Feeding Emperor Scorpions

[uscpsycho]

Do people usually feed their scorpions in a separate enclosure to help it find the food?

It seems like it is too easy for crickets to hide from the scorpion with any of the recommended substrates.

Also, is there any harm in letting a couple of uneaten crickets roam free in the scorpion's cage, assuming that they have their own food source in there?

 

[ArachnoDrew]

Emporers as adults naturally wont eat very often. U can try tong feeding it and seeing if it will react and grab the cricket straight from the tongs. If theres a lot of decor and clutter than yes the cricket could hide there forever and take days / weeks for it to actually get found or eaten

 

[uscpsycho]

My scorpion won't eat from tongs. I've minimized the decor so there are fewer hiding places.

Question remains about leaving the prey in there for him to eat. I've had a dubia roaming around for weeks, scorpion has no interest in it. But I have been leaving 1-3 crickets in there at all times. I've read that you shouldn't leave more than your scorpion will eat in the cage. But it's not like he goes right after them, if I took the crickets out shortly after putting them in he'd never eat. I know it's a bad idea to leave extra crickets in with reptiles because they can injure lizards, but any harm in leaving crickets in with the scorpion as long as the crickets have food and water too?

 

[Galapoheros]

You can leave a couple of crickets in if the scorpion is mature. If it's fat and immature, there could be a molt coming and hungry crickets will pick at and eat the soft exo as it's molting causing it to possibly bleed to death. If it's immature and thin/flat, it still has some eating to do so you could leave a couple of crickets in if that's the case. Sounds like it's just not hungry. When ArachnoDrew said adults don't eat often, he's talkin sometimes weeks at a time and immature ones go through periods of not eating for a long time also.

 

[uscpsycho]

My scorpion is mature so I don't need to worry about that. If it goes weeks without eating then I guess you have no choice but to leave prey in there for whenever it decides it wants to eat. Right?

 

[velvetundergrowth]

When I kept Pandinus I found they were very picky eaters. They would take superworms fine but wouldn't take crickets for love nor money. As the guy above said, if the decor setup is too complex you may find the crickets evading the scorpions for a very long time!

 

[uscpsycho]

I simplified the decor and I have seen him eat crickets. I was just worried he wasn't eating as often because he was having trouble finding the crickets.

I would think supers are even harder to find since they will burrow into the substrate and never be seen again, at least the crickets are always on top.

 

[velvetundergrowth]

I simplified the decor and I have seen him eat crickets. I was just worried he wasn't eating as often because he was having trouble finding the crickets.

I would think supers are even harder to find since they will burrow into the substrate and never be seen again, at least the crickets are always on top.

It's true that they burrow but when placed in the vicinity of the scorp it would only be a few moments before he went for it and chowed down. With crickets they would lust wander off in the other direction.

 

[uscpsycho]

I'll give it a try. In the past I put the scorpion in a small empty enclosure with a superworm (to make it easy for him to find it) and he just ignored the worm. Think he didn't go for it because of the unfamiliar environment? Will he be more likely to go for the worm in his everyday enclosure?

 

[kingofall]

I'll give it a try. In the past I put the scorpion in a small empty enclosure with a superworm (to make it easy for him to find it) and he just ignored the worm. Think he didn't go for it because of the unfamiliar environment? Will he be more likely to go for the worm in his everyday enclosure?

I would leave him in his normal enclosure so he doesn't get stressed. You can try crushing the head of cricket/superworm and placing it in front of his burrow.

 

[Ratmosphere]

My emps barley eat. When they do I just tong feed every one. Some refuse, some don't.

 

[Ron Fults]

When I kept Pandinus I found they were very picky eaters. They would take superworms fine but wouldn't take crickets for love nor money. As the guy above said, if the decor setup is too complex you may find the crickets evading the scorpions for a very long time!

Mine is the same exact way. Spoiled on super worms.

 

[Galapoheros]

Mature males don't eat much at all, is it a male? Once the males over here molt and eat enough, they may only eat one or two crickets a month. I have over 100 of them so I've seen that often.

 

[Medi]

Mature males don't eat much at all, is it a male? Once the males over here molt and eat enough, they may only eat one or two crickets a month. I have over 100 of them so I've seen that often.

How about females?
How long it takes for heterometrus species to start eat and hunt again after molting?
Thanks!

 

[Dry Desert]

How about females?
How long it takes for heterometrus species to start eat and hunt again after molting?
Thanks!

No scorpion regardless of species is going to eat .molt, or mate on que. They will do whatever they want whenever they want and nothing will change that. Leave its food in for 48 hours then remove, unless they are Dubias which are pretty harmless if left in. After a molt you can feed again after a week or two, mature scorpions will take longer to harden up before being able to eat again. When a scorpion is hungry it at start searching for food, even the burrowers will come out searching. Feed it if it's looking for food, removing uneaten food after 48 hours. It will eat when it wants and will stop when it's full or ready to molt or about to give birth. Scorpions don't do things to order - that's the keeper trying to do things to a routine, not the scorpions way.

 

[Medi]

Thanks dude!