# ANts eating my crickets



## MikeOLogical (Oct 5, 2005)

hello all, i'm new to this board, and new to insects in general... i went to the reptile expo the other day and came home with a nice fat emperor scorpion, my first pet arthropod...

first thing i notice is he eats more than expected... the first day i gave him 2 mealworms and a cricket, second day he ate 3 more crickets and 2 mealworms...

today i bought more crickets and found total carnage... ants were everywherer and my crickets were losing the battle bigtime... so rather than put the new crickets into the keeper with the ants, i put them in the scorpion tank while i cleaned up the ant mess...

when i went back an hour later the scorpion had eaten 10 of the dozen crickets, and the other two were hiding under the water dish...

am i feeding my scorpion too much?

also i was a bit confused as to which reptile supplement i should dust my bugs with, the stuff with phosphorous or without?

thanks in advance


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## Predator (Oct 5, 2005)

Welcome to the boards.  I wouldnt worry too much about over feeding.  Usually when they go on an eating binge its because they are going to molt soon or are gravid.  Although I do find it odd that it could eat 10 crickets in an hour.  Mine usually take about 30min to an hour to eat a cricket.  About how big is your scorp?  I dont suggest dusting your crickets with anything.  Im not sure its even good for them.  I use flukers gut load that I feed to my crickets before I offer them to my scorps.


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## MikeOLogical (Oct 5, 2005)

its about 3-4 inches long not including the tail... i suspect he may be a she and she may be gravid, because the tail is fat and the membranes between the body plates look to be stretched somewhat... i picked the biggest fattest one at the show, hoping to get a pregnant female...

oh, and that hour was probably more like 3 hours, i dozed off watching her hunt...


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## Predator (Oct 5, 2005)

Well than its definately a mature adult.  Could very well be a gravid female.  The tail will not change size if its gravid or fat.  If you have time post a picture of her.  Im curious to what you mean by the tail being fat.  Emperor scorpions really dont have a fat tail.


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## MikeOLogical (Oct 5, 2005)

the tail was fat compared to the tails on the other emperors they had for sale... the area of membrane on the sides of the tail is much thicker than the shell part... i'll post a pic tomorrow...


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## MikeOLogical (Oct 5, 2005)

well i found 4 of those crickets under the water dish this morning, so she didn't eat the whole dozen... she went into her hide after eating all them, and hasn't come out since... i'm guessing she may be moulting... i don't want to disturb her, so the pic will have to wait til she's up and about...


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## Predator (Oct 5, 2005)

If shes as large as you say then shes not going to be molting again.  It may take a little while before she starts to come out often.  She still has to get settled in and feel safe and secure.


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## fiveohatch (Oct 5, 2005)

be patient. 

sometimes i'll go weeks without seeing my emp.


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## Prymal (Oct 6, 2005)

Hello Mike,

Most scorps, including emperors, will vary the quantity of prey consumed due to various climatic and physiological factors. Be glad your emp has a good appetite as this is a sign of good health! I've seen emps so dessicated and malnourished that they wouldn't eat at all. And don't worry about over-feeding as they know when to quit. 
As for supplements - just feed your crickets, roaches, etc. a varied diet. Good luck!

Luc


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## MikeOLogical (Oct 6, 2005)

thanks... she was out again today, and i got to take a good look at her... its not the tail thats swelled up, its the rear part of the abdomen... i can see more of the membranes between the plates now, and she does seem fatter than she was yesterday... i took the 3 remaining crickets back out of the tank, and put them in their kricket keeper, with some ant baits situated around the keeper... i'm a bit worried about the ants coming to attack the scorpion, but i also don't want to uase any pesticides that might end up being eaten by my bugs... i figure that as long as the scorpion doesn't eat the poisoned ants, i should be ok... 

so now i'm on ant patrol...


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