hide and to explore minimally.
> I haven't been able to run to the store to get him new substrate yet, but was wondering if coco fiber or peat moss would work? Or does it strictly have to be sand?
> 
> I've been keeping an eye on him, I put a small cricket in there but he's acting the same way. Pinch and run.


Peat moss and cocoa fiber would probably be too much moisture . Sand should work fine. Always wanted to keep this species, but fear what you have going on  May not be a fan of live? Always see this species not eat, but not sure exactly why. Maybe feed it prekilled? Never know. Never worked with a dune scorp, but I hope that it eats for you eventually


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## callum b (Dec 16, 2016)

This is a psammophilous species so sand is the best choice of substrate for it. Preferably consolidated so that it can burrow.

As smokehound has said, Smeringurus are easily stressed. They are very sensitive to goings on outside their enclosure.

You should also think about the time of year. It is now winter and wild S. mesaensis will be less active. It is quite possible that your scorpion is wanting to be left in peace to see out the winter in a safe place, ready to resume activity and feeding in the warmer temperatures of spring.


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## darkness975 (Dec 17, 2016)

Two things I see. 

The hide is to cavernous. It should be more buried like a burrow. 

This time of year they slow down which is normal.


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## Sleek (Dec 26, 2016)

I had a Hadrurus Spadix not eat for almost three months, try every now and then, but remember they go a while without eating in the wild.


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## Greenjewls (Dec 28, 2016)

Very pretty scorpion!  Please watch my desert scorpion care video :  



Using a sand mix with about 10% clay is ideal for these. These scorpions dig tunnels to their exact preference and any other kind of "hide" stresses them. Maintain a temperature gradient across the tank so it can have tunnels at different temps. Won't live long on loose sand.  They can survive xeric conditions for a time but 20%-30% humidity is better. They will drink misted droplets or standing water. Beware: most care information out there will kill your scorpion within 1 year

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Insertcoolnamehere (Jan 8, 2017)

That's you!? I watched your vid about 8 times on YouTube I like when the cleaner bug begged for its life!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## chanda (Jan 9, 2017)

Greenjewls said:


> Very pretty scorpion!  Please watch my desert scorpion care video :
> 
> 
> 
> Using a sand mix with about 10% clay is ideal for these. These scorpions dig tunnels to their exact preference and any other kind of "hide" stresses them. Maintain a temperature gradient across the tank so it can have tunnels at different temps. Won't live long on loose sand.  They can survive xeric conditions for a time but 20%-30% humidity is better. They will drink misted droplets or standing water. Beware: most care information out there will kill your scorpion within 1 year


Great video! I'll have to try that trick with the pane of glass in the middle of the tank. My hairy desert scorpion has her burrow smack in the middle of the tank where I can't see her until she comes out at night. She may have some tank renovations in her future!

Reactions: Like 1


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## RTTB (Jan 13, 2017)

I've had quite a few Dune's over the years as I have been lucky to live about an hour away from prime habitat. My success with wild caught has been to acclimate them for the first 30 to 60 days in deli cups. They are kinda stressed and jittery scorpions and I found they would feed regularly in a smaller enclosure as they didn't have to chase down food. Once relaxed and well fed I could introduce them to a more spacious enclosure with relatively no problems. Definitely not communal. They are voracious!


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## ScorpionCollector91 (Jan 25, 2017)

try using red runner roaches and vary the diet slightly.  other than that scorpions starving themselves is quite normal.  Small encouragement with tweezer feeding can work sometimes if you're getting really concerned however.


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## Josh88 (Feb 5, 2017)

I have one and what I do is handycap the cricket by pulling the jumping legs so it can't escape so easy and to avoid stressing it I literally only touch the cage to feed once a week also the hide I have is a very low flat stone maybe half an inch off the ground so when it's in there it's completely hidden.


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## shxrksy (Feb 27, 2017)

So to update you all, I've found cricket carcasses that seem to be hallowed out, I feel like it's safe to assume that it is eating? I changed it's hide so that it isn't cavernous and it seems to like that a lot too.


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## Josh88 (Feb 27, 2017)

shxrksy said:


> So to update you all, I've found cricket carcasses that seem to be hallowed out, I feel like it's safe to assume that it is eating? I changed it's hide so that it isn't cavernous and it seems to like that a lot too.


I was just about to post this exact question I've been finding hollowed out crickets in my dunes cage recently as well. I'm curious for an answer I have two other scorps that don't do that so it's unusual to me


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## ZX14 (Feb 27, 2017)

WeightedAbyss75 said:


> Peat moss and cocoa fiber would probably be too much moisture . Sand should work fine. Always wanted to keep this species, but fear what you have going on  May not be a fan of live? Always see this species not eat, but not sure exactly why. Maybe feed it prekilled? Never know. Never worked with a dune scorp, but I hope that it eats for you eventually


I have NEVER fed any scorpions or spiders prekilled food. That is just silly. Scorpions do not eat dead prey.
Chances are if your scorp isn't eating, it may be on the way out. Do you know its age?
Also, are you sure the cricket carcasses are not molts? Scorpions do not hollow out prey but leave a ball of leftovers called a bolus.


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## shxrksy (Feb 27, 2017)

It seems like it's hungry though, I always see it at night time just watching and waiting
They could be molts! I just don't see any /live/crickets in there besides the one carcass! And i honestly have no idea what the age of it is


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## RTTB (Feb 27, 2017)

Fine scorpions are aptly named. Sand dunes and sandy areas are always where I have found them. Use a simple sand substrate.


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## darkness975 (Mar 4, 2017)

shxrksy said:


> So to update you all, I've found cricket carcasses that seem to be hallowed out, I feel like it's safe to assume that it is eating? I changed it's hide so that it isn't cavernous and it seems to like that a lot too.


Scorpions do not leave hallowed out shells of crickets.  More likely that they molted in there.  It is possible that the cricket was eaten post molt but it is also possible that it ended up dying somewhere in there. Check for any foul smells coming from inside the enclosure.


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