Obesity

[NixHexDude]

I'm wondering if it's possible to overfeed scorpions. I know there's sometimes cause for concern with T's on this subject, but I'm not as knowledgable with scorpions. My H arizonesis is starting to look like he might be getting a little to fat for his own good. He is still feeding very aggressively, but the gut between his exoskeleton is getting bigger. Thanks guys

 

[gromgrom]

...no

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/search.php

 

[Y-man]

Ok

I don't know if a simple "...no" answers the question. You probably shouldn't have wasted the OP time with the response. :?

In my opinion Yes.

You should feed your Adult scorpion appropriate sized prey no more than once a week. If you do this there should be no need to worry about over feeding.

I feed my 2-4 instars every 4 days.

If you feed your scorpion too much food at one time, it may not eat again for weeks or months. It's best to have a feeding schedule and stick to it.

I currently have a scorpion (Parabuthus leiosoma) that ate it's same size mate and it has barely moved in 30 days. I do believe that in that situation it has been overfed, and I will not offer anything but water until it thins out a little and is active again.

Hope this helps

 

[Y-man]

communal setups

Just wanted to comment on feeding communal setups.

You need to keep the scorpions well fed enough that they won't eat their cage mates.

For me I feed 1.5 X the number of scorpions I have in the cage. All appropriately sized so that even the scorpions that are lucky enough to catch 2-3 don't get over stuffed.

Scorpions may stop eating when they are full, but that is no reason to let them eat like that. Let them do that in the wild, and control their intake in captivity.

 

[Michiel]

I agree the answer should be "No". It has been reported in some popular books about scorpion husbandry. I keep scorpions for 17 years now and never did any single specimen overeat, die, developed diabetes, burst out of its skin etc etc. They simply will refuse to feed when not hungry.

Inactivity after a huge meal is rather normal given the low metabolism and digestion takes longer. What do you do after a big dinner? Take a nap? Same thing here with scorps. Imagine that I, 200 pounds, would eat 200 pounds of food in one feeding (if possbile), then I would like a little rest to digest everthing too.

I also think this "overfeeding" thing is a non-issue. If you feed a scorpion, regardless of age, one or two appropriate sized prey item per 7-10 days (standard laboratory feeding schedule), they will develop normally.

 

[Jorpion]

No.

I got a good laugh over Michiel's comment about scorpions and diabetes! LOL

 

[skinheaddave]

I would say that the short answer is "we don't really know." That being said, I lean towards the "no" side of things with a couple points.

The first is that feeding rate should affect growth rate -- along with temperature, of course. If you keep your immature scorpions hot and feed them a lot, they grow like gangbusters (with some exceptions that take forever). A few years ago I split a brood with another member on here and he grew his up hot and fed them a lot. I kept mine cooler (especially through the winter). His are long ago matured and dead. Mine are just maturing. So in effect I have increased the longevity of my scorpions by, in part, feeding them less. Whether this would have any effect on an adult is questionable.

It should also be noted that success in growing up very early instars (2nd, 3rd) seems to be helped substantially by stuffing them silly. I'm not sure we have enough data to figure out how much that is dependent on temperatures, but I would hesitate to recommend to anyone that they slow down feeding their very young scorp'lings.

I had a mature L.quinquestriatus years ago that got a bit ... err .. plump. Like a little waddling blimp. My mistake, as I was feeding her on the same schedule as everything else which was waaaay too much for a creature with a stupidly slow metabolism which is evolved to live in environments where the next meal may or may not come this year. So I put her on a diet .. which is to say I stopped feeding her. I gave her occasional access to water and some years I would feed her a cricket, some not. This went on for many years (I'd have to check my notes -- I'm thinking about 4-5) and she never slimmed down despite having had maybe 2 large crickets in that time. She was just as spastic and active etc. until quite close to her death when she started the stereotypical slow down.

So I guess the bottom line is that it is possible to overfeed in terms of growth rates .. at least in combonation with temperature but possibly not without it. It is definitely possible to underfeed very young scorpionlings. It is very easy to overfeed desert species in terms of body shape, but as far as I know nobody has shown there to be any actual deteriment to scorpions being on the chunky side.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Y-man]

blah

Maybe I spend too much time caring for my scorpions. No point in feeding in excess even if they will feed until full.:barf:

Just MY opinion.

 

[NevularScorpion]

I used to feed my emps until they refuse food but I hated it because they will not eat for so long lol the longest they did not eat is 3-4 months lol. Now, I only feed them few so they will always have appetite when I feed them. I always enjoy their hunger anger on their prey lol. you can over feed your scorps if your lazy too feed them but its all up to you

 

[Michiel]

I used to feed my emps until they refuse food but I hated it because they will not eat for so long lol the longest they did not eat is 3-4 months lol. Now, I only feed them few so they will always have appetite when I feed them. I always enjoy their hunger anger on their prey lol. you can over feed your scorps if your lazy too feed them but its all up to you

Dave and I just explained that we (experienced keepers) think that you can't overfeed a scorpion, based on literature and years of experience. What makes you think that you can overfeed a scorpion? "Cuz ya can't jus writing ev'thing down that pops into your little mind, ya know what I'm sayin' " ;P

 

[Y-man]

I also think this "overfeeding" thing is a non-issue. If you feed a scorpion, regardless of age, one or two appropriate sized prey item per 7-10 days (standard laboratory feeding schedule), they will develop normally.

