Feeding scorplings ants?

[Predator]

Im still dealing with my vittatus scorplings. Since im not able to get any small enough crickets here I was wondering if anyone fed their scorplings ants. Im asking because they are slowly dying off because they dont seem very interested in chopped up crickets. In my emp tank theres a few pinhead crickets roaming about so I have gathered up what I can of them and they love them but I dont have enough. I know people have fed their scorps termites but not normal ants. I would figure people would feed normal ants over termites since its not as big of a deal if some managed to get loose. Any reason why termites are prefered over ants?

 

[cacoseraph]

Im still dealing with my vittatus scorplings. Since im not able to get any small enough crickets here I was wondering if anyone fed their scorplings ants. Im asking because they are slowly dying off because they dont seem very interested in chopped up crickets. In my emp tank theres a few pinhead crickets roaming about so I have gathered up what I can of them and they love them but I dont have enough. I know people have fed their scorps termites but not normal ants. I would figure people would feed normal ants over termites since its not as big of a deal if some managed to get loose. Any reason why termites are prefered over ants?

ants = bad bad bad!

many varieties have venomous bites and stings. with termites you only have to worry about the large like, warrior caste biting/stinging but with ants there are many castes that could eat a scopling

also, if scouts escape back to the colony from you cages they will leave a chemical trail pointing exactly to your vulnerable scorplings

 

[Predator]

I figured there was a reason why they were not used so thats why I asked first. These little guys are a pain to feed. They refuse everything but pinhead crickets and no one sells them. I have a feeling im going to have a bunch of dead scorplings if I dont figure anything out soon.

 

[cacoseraph]

I figured there was a reason why they were not used so thats why I asked first. These little guys are a pain to feed. They refuse everything but pinhead crickets and no one sells them. I have a feeling im going to have a bunch of dead scorplings if I dont figure anything out soon.

i've fed mine cricket chunks to very great effect

my first brood has molted to 3 or 4 instar

when they are 2i they eat chunks, by 3i they can take small (1-2week old) feeder crickets.

my second brood from the same mom is 2i right now, and eating chunks
look how fat the little thing is

 

[cacoseraph]

oh, one thing

when i am placing the chunks, i always try to make sure it is touching the edge of the cage. i have noticed virually all bugs are "edgewalkers", that is, they prefer to walk up against something, and only change directions when they are impeded. this means they explore the edges of the cages many more times in a day than the center.

so to make things as easy as possible for them, i throw the chunks right up against the glass, when i can.

a disadvantage to this method is it makes the cage very messy. and if the scorps don't eat all the chunks the chunks go bad and start to mold/mite/suck in general.

 

[Gsc]

Order some pinhead crickets on-line...crap, you can get 500 shipped for $14.99 or 1000 shipped for $16.99. Everyone always uses the lame excuse- "I don't need that many"... I'd rather crickets die off than my scorplings...feed the pinheads until they grow too large...then feed the "grown up" crickets to your other inverts.... If you don't wanna order pinheads, order a colony of wingless fruit flys...they are also super cheap... with the world wide web, there is no reason people can't find food for their critters...

Just my suggestion...good luck. I usually have 50-100 scorplings around the hosue at any given time... I usually just order pinheads or offer cut cut adult crickets...usually when the little guys are searching for food at night they come accross the later.

Good luck!

 

[Predator]

oh, one thing

when i am placing the chunks, i always try to make sure it is touching the edge of the cage. i have noticed virually all bugs are "edgewalkers", that is, they prefer to walk up against something, and only change directions when they are impeded. this means they explore the edges of the cages many more times in a day than the center.

so to make things as easy as possible for them, i throw the chunks right up against the glass, when i can.

a disadvantage to this method is it makes the cage very messy. and if the scorps don't eat all the chunks the chunks go bad and start to mold/mite/suck in general.

