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- my M Martensii never ate and then died about 3 weeks after purschase :.(
It could have died of old age or simply been ill before you brought it. The stress of swapping homes plus whatever additional stress it experienced after you acquired it, could have been the proverbial last nail.
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- So i bought a preetty big Desert Hairy From the pet store, he was eating alot months ago, around novemberish
BUT now he hardly ever eats
Scorpions are not like cats and dogs...They don't need or want food everyday. Typically (in captivity) they will eat themselves full over the course of a few days/weeks and then lay low for long periods until they feel the need to replenish once again. From november until now is not that long. A well fed large scorpion can easily go as long or much longer than that without eating. Plus, especially males of many species are notorious for behaving exactly that way. Females tend to be better eaters than males but they to will often go long periods without eating. Lastly, late stage instars will also usually stop eating 3, 4 or more weeks before they moult and then not eat again until 2, 3 or more weeks after moult. Your arizonensis, if he is male and he is adult sounds to me as if he's behaving totally normally.
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- i ordered and Androctonus Australis, it seemed the most aggressive
They are no more aggressive than so many other scorpions..If you think of aggressive as a scorpion charging out of it's hide as soon as a suitable prey walks by or running a prey down, then i think you may be disappointed...Scorpions rarely act that way, they are ambush predators. They wait for something to come close and then try and grab it with their pincers or alternatively they'll manoeuvre themselves (turn facing the prey and maybe move a few steps forward) so that they're ready when the prey gets close enough. Otherwise they simply grab prey that come close enough while out on their nightly patrol. I have seen a few scorpions that have picked up the vibrations of prey and watched as they follow the prey until they get close enough to grab it but this has always been at night (i use my camcorder on nightshot to follow the action).
A precursor to this type of behaviour though is the need for the scorpion to be hungry...If a scorpion isn't hungry then more often than not it won't be doing much at all.
When we talk of aggressive scorpions we're usually referring to whether or not they use their stinger or how they use their stinger to subdue prey items. Pandinus imperator (Emps) for example are a good example of non aggressive scorpions. They hardly ever use their stinger..They simply crush their prey with their pincers ...While most buthids will use their stinger either once, twice or more plus either nonchalantly or viciously....these scorpions would be considered as having varying degrees of aggression.
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- Am i doing something wrong, its been about 2 weeks, theyre babies but his has eaten 6 times and mine hasnt ONCE not even once!!
You're not necessarily doing anything wrong although if you are checking up on it all the time to see whether or not it's eaten or eating then the stress of that could be putting it off it's food...Although saying that, 2 weeks without eating is usually not really anything to be concerned about...Just don't stress it to much like checking up on it often by lifting it's stone or whatever, placing it's enclosure by a door that is often opened and closed or any other movement that would cause vibrations that the scorpion will feel...and i'm sure it'll come around.
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- and i wet his cage a lil, just on some sand
You'd be better of putting a small piece of damp moss or similar in the enclosure (a small bit not covering more than 10% of ground area) and then let that dry totally out and add a day or 2 on top of that before dampening it again. It wouldn't be such a good idea to have a constantly damp area in your australis enclosure. Remember, good ventilation.
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- Can the sand be the problem? im using beach sand :/
I'd say, no.
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- do they need more heat? im trying to feed the A.Australis some small pincher bugs smaller then him and other small bugs. is the bugs im giving the prolem? and should i drop it in their or put it in his face with tweezers until he eats
Your australis will be content with temps from the high 70's to mid/high 80's..Get yourself a thermometer if you want to check how much heat your heat lamp pumps into your scorps enclosure....maybe it's TO warm.
Prey size wants to have an approx length of the distance between your scorps relaxed pincers, give or take a tad...as for how to feed them, all you need to do is put the prey item in the enclosure with your scorpion and leave it at that. No prodding with thin sticks or whatever, to get the prey item to walk towards your scorpion, no tweezers in the scorpions face...just put it in and leave it at that. If the prey item is still alive the following day then take it out and try a few days later.
Some scorpions do seem to be more robust with regards to stress than others.....But don't underestimate stress in scorpions and remember that scorpions can detect the most minute of vibrations.....in the wild they'll only really experience vibrations from prey or predators, with smaller vibrations indicating possible prey and larger vibrations indicating possible predator. Walking back and forth in front of their enclosure, having their enclosure placed somewhere else with frequent vibrations or simply living close to rail lines or busy trafficated roads could all be perceived by the scorpion as predator vibrations..Imaging having your senses telling you you are constantly surrounded by predators..don't you think it might affect your appetite or other modes of behaviour..
I'm not saying this is the problem with your scorpions but it might be worth bearing in mind.....
Apart from that i'd say your scorpions are acting normally. Just remember to only offer them food every other day or maybe every third day and always remove uneaten prey after it's been in the enclosure overnight. Your scorpion will know it's there the moment it's put in. If it's still alive the following day it's because your scorpion isn't interested, so take it out. Don't see this as some kind of failure..it's totally normal..
