| Handfeeding | |
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Quelaag Pandinus
Number of posts : 30 Age : 31 Location : New York Registration date : 2012-11-18
| Subject: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 12:45 am | |
| My scorpion doesn't seem to catch the crickets I put in his enclosure by himself usually but is perfectly willing to take them when I put them in his face. I'm pretty sure it's not because they're too fast since he's pretty quick for an Emp. Maybe the crickets I get are too smart haha but I'm not sure. This isn't a problem, right? He has a good appetite, eats regularly; but he's still a little fat from when I got him. Do you think that may be why he doesn't really go for it? I hope he's not lazy :l | |
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Yames Tityus
Number of posts : 521 Age : 45 Registration date : 2012-09-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 1:03 am | |
| Scorpions are opportunists. So when he doesn't really need to eat he doesn't put energy into actively hunting. So when you present him with food and he has some room to eat then sure he'll take it.
Bottom line is you are probably still over feeding your emp. But I do it too because I like to see them feed. It makes me happy. | |
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Quelaag Pandinus
Number of posts : 30 Age : 31 Location : New York Registration date : 2012-11-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 1:36 am | |
| - Yames wrote:
- Scorpions are opportunists. So when he doesn't really need to eat he doesn't put energy into actively hunting. So when you present him with food and he has some room to eat then sure he'll take it.
Bottom line is you are probably still over feeding your emp. But I do it too because I like to see them feed. It makes me happy. >.> That explains it. I thought so. I like keeping my animals well fed. I like to watching scorpions feed as well hehe. I think I'll cut down the amount of crickets I get though because half die before they're eaten. Thanks! | |
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Yames Tityus
Number of posts : 521 Age : 45 Registration date : 2012-09-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 2:40 am | |
| Yeah for an adult emp they say the right amount of food is one feeder cricket a week and if you put one in and by the next day it isn't gone remove it and try again in another week. So by those numbers I figure my guys are eating 2x more then they need to. But man is it cool to watch them shred into a cricket. | |
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Quelaag Pandinus
Number of posts : 30 Age : 31 Location : New York Registration date : 2012-11-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 4:00 am | |
| Even though he's still eating a bit more than he should, he's in better shape than when I got him. I think I'll cut it down a little though because I don't want him to be so obese. lol. Glad I didn't keep him on meal worms though. Feeding the scorpion is just one of my favorite parts of having one. | |
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robert44 Tityus
Number of posts : 535 Age : 63 Location : Houston, Texas, USA Registration date : 2012-08-25
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 1:01 pm | |
| I recently got an emp that I think was overfed. He is a large male and was fed several large crickets and/or meal worms per week. The previous owner fed him crickets and meal worms by placing them in his pinchers. According to the previous owner, he ate and ate and ate until one day he just stopped. He stopped eating for several months and has just recently resumed eating for me. I have been feeding him one large cricket per week. I just drop the cricket in his cage and let him do the rest.
I have been thinking about increasing to two crickets per week but maybe I should stick at one??? His weight looks fine. | |
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Yames Tityus
Number of posts : 521 Age : 45 Registration date : 2012-09-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 1:07 pm | |
| 1 is fine Robert. It will keep him hunting and active. Which is a nice benefit too. Instead of being so well fed they hide all day and night you should be able to see him coming out at night and looking around for food. | |
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Quelaag Pandinus
Number of posts : 30 Age : 31 Location : New York Registration date : 2012-11-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/19/2012, 6:43 pm | |
| Thanks for your story, I think I feel a little like that owner ahaha. I think I'm gonna hold back a little, I'd like to see him catch his own food. Funny thing about mine is he wouldn't eat meal worms. I had some and tried to get him to eat 'em but he'd just grab it and put it somewhere like a decoration. If I cut it down until he gets his own food it might be a little more convenient to me. I don't *always* have time to make sure he's eating and I'm sure he doesn't like my hand or the feeding tongs in the cage. | |
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robert44 Tityus
Number of posts : 535 Age : 63 Location : Houston, Texas, USA Registration date : 2012-08-25
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/20/2012, 2:28 pm | |
| Yes I think we tend to overfeed our scorps but this is an area I'm not really sure about. For me it's hard to determine the optimal amount of food to give. | |
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shadowfoot Parabuthus
Number of posts : 1296 Age : 32 Location : South Africa Registration date : 2012-01-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/20/2012, 4:14 pm | |
| I do the same, I feed when the scorp wants to eat. I have come to realise when they are hungry and sometimes my adults will eat 4-5 times a week on large roaches. I like to think that scorpions are smart enough to know when they have eaten enough. | |
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Scorpion975 Pandinus
Number of posts : 43 Age : 36 Registration date : 2012-08-10
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/20/2012, 5:48 pm | |
| - shadowfoot wrote:
- I do the same, I feed when the scorp wants to eat. I have come to realise when they are hungry and sometimes my adults will eat 4-5 times a week on large roaches. I like to think that scorpions are smart enough to know when they have eaten enough.
