Handfeed? or let hunt?

[Leon945]

Hi All!
I have question...
As some of you may already know, I own 4 emperor scorpions..

I know that when they stick their heads out of the burrow with claws open.. they are waiting for food (right?)... NOW, my question is:

when i feed them, should i drop the food in front of them so they catch it quickly? or should i just drop the cricket in the tank and let THEM find it?

The tank is big.. and it has some plants and rocks to wich the crickets can hang on to..
I regularly drop the crickets in front of them.. but.. am i making them lazy??

What do you guys think?

 

[Raan_Jodus]

i just drop my crix in. They can fend for themselves. There is nothing wrong with dropping the crix close to the hole, but they will find the food eventually, or the food will come to them.

 

[Fluid Filter]

Mine are lazy. All they do is wait at the entrance of their burrow without ever leaving. Now i won't feed them until they actually crawl around the cage a little. It's been about 3 months now. Man they're stubborn. Now, it's a battle of wills!

 

[tarsier]

i just drop mine in

 

[1/2]

I just drop crix in. Theyr predators, hunting should be an instingt....

And my scorps tend to eat them within 12 hours...

 

[cricket54]

I drop crickets in for my scorps and let them catch them themselves every week. I have handfed a handicapped scorpion, but they don't always take it from you. Then I try again a week later. They are just unhappy with you pushing food in their face if they aren't interested, so its only hit and miss if they will take it. Sometimes crickets do die in their tanks from old age if they haven't been caught, or consumed, so I remove them as soon as I see them. I do leave live crickets in there longer then I ever would with my tarantulas.
Anyway, they always seem to eat enough to keep them alive. You only need to drop a few in their homes at a time. Not a whole dozen. After a while, you can figure out how many they will eat in a week.

Sharon

 

[Leon945]

Alrighty

Well!
It's good to know that most of you guys just drop the food in.. i suppose i will do that.. besides, it might make them come out hehe, which is cool because i never see them..!

anyway.. thanks! :clap:

 

[thesupermonkey]

I usually remove the cricks jumping legs before I toss 'em in.
Their still fast on four legs and your scorp has a better chance of catching them quicker. I would say don't handfeed unless necessary because it seems
like it would tend to domesticate them to some extent which is counter productive to the whole point of keeping scorps. Just a thought...

 

[Brian S]

I have 2 adult C margaritatus that will actually take crickets from my fingers lol

 

[Fascination]

I agree with super monkey. You should let them fend for themselves but before putting them in i would remove the hind legs.

 

[Brian S]

I agree with super monkey. You should let them fend for themselves but before putting them in i would remove the hind legs.

There is no need to remove the hind legs believe me. They are quite capable of catching a cricket that has the ability to jump. Check out this 2nd instar C margaritatus, even it can catch a cricket with hind legs.

 

[MattM]

Nice pic Brian.
I was amazed to see my Leiurus catch the same size cricket. Never imagined they would handle it! But then again, one sting from the Leiurus and the cricket drops within 5 seconds

 

[Prymal]

Brian,

Nice to see a fellow "hand-feeder"!

Luc