Emperor Scorpion Catching, But Not Eating Food

[Pandinus Brian]

Hi my Emperor hasn't eaten in months. I know that can be normal, but now that he has started taking food again he doesn't eat it. He has taken 5 bugs (2 crickets, and 3 super worms)in the last month, and the most he will do is chew there heads off then drop them. Needless to say I'm starting to worry.

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

Not eaten in months ? 2 months ? or 3 or 4 ? Adult scorpions can fast up to approximately 6 months, 5 is not uncommon in practice.
Does it have visible damage to the Chelicerae (the small moving parts in front of the mouth) ?
Do the bristles/hairs near the Chelicerae look normal ?
Normally the Chelicerae slices/tears up the food, then the pumping action of the stomach sucks in the juices and filters it through the bristles/brush hairs.
Could it be some sort of constipation/blockage in the digesting system ? If that's the case then sometimes you can see a slight bulge or hump on the Opisthoma/abdomen.
Does the anus on the end of it's Metosoma/tail look normal ?
When scorpion won't eat or is less active, often cranking up the heat can help.
Make sure the scorpion has access to a bath, use bottled/rain water just to be sure. Bottled/rain water has less chalk and is less chlorinated.
Remove all possible causes for stress, don't handle the scorpion, let it be in it's enclosure peacefully. Be easy on the lighting, prevent sudden bright lights.
Here's a nice picture to get a feel of what is inside your scorp
Or maybe you have one of those posh 'up in the hills' type scorpions that only eats cricket brains as a delicacy ??
Good luck, observe, heat it up a bit and keep us posted !

 

[Pandinus Brian]

Not eaten in months ? 2 months ? or 3 or 4 ? Adult scorpions can fast up to approximately 6 months, 5 is not uncommon in practice.
Does it have visible damage to the Chelicerae (the small moving parts in front of the mouth) ?
Do the bristles/hairs near the Chelicerae look normal ?
Normally the Chelicerae slices/tears up the food, then the pumping action of the stomach sucks in the juices and filters it through the bristles/brush hairs.
Could it be some sort of constipation/blockage in the digesting system ? If that's the case then sometimes you can see a slight bulge or hump on the Opisthoma/abdomen.
Does the anus on the end of it's Metosoma/tail look normal ?
When scorpion won't eat or is less active, often cranking up the heat can help.
Make sure the scorpion has access to a bath, use bottled/rain water just to be sure. Bottled/rain water has less chalk and is less chlorinated.
Remove all possible causes for stress, don't handle the scorpion, let it be in it's enclosure peacefully. Be easy on the lighting, prevent sudden bright lights.
Here's a nice picture to get a feel of what is inside your scorp View attachment 331815
Or maybe you have one of those posh 'up in the hills' type scorpions that only eats cricket brains as a delicacy ??
Good luck, observe, heat it up a bit and keep us posted !

First thank you so much for replying, this behavior is new to me.

As for how many months I'm not sure. He normal just starts eating when hes ready so I did pay to much attention to it till he started doing this, but its closer to the 5, or 6 mark.

I looked him over, and he looks great!

The water we give our pets is from the tap, but we fill a jug with it, and leave it out for 24 hours before using it. Then when the waters gone we repeat.

How high would you set the temp to? I just uped mine to 86F from 84F

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Lubed Tweezer]

86°F should be good. Even better is when (if possible) you can create a hot and a cold side in the enclosure;
Heat up one side to 90°F, let the cold side be 80-85°F. Regulate this with the amount of air holes/ventilation on the cold side, and find the right thermostat setting for the hot side.
It's a delicate balance, it will take some time and practice to get this right.
Don't forget that if your ambient room temperature fluctuates you need to take that into account for how much heat you put into the hot side and how much you will need to ventilate the cold side. A bit too much heat won't kill your scorpion, but never exceed 112°F because that's were the danger area starts (scorpion exoskeleton can no longer retain it's body fluids at 122°F which means instant death).
The reason for hot and cold zones is that your scorpion can and will decide whats best for him.
Make sure he can be comfortable at both sides, give him multiple hides and enough moist substrate.
Also obviously be sure to get the relative humidity up above 65% for Pandinus species.
You can even raise it temporarily towards 90% in the morning hours, a heated + ventilated enclosure will always drop in humidity. The speed at which it will drop depends on ambient conditions.
Are you sure that your scorpion is totally mature, isn't it just a long pre-molt period ? Did it go through all it's molts ? They are mature at 4-5 years old, but die at 8. How old is yours ?
Finally there is a far less common issue that there might be something very wrong with the pectines. Your scorpion uses those not only to 'feel' the surface but also to smell it's surroundings and it is together with it's body hairs the most direct input to it's brain. Eyesight or taste is in lower rank. So be sure that there are no (accidentally introduced) chemical traces in the enclosure and substrate. Think of deodorant, makeup, cleaning products and especially anti-flea products for dogs/cats.
Did you look at the Pleural membrane at the side of the scorpion ? Big and stretched means a filled up scorpion, combined with separating plates on it's back normally indicates molting is near. If there is hardly any Pleural membare visible then the scorpion is empty and should be hungry. Also look for weird dark spots on the membrane which indicates several diseases.
Oh well.... if he only takes cricket brains, well then cricket brains it is..... Something is better than nothing.....