what's the "ideal" food?

[BigBadConrad]

What is everyone's feeder of choice, all things considered (convenience, nutrition, price, etc.)? I've had three Emps and a Desert Hairy, also two large S.s. pedes, for about two months now. Have fed several different prey items but they all have their ups and downs as I see it so far:

crickets: cheap, can keep a dozen on hand for a few days. But Emps not crazy about them. Noisy. Have babies in tanks if not eaten right away, and can avoid being caught for days. Potential to harm the predators (after molt).

superworms: cheap, can easily keep on hand alive. One Emp won't eat them. Burrow into substrate right away if not eaten. Or you can maim them but if not moving enough some animals won't take.

pinkies: All my animals but one Emp love them. If eaten right away, great, but if not then nasty situation. All but Desert Hairy have refused them at least once, and I hate to let me lie in there all night and die like that. Plus, expensive. And they stink very quickly if any or all goes uneaten.

roaches: yuck. Climb glass. I'd rather not go this route.

The Desert Hairy will eat anything - I've tossed in locusts and spiders I find in the yard sometimes. And he catches everything right away except for the occasional cricket, so he's not really a concern. Also, I don't plan to have many more inverts than this at any one time (famous last words), so am not interested in culturing any prey items. I'd rather go to the reptile store and just buy them each week. Gives me an excuse to look at the critters there anyway.

Thanks for your opinions,
John

 

[chuck]

roaches arent as bad as you think. if you get something big like a death head or hisser they can be sorta like a pet. the lobsters are small enough but are pests.
i go with crix if i need something ASAP, still waiting for my hissers to establish

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

I use whatever they'll take, really. Cricks are always a last resort, because they're stinky, cannibalistic, and have a high mortality rate. I use mealworms/superworms and the beetles they become whenever the scorps will take them, and use cricks as a last resort. I would use roaches, but the family would kick my ass for bringing roaches in the house

I'm still itching to throw a pinkie/anole/something else in there, but my scorps are all too small. When my pair of S. mesaensis get bigger they'll be vicious enough to take small vert. prey. My H. spadix is too wussy for all anything like that, and my H. troglodytes is the biggest sissy of all of them.

N.