Liocheles australasiae...cannabalistic?

[Rigelus]

Heres a picture just taken of a couple of 2nd instar Liocheles australasiae munching away on what appears to be fellow sibling....
Could it maybe be an old moult they are eating or could they be scavenging and eating a pre-dead sibling.?

/Bryan

 

[Michiel]

There is too much pigment , so I think they are muching on a sibling, the one on the right has a chela....... It is also possible one young died and they are eating it, yes.

 

[EAD063]

Are they fed well? Slings eat more regularly than adults. No criticism intended... your liocheles look good though! IMO rock scorpion slings are the cutest.

 

[Mark Newton]

It must have died before, I've never seen young kill each other.

 

[Alakdan]

Ocassionally YES! I observed this in some of my clutches. Two factors trigger this, underfed scorps or crowded enclosure. I also observed that siblings will have different growth rates. The ones that get left behind get eaten first. I'm not bothered by this at all. I think this is just natural selection.

 

[Rigelus]

As you can see on the picture theres basically no difference in size between the eaten and the eating so i don't think it's one that got left behind during a moulting round.

Overcrowded, hmmm. I've got 14 (13 now) in a small round container thats got a 20 cm diameter. Damp cocofibre with bits of bark, some pressed into the substrate make up the furniture.
It seemed plenty big enough (these guys are small!) and i often find them grouped together anyway whether in smaller or larger groups.

Underfed, well maybe. Initially they had pre killed micro crickets. They still do but theres also a few live ones amongst them now. These crickets dissapear despite thinking that they seemed to big.
Not just that there also some mites that have come along with the bark. I haven't observed any of the small scorpions eating these mites but some of them (probably the adults!) sure are a good size for them. There's actually not that many mites which is unusual because they usually multiply quite quickly so i'm assuming the scorpions are eating them to.
Still, i've only been putting food into them once a week. Maybe i should up that a bit.
I'll keep an eye on them..(what else!!)
Thanks guys...
/Bryan.

 

[EAD063]

As you can see on the picture theres basically no difference in size between the eaten and the eating so i don't think it's one that got left behind during a moulting round.

Overcrowded, hmmm. I've got 14 (13 now) in a small round container thats got a 20 cm diameter. Damp cocofibre with bits of bark, some pressed into the substrate make up the furniture.
It seemed plenty big enough (these guys are small!) and i often find them grouped together anyway whether in smaller or larger groups.

Underfed, well maybe. Initially they had pre killed micro crickets. They still do but theres also a few live ones amongst them now. These crickets dissapear despite thinking that they seemed to big.
Not just that there also some mites that have come along with the bark. I haven't observed any of the small scorpions eating these mites but some of them (probably the adults!) sure are a good size for them. There's actually not that many mites which is unusual because they usually multiply quite quickly so i'm assuming the scorpions are eating them to.
Still, i've only been putting food into them once a week. Maybe i should up that a bit.
I'll keep an eye on them..(what else!!)
Thanks guys...
/Bryan.

I would say at least 2 crickets a piece a week... Maybe even 3. Difficult when you don't have the all seperated.. Sounds like you have plenty though and one is not too big of a loss.

 

[fusion121]

I've had both adults and juveniles of this species cannibalise. They eat allot for a small species so you need to feed them allot and often to lessen the chance they'll eat each other.