Scorpion Feeding Question.

[Clockwerk]

Hello I just adopted an Hadrurus arizonensis recently and decided to feed it today. I fed it a super worm and it's been eating it for over an hour, with about 1/8 of it left in its mouth the last I checked. Does it usually take this long for them to eat, because my AFS devours a super worm quick. I hope it isn't having trouble eating its meal.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Hello I just adopted an Hadrurus arizonensis recently and decided to feed it today. I fed it a super worm and it's been eating it for over an hour, with about 1/8 of it left in its mouth the last I checked. Does it usually take this long for them to eat, because my AFS devours a super worm quick. I hope it isn't having trouble eating its meal.

No, scorpions simply eat prey items at different speeds, even their chelicerae (mouth parts) can move at different speeds. And remember AFS is a very large scorpion too.

 

[Clockwerk]

Outpost to the rescue again lol! Thanks I'm just concerned it might have been too big for the guy but he is at the tail end of the meal. (Pun intended) they seem to have a better appetite than my AFS. This H. Arizonensis ate on the 2nd day i got them, where as my AFS took much longer.

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

Dead prey items can be too large for scorpions but the scorpion will simply drop the remainder if it's full, in which you should remove it with tongs. The insect remains can draw mites, draw ants, and other scavengers if left in too long.

Not so much with the desert species but forest species due to the high humidity and moisture, insect remains will mold over too.

Do not be alarmed if some scorpions blow up like balloons, they can't feed themselves to death (that is complete urban myth that found itself even perpetuated by hobby itself in its earliest years - we wised up to it long ago).

Also if any your scorpions are not fully adult and begin to refuse food for weeks or months even, it probably means its entered premolt stage and will molt soon (its preparing to grow).

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

EDITED ^

 

[FrankiePinchinatti]

Luckily all of my emperors are now eating adult male dubias, even the little guys where they are almost the same size. However since those prey items are so big the scorpions will walk around holding them for hours, very slowly eating. As Outpost said, when they are done with it they will drop it (at which point sometimes a different scorpion might pick it up). It's also possible your scorpion was already fairly well fed to begin with so it's trying to muscle through that superworm even though it's stuffed. As already said, there's no downside to overfeeding so always look to it as a good sign, just be sure to remove any obviously discarded leftovers.

 

[Mordax8393]

Some scorpions are slow. I mostly keep small vaejovids and they can take up to 24 hours to finish a large meal