So I guess the bottom line is that it is possible to overfeed in terms of growth rates .. at least in combonation with temperature but possibly not without it. It is definitely possible to underfeed very young scorpionlings. It is very easy to overfeed desert species in terms of body shape, but as far as I know nobody has shown there to be any actual deteriment to scorpions being on the chunky side.

Sounds to me like everyone is saying that if you stick to a schedule, you won't overfeed. Sounds all the same to me if you say Yes or No. I don't understand the argument when everyone is just changing words around to say the same thing.

Overfeeding probably won't kill a scorpion, but that doesn't mean you should do it.

Nick

 

[skinheaddave]

I don't understand the argument when everyone is just changing words around to say the same thing.

My apologies for adding my personal experiences to the discussion. I should have just written "+1" or some other drivel, perhaps? Would that have been satisfactory?

I don't see why there should be an argument here at all. The short answer is that nobody here knows for sure whether or not you can cause harm by feeding more than is required. How is it, then, that people are trying to defend a position?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Galapoheros]

I don't like to feed anything too much at once except once in a while like they might do in nature when they happened to come across something large. The question is open to some different perspectives and for me, Dave's answer covered the diff perspectives. I think some are thinking "no", your scorpion won't hurt itself by eating a lot, but if you want it to live longer, you may slow the growth rate by not feeding so much. So if in your head you were thinking, "Will over-feeding shorten my scorpions life?", some would say "yes". But does it hurt them... some would say "no". If one had a good source of food in the wild, it might eat, grow, and breed sooner, but maybe die sooner. That's nature, more scorpions sooner because of the large food supply in the area, shooting for a balance.

 

[cannabeast]

its not bad for his health or going to kill him.. but its going to shorten its lifespan!? it sounds a lot like smoking with cigarettes.

i think overfeeding in nature could make him too lazy to defend himself. ive seen snakes overeat on rats and be so fat they wont move if you go up to him or throw rocks at him to save his own life., and therefore would get eaten by a bird or lizard. the obvious benefit of course would be that he doesnt have to eat anything for a while. hey its not like hes burning all his food to stay warm, it should already be warm enough.

so in short.. yes if you overfeed your scorpion a bird is going to swoop down with armies of lizards and eat your scorpions when they are lethargic from their gluttony and will not defend themselves. the lizards will dig them out of their burros and the birds will lift their rocks and sticks and other various hides. it will be scorpion doomsday from overfeeding with the crickets and roaches.







dont smoke with cigarettes.

 

[H. laoticus]

I am seeing some differences in definitions here. Some are looking at it as meaning you're stuffing your scorpion full to the point where they will not eat for a long time. Others are seeing over-feeding as feeding your scorpion to the point of it being potentially harmful. The last set of people are viewing the pros and cons of overfeeding and what that means to the scorpion. Sometimes I "over-feed" mine when I'm about to go out of town for a while *just in case*

 

[cannabeast]

in captivity you can try to give them optimum settings even better than his natural habitat trying to cultivate them. but like they said earlier that we don't really know...

haven't really found any to get sick and die from it. have sometimes just put some of those maggots that turn into beetles in big terrarium and they will make beetles that make more worms and repeat.. doesn't seem to harm the scorpions depending on the live feed. be cautious of mites!


no cant overfeed him to death in captivity, but there are consequences for being such spoiled individuals. he will be like a fat cat that eats what he wants when he wants, but not to death like dogs. he is lazy, rather than an energetic cat on a diet.

 

[flotation]

I think you cannot overfeed scorpions. I feed my scorpions all that they can eat until it's in its 5th instar meaning if I see no food in the enclosure, I immediately put in another one. At times, I would see a half-eaten roach which I think means its already full so scorpions probably know when to stop eating.
After molting to 5th instar, I only feed them every other day for the first week and then every two days and eventually to once a week.

 

[Y-man]

My apologies for adding my personal experiences to the discussion. I should have just written "+1" or some other drivel, perhaps? Would that have been satisfactory?

I don't see why there should be an argument here at all. The short answer is that nobody here knows for sure whether or not you can cause harm by feeding more than is required. How is it, then, that people are trying to defend a position?

Cheers,
Dave

Sorry Skin Head, I use the term argument as 2 sides having 2 different opinions. Not an argument that you take outside to sort out. I'll try not to use such a threatening word next time.