Thats pretty much what I have been trying to do. I had them all seperated but now I have them all in a 5 gallon tank. The little cups I had them in with the chopped up crickets got moldy in under 24 hours. It got to be a pain changing the pieces up paper towls out when they dont like to get off them and rounding up all the dead crickets that look nasty and black already. Got too messy too fast and wasnt looking healthy in there. Might just have to order some pinheads.

 

[Prymal]

Predator,

You can get various feeder inverts including pinheads at:

http://www.feedersexpress.com

 

[stevenhman]

I feed scropionlings termites. They're easy to keep and breed. Although a little hard to get at sometimes. I keep the subterranian sp. I collected from my back yard. They're really easy to collect if you have the right equiptment. All you need is a soda bottle, some kind of sealant (chewing gum works in a pinch), and some airline tubing. Cut one tube around 18 inches or so, and cut the other tube just around 8-9in. Make two holes large enough for the tubing in the neck of the bottle. Run the longer tubing through the hole and about 1/4in from the bottom. The shorter tube should stick into the bottle just about an inch. Seal around the tubes/holes. Screw on the cap, and suck on the short tube. Ta-da! This bugger catches TONS of the little suckers. Ants too.

 

[Empi]

I fed ants to my C. vitts. I killed them first though.

 

[Prymal]

For those that tend not to need 500 or 1000 feeder crix - Feeders Express offers 250 count quantities.

 

[OneSickPuppy]

Maybe im just lucky getting my little ones to eat. Every time i buy adult crickets I put them on moist peat moss for 24 hours bewteen two critter keepers and ive had a constant supply of pinheads for my 2 litters of vaejovis spinigerus. My big problem is it seems that the adult crickets will eat the pinheads still waiting to be transferred from to my scorplings. Last night I bought some waxworms from petsmart and I put two of them in with the 2i spinis ... one I ripped open and the other alive. This morning finds 4 feasting on the one opened and 3 feasting on the one that was left in there alive.

 

[Brian S]

Usually your pinheads will grow up on you but you can still use them to feed your bigger scorps/spiders or whatever you keep.
Another thing I always try to do is have a sterlite box with moist substrate that I occasionally throw in a few adult female crickets. It doesnt take very long before you have pinheads all over the place. I just throw in a few chunks of dry dog food to keep em alive so I normally can scrounge up a few pinheads to feed my smallest scorps.
Like mentioned earlier just order a bunch of pinheads until you het some to hatch out. It is better to do that as to let your babies die out.

 

[cacoseraph]

Usually your pinheads will grow up on you but you can still use them to feed your bigger scorps/spiders or whatever you keep.
Another thing I always try to do is have a sterlite box with moist substrate that I occasionally throw in a few adult female crickets. It doesnt take very long before you have pinheads all over the place.

*slaps head*

dang, i never thought to do it that way... i've never been able to purposefully culture the stupid crickets

the sterilite-pinheads-on-demand system seems like something i can handle

 

[Brian S]

hehehe I come across this idea on accident. I was having pinheads hatch out in my Emperor's tank so I decided to do it on purpose with the sterlite box

 

[Fluid Filter]

.... If you don't wanna order pinheads, order a colony of wingless fruit flys...they are also super cheap...
Good luck!

I've been told by an experienced keeper that wingless fruit flies are no good for scorpions since they lack certain critical nutrients which can lead to deformities. Also, they may not be able to fly but they can easily crawl up glass which makes them even MORE annoying that crickets.

 

[Gsc]

I've been told by an experienced keeper that wingless fruit flies are no good for scorpions since they lack certain critical nutrients which can lead to deformities. Also, they may not be able to fly but they can easily crawl up glass which makes them even MORE annoying that crickets.

I've never tried them personally...but I think anything is better than ants..lol. I keep/breed lots of scorpions and feed a completely cricket based diet without any problems at all.... want to try hard, find food small enough for newborn Pseudouroctonus scorplings...you end up searching through your pinheads for the tinyist ones you can find!