That depends. Remember in nature scorpions never know when their next meal will come wandering by so they very likely will gorge themselves if given the opportunity. I stick to the one cricket per week rule for all my scorps and that's proven to be a good schedule. Though my emp hasn't eaten for a couple weeks now and the last time he "ate" he didn't really eat just killed the cricket and chewed it up a bit but left it there. I had to remove the (smelly) cricket when I realized it was still in there.. | |
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shadowfoot Parabuthus
Number of posts : 1296 Age : 32 Location : South Africa Registration date : 2012-01-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/20/2012, 5:58 pm | |
| You've got a point there Scorpion. I have never experienced a death from overfeeding though. My mature males usually ignore food if fed more than once a week but the females almost always accept food because they are always gravid. If we are talking about scorpions still in the progress of growing then my experiences are the same, they will feed till they want and then stop when entering the later stages of pre-moult and I have only experienced death in 1i that molted to 2i. | |
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robert44 Tityus
Number of posts : 535 Age : 63 Location : Houston, Texas, USA Registration date : 2012-08-25
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/20/2012, 7:19 pm | |
| It would be interesting to compare newly wild caught scorps with the same size captive scorps (which have been frequently fed) to see if the captive scorps on average are fatter. I have always wondered if we tend to overfeed our scorps, and if so, does it affect their lifespans. | |
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Quelaag Pandinus
Number of posts : 30 Age : 31 Location : New York Registration date : 2012-11-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/20/2012, 10:43 pm | |
| - robert44 wrote:
- It would be interesting to compare newly wild caught scorps with the same size captive scorps (which have been frequently fed) to see if the captive scorps on average are fatter. I have always wondered if we tend to overfeed our scorps, and if so, does it affect their lifespans.
I'm curious about that, myself. Does anyone have input? | |
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Tongue Flicker Parabuthus
Number of posts : 1106 Age : 36 Location : Madina't Isa, Bahrain Registration date : 2012-11-01
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/22/2012, 3:46 am | |
| my r.junceus eats like once every 2 months. i cant get it to eat very often coz it doesnt want to but i dont have any complaints with that though | |
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robert44 Tityus
Number of posts : 535 Age : 63 Location : Houston, Texas, USA Registration date : 2012-08-25
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/22/2012, 1:37 pm | |
| If a scorp won't eat I don't like to let prey sit in the cage more than overnight. I don't want them to get used to prey always being around. Maybe they get too used to it and don't want to work for it. | |
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Quelaag Pandinus
Number of posts : 30 Age : 31 Location : New York Registration date : 2012-11-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/22/2012, 3:32 pm | |
| I find feeders like crickets to be a little bit pestilent when you leave 'em in there. I'm sure they couldn't do serious harm to my scorpion but I'm sure they're bothersome if they aren't being eaten. Luckily, my scorp has an excellent appetite; he is just more willing to take what's given to him rather than retrieve his own. | |
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robert44 Tityus
Number of posts : 535 Age : 63 Location : Houston, Texas, USA Registration date : 2012-08-25
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/23/2012, 12:18 pm | |
| It is possible for a cricket to harm a newly molted invert. | |
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Yames Tityus
Number of posts : 521 Age : 45 Registration date : 2012-09-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/23/2012, 2:47 pm | |
| I was looking for the post but somewhere on here is a picture GS posted of a scorpion missing it's tail and the guilty cricket still gnawing on it.
When your scorpion is freshly molted crickets can and will chew on him/her leading to great harm and frustration. Put a cricket in over night at most if it's not eaten by the next day remove it for many reasons. | |
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bloodysky023 Pandinus
Number of posts : 27 Age : 31 Location : Philippines Registration date : 2012-10-22
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/23/2012, 7:53 pm | |
| Lol... i saw that post before pretty nasty for a cricket I on the other hand don't give cricket as prey during pre-molt when I notice that my T or Scorpion is in pre-molt i tend to give them roaches such as B.Lateralis and Dubia Roaches idk But they seem not to chow on my inverts they would rather run than retaliate when they come incontact. | |
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Quelaag Pandinus
Number of posts : 30 Age : 31 Location : New York Registration date : 2012-11-18
| Subject: Re: Handfeeding 11/23/2012, 10:08 pm | |
| I live in an area where they don't sell roaches but I could probably order them. Might try em out for that particular reason. I think it's good to put some variety in their diet anyway | |
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