How often should a scorpion be fed for best growth?

I know my dune scorpion can go months without food, but that can't be good for growth.

I want my scorpion to grow as big as it can, but its feeding schedule seems really irregular. What's the best feeding schedule to maximize growth and size?

I feed both of mine every week and my Babycurus jacksoni eats pretty much every time, while my Pandinus imperator almost never eats.

I feed all my scorps about 3 times a week, all of them usually take by the time the roach hits the floor. Those that don't eat straight away finishes their roach before morning.

Skroar wrote:

I know my dune scorpion can go months without food, but that can't be good for growth.

I want my scorpion to grow as big as it can, but its feeding schedule seems really irregular. What's the best feeding schedule to maximize growth and size?

It is very normal for desert species to fast. They can go a long time without prey.
Completely normal. If you feed it on regular intervals it can decide for itself if it wants to feed.
If it's not hungry, it will ignore the prey.

Putting it on a schedule to feed it more and make it grow faster is called "power feeding" it is not good for the scorp and detrimental for it's health. One would accelerate its metabolism and it would cause unnecessary stress and shorten it's life span. I personally strongly recommend against it.

I would offer it prey once or twice a week and let it make up it's own mind



Joey

How many a week is considered power feeding? I find that with the different sexes that they have different feeding behaviours, males tend to refuse food on more occasions than an adult female will so you can't actually overfeed it. Adult females can eat continuously if they have been mated, producing valuable nutrients for her young.
All scorpions which aren't adult will eat readily until they hit premolt and then stop and molt. I have raised a few scorpions from 1i to adulthood and I can't say that the specimens that were on a more frequent feeding schedule had any negative effects from it except faster growth. Just my personal observations

yes, to give you an example of powerfeeding take my p.trans that eats twice a day and my h.paucidens that eats almosts everyday (for some weird reason it doesnt refuse prey)

and then take my r.junceus that will only eat once every one and a half months (every 45~47 days to be exact)

if you want just the right feeding then do the once a week or the once every 2 weeks routine : D

Wow, I don't think I'll have a problem with power feeding. My dune scorpion isn't even an adult yet, and it doesn't eat unless it's body has shrunk in size.

well yeah even scorpions can be fickle-minded about food

and yours is a good indicator to feed. after it shrinks then you can feed again, this usually takes about 4-6 days depending on scorpion size to prey size i guess

Ok, I just fed my scorpion. But, here's what happened.

My dune scorpion killed the cricket and held it for who knows how long. But, then I turned on the lights in order to take a bunch pictures of the scorpion with the cricket in its claws. And now, about an hour and 45 minutes later, the scorpion has left the cricket in the sand and is somewhere else in the tank.

Will it return to the prey? Should I just remove it?

I'm assuming that the lights in the room and the photography disturbed its feeding.

is the cricket still alive? if so, then just remove for now and try again tomorrow. it was probably just startled but you dont wanna stress him out

Nope, it was dead. And update, it has moved the dead cricket somewhere else in the tank after it has dropped it.

You think it might still realize it as food?

Edit: The cricket is still ALIVE! I removed it immediately after I became suspicious of how the cricket body was in different places.

I'm shocked that a cricket so small could survive an encounter with my scorpion like that. I thought it got stung because I saw the tail going in at it. And the cricket was firmly stuck in its claws.