Scorpling feeding Help!

Abu Bakr

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
42
Hi.
I'm new to this hobby and got my very first invert just 3 days ago. Its a heterometrus laoticus. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong.
It's enclosure is quite big and I've used Coco fiber substrate with 3 inch depth, a 7 watt heating mat that covers almost 1/3rd of the area.I had initially put the mat to the side of enclosure but now I've put it underneath the substrate.

And it was last fed by the previous owner on the day I got it. I just don't know how to get it to feed.

I tried to lure a cricket close to it. It either runs away and doesn't eat it or it just tries to pin down the cricket and it jumps and gets out of its grasp.

I caught a cricket with tweezers and placed it in front of it and the sling pinched it, killed it and ran away again and didn't eat.

I don't wanna leave a cricket inside because the ventilation slits are big enough for them to escape.

What is the best I way to get it to eat? Should I wait for a few days and then feed it? Should I leave it with a cricket in another enclosure or what?
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,610
Hi.
I'm new to this hobby and got my very first invert just 3 days ago. Its a heterometrus laoticus. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong.
It's enclosure is quite big and I've used Coco fiber substrate with 3 inch depth, a 7 watt heating mat that covers almost 1/3rd of the area.I had initially put the mat to the side of enclosure but now I've put it underneath the substrate.

And it was last fed by the previous owner on the day I got it. I just don't know how to get it to feed.

I tried to lure a cricket close to it. It either runs away and doesn't eat it or it just tries to pin down the cricket and it jumps and gets out of its grasp.

I caught a cricket with tweezers and placed it in front of it and the sling pinched it, killed it and ran away again and didn't eat.

I don't wanna leave a cricket inside because the ventilation slits are big enough for them to escape.

What is the best I way to get it to eat? Should I wait for a few days and then feed it? Should I leave it with a cricket in another enclosure or what?
Post pictures.

Heat mat must always be on the side or back, not the bottom.
 

Abu Bakr

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
42
I know that's how it should be because they tend to burrow inorder to escape heat and burrowing in this case would cause overheat but the problem is that heat mats only heat the object that they are physically in contact with. Leaving it on the side hardly made the enclosure any warm which is necessary especially since the ambient temperature is kinda low where I live 9°C to 12°C at night and max 20 to 22°C at day. Even with room heating the temperature isn't more than 23°C at best at night. It's a sling as you can see from the pic and I believe it's enclosure is a lot big for it.
 

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Abu Bakr

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
42
Oh and I managed to get it to eat. Left it alone for a while to calm it down and then dropped the prey item Infront of it.
 

FrankiePinchinatti

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
Messages
192
I'm glad it ate, but in the future going 3 days without eating will be the norm, not the exception so don't worry about it. You can probably figure on it eating maybe once a week, with frequent spells of weeks or even a month or more without eating as it gets ready to molt.

And if you are concerned with crickets jumping up and escaping through the ventilation holes you could always pinch the crickets' back legs just above their knee with your thumbnail and they will drop the legs off. You'll be left with crickets that can walk but not jump, which would make them easier to catch as well.
 
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