Desert Hairy eats dead cricket

NYbirdEater

Arachnobaron
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The other day I dropped a large cricket in my desert hairy's tank and I noticed it was almost dead, barely twitching a leg, so I through in another one. Well it grabbed the live one and feasted on it directly over the dead one. And then a few hours later, it ate the dead one too. Are any scorps known for eating dead food? Maybe since it just died and wasn't decaying or smelling it didn't mind.
 

Highlander

Arachnobaron
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I thought that they couldn't hunt unless they could feel the vibrations of their prey.
 

carpe scorpio

Arachnoking
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They can "smell" prey by means of chemoreceptors on the pectines, the scorp was obviously hungry.
 

Stagger-Lee

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NYbirdEater said:
The other day I dropped a large cricket in my desert hairy's tank and I noticed it was almost dead, barely twitching a leg, so I through in another one. Well it grabbed the live one and feasted on it directly over the dead one. And then a few hours later, it ate the dead one too. Are any scorps known for eating dead food? Maybe since it just died and wasn't decaying or smelling it didn't mind.
oh sure i feed stuff dead prey and pieces of larger items, they seem to notice it as they pass over it usually when their pectines make contact
 

NYbirdEater

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carpe scorpio said:
They can "smell" prey by means of chemoreceptors on the pectines, the scorp was obviously hungry.
I meant the cricket didn't smell rotten, but thanks for the fun fact. :D
 

NYbirdEater

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Stagger-Lee said:
oh sure i feed stuff dead prey and pieces of larger items, they seem to notice it as they pass over it usually when their pectines make contact
Cool that's good to know. I am curious as to what the pieces are from, insects or vertebrates?
 

carpe scorpio

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NYbirdEater said:
I meant the cricket didn't smell rotten, but thanks for the fun fact. :D
Rotten or not, they can smell a cricket, or any other organic material that they travel over.
 

NYbirdEater

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carpe scorpio said:
Rotten or not, they can smell a cricket, or any other organic material that they travel over.
I know. Thanks. I just thought a rotting insect would make a nasty meal and a dead one might not entice it. I am used to tarantulas who like their prey to move even though they have chemoreceptors also. My Tarantulas have bitten dead crickets but usually dump them in a corner of the cage when they realize it's dead already.
 

fusion121

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NYbirdEater said:
I know. Thanks. I just thought a rotting insect would make a nasty meal and a dead one might not entice it. I am used to tarantulas who like their prey to move even though they have chemoreceptors also. My Tarantulas have bitten dead crickets but usually dump them in a corner of the cage when they realize it's dead already.
Scorpions are remarkedly unfussey, furthermore they seem susceptible to very few diseases since most bacteria are not adapted to scorpion phisiology (though mold will kill them in short order) hence eating rotten meat would probably not harm them.
 

carpe scorpio

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fusion121 said:
Scorpions are remarkedly unfussey, furthermore they seem susceptible to very few diseases since most bacteria are not adapted to scorpion phisiology (though mold will kill them in short order) hence eating rotten meat would probably not harm them.
I was unaware that mold was lethal to scorpions. I had some mold in my C. gracilis enclosure for several months with no ill efects. What species succumbed to the mold?.
 

fusion121

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carpe scorpio said:
I was unaware that mold was lethal to scorpions. I had some mold in my C. gracilis enclosure for several months with no ill efects. What species succumbed to the mold?.
I've had emps and Heterometrus succum to it before, it tends to be when they get old and are no longer able to clean themselves effectively, it grows around the chelicerata and kills them :( .
 

carpe scorpio

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I'll be sure to get younger individuals if I ever keep either genus again, I was unaware of this tendency.
 
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