Young panther doesn't like feeding cup

[Solskin]

I've had my 4.5 month old male panther for just over a week now, and for the first two/three days he would eat 10-12 small crickets daily from his feeding cup, but since then seems to have shunned the cup. I noticed he'd started eating less, just a couple a day from the pot, but then while sat watching him a couple crickets escaped and he immediately chased them down and munched them.
I then decided to empty out the pot in to his cage as he seemed to enjoy the hunt, and he's eaten 8/9 in under 30 minutes.
Is free ranging small brown crickets a bad idea, should I try convincing him to use the cup? He seems much happier running around and hunting!

 

[raven1139]

I would let him hunt. I have a similar situation with a 4.5 month old panther. He is much happier hunting them! I started with the cup method too but not enough stimulation for him.