Emperor scorp food

[Dom]

Roaches do seem to be the popular food of choice on the boards.... plus it looks cool when they eat them.

For many years I didn't keep geckos or inverts because I couldn't stand the smell, noise and quick life cycle/death rate of crickets. Roaches are superior in every way and they certainly make the hobby much more enjoyable. Plus for larger scorps the larger roach species make much more sense than crickets. Once they have a food item in their mouths they tend to keep on eating so the larger the food item the more they tend to consume IME.

 

[C0kaCoLa]

do scorpions eat dead food? i thought they only eat fresh stuff and wont touch the dead ones.. Also do u mean if my scorpion doesnt eat dead food then it means it is fasting? and if it eats dead food means it is on eating mode??

 

[Kazz]

do scorpions eat dead food? i thought they only eat fresh stuff and wont touch the dead ones.. Also do u mean if my scorpion doesnt eat dead food then it means it is fasting? and if it eats dead food means it is on eating mode??

I haven't seen a scorpion eat anything that had been dead for a long time, but I have seen them eat crickets that had just died. Some will eat dead food, and others seem to just ignore it even if they're hungry. The ones who won't are not necessarily fasting.

 

[C0kaCoLa]

thanks.. means i cannot determine if it is fasting or not.. oh.. and i just notice the dragonfly i put in the tank gone missing.. i dont know where it hid.. i dont think the scorpion ate it because i cant even find the wings.. scorpion dont eat the wings i think.. maybe the dragonfly went into the scorpion hideout

 

[Kazz]

thanks.. means i cannot determine if it is fasting or not..

It's not unusual for scorpions you just got not to eat for a while, but other than that if they don't eat something that you've seen them eat before and you leave it in there for a day or so, they're probably fasting. Keep trying to feed them every week or so, but remove the food after a day or so if they don't eat it and try again later.

If they aren't eating anything at all for a long time, you may just be feeding them something they won't eat. Other than trying to feed them something different, I don't know of a solution for this, so if anyone else does I hope they'll let us both know.

 

[EAD063]

thanks.. means i cannot determine if it is fasting or not.. oh.. and i just notice the dragonfly i put in the tank gone missing.. i dont know where it hid.. i dont think the scorpion ate it because i cant even find the wings.. scorpion dont eat the wings i think.. maybe the dragonfly went into the scorpion hideout

I usually always leave ONE cricket in there for a "midnight snack". That usually abates my worries about not eating. I don't know how well a dragon fly would work because I know only certain scorpions have been proven to be able to detect things in the air. I don't think theyt will eat dead food per say... I've heard about people pre killing food and that definently works..but one person on the boards tried using those crickets you buy dead in a bottle and I informed him that scoprions aren't scavengers and I kind of got my eat bit off for it so I never even found out if it worked for him or not... I would suggest buying some roaches from the classified section.

 

[C0kaCoLa]

i came back and found my scorpion eating at the night of christmas... and also i think it ate the dragonfly though i think it happened in the afernoon because i saw a little portion of the dragonfly's wing on the soil..

 

[Leiurus87]

Sounds like its enjoying itself . when i got my most recent addition it was virtually lifeless. after downing 56 crickets in the span of 2.5 hours. it was active again. and no, the 56 isnt a typo .

 

[Scag]

My two cents: When I first got my emps, crickets would mysteriously disappear after a few days. I got tired of trying to rear them though because the soil kept drying out, they stank, and they kept me up at night (and nearly alerted dorm RAs to my hobby!).

I tried switching to Blatta lateralis this summer, which worked great for FunnyLori's tarantulas and my mantis . . . but my scorps refused. I figured they were just fasting -- I hadn't seen them eat for over three months, and the roaches found inaccessable nooks and crannies to hide in. But I had problems with the roaches not breeding and dying off, so I tried mealworms. And the scorps accepted them! My calm female took them from her pedipalps when I offered, and my aggressive male would nibble them when I rubbed his chelicerae with them (otherwise, the darn things would burrow away).

So, CokaCola, I would suggest mealworms. They don't stink or chirp, they're cheap, and they're easy to rear. I just keep mine in a KK with Total breakfast cereal (I know a grad student who raised his mealworms on it that he needed for his thesis).

Though, if you try this, put something between lid and tub or you'll wind up accidentally rearing meal moths. I'm still trying to get rid of those.

I thought wax worms where moths and meal/super worms where beatles?

 

[Mr. Mordax]

They are -- the meal moths are a local species that have taken up residence in the cereal I feed my mealworms, and they're a pain in the butt to get rid of. I have lots of little 1/2" long moths fluttering around my apartment.

 

[jojobear]

I agree with roaches. I too had the same experience as Dom where I got rid of all my geckos/Ts/scorps because I got fed up with ctrickets but then I found roaches and have been very pleased with them as an alternate to crickets.

IHeartMantids: I am sorry to hear about your meal moth problem. I have the same problem and I am sorry I have this problem. I really like my B. lats for my Ts but they don't seem to be as palatable to scorps.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I really like my B. lats for my Ts but they don't seem to be as palatable to scorps.

Boy, does that sound familiar. FunnyLori's Ts love those roaches (I just watched her feed her two rose-hairs), but I never once saw my scorps eat them. Of course, then I go and get a book that says scorps don't like the roaches so much. *exasperated emoticon*

 

[Dom]

Boy, does that sound familiar. FunnyLori's Ts love those roaches (I just watched her feed her two rose-hairs), but I never once saw my scorps eat them. Of course, then I go and get a book that says scorps don't like the roaches so much. *exasperated emoticon*

I haven't experienced any problems feeding roaches to my scorps. I've got 8 species and they all seem to like the lateralis. The only ones that don't seem that interested are my adult C. exilicauda. 3 of them are gravid females and that may have something to do with their fussiness though. I'm kind of new to the hobby so I'm not sure if they are supposed to be inconsistent when gravid or not. My baby exilicauda eat them just fine though. I'll get some crickets this week and see if the adults show more interest.
Most of mine were captive raised from 2I so they may be more accepting of different food items then wild caught adult specimens.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Most of mine were captive raised from 2I so they may be more accepting of different food items then wild caught adult specimens.

That might be it. I've heard they eat lots of termites in the wild -- but I don't know if that would make them prefer mealworms over roaches or not.

 

[Leiurus87]

mine ate a mealworm once, never again. Ate one roach, never again. They sure are picky.