Hungry Emps

My three emperors eat alot ive seen one eat atleast 5 large adult crickets at once and still go for more and I feed them like every 2 maybe 3 days ill feed when there hangin out there burrow with claws open think thats means feeding time am I feed too much? oh and there not fat either cant see hardly any white membrane on any of them.

You can't feed them too much. When they've had enough, they'll just quit eating (the sudden change is a source of panic in newcomers to the hobby -- see my signature).

A lot of people say to not feed them more than five crickets a month because them getting fat lessens their lifespan. I have no idea if this is accurate or not, can I get some clarification Mordax? Because I had been feeding mine five to ten a week since they seemed hungry enough to eat them all, but stopped when told to on these forums. They seem far more active now, since they're constantly looking for food, but the idea of not giving them food when they're hungry bothers me (I guess I'm weird).

my female comes out for eats and doesn't seem to want to stop eating ever. Sometimes i refuse her sometimes i load her up. =) she seems ok

Two or three crickets a week is about perfect. Gives them plenty of food but not too much so that they remain on the hungry side as opposed to the bloated side.

As Mike pointed out, when they eat too much they will stop eating. Sometimes they will fast for weeks, months etc.

Roger - Emperors can go a year without food so don't worry about them being hungry for a short period of time. They will often fast for weeks either for no apparent reason or if they've been fed too much.

I haven't heard that overfeeding shortens the lifespan, just that keeping them too warm does (but it also speeds development).

Well, I either had one die of old age today (which I doubt because she showed zero signs of it) or they killed her for a meal. They've been communal for six months with only one episode of cannibalism on an already-wounded emperor, now they're devouring each other.

I'm going back to dumping 30 crickets a month into the tank - they eat them all, and they don't eat each other.

Don't beat yourself up -- scorps die for no apparent reason sometimes. Dumping 30 crix in at once will probably do more harm than good (you may like hamburgers, but how would you feel about a herd of cows wandering around your living room?).

Oh, I don't do it all at once, I meant over the course of a month.

Oh, ok then. Cool.