Another Gutload question

[wst0209a]

I have searched the forum for gutload answer but still want to improve on my care for them. I still have a few crickets dying every now and then. I want to improve my gutload and make it the best I can. What I am looking for is something that I can make myself and be able to find everything at the local grocery store. I have tried that one recipe by adcham but I can't get all of the stuff at the store. What do you guys feed your crickets? Recipes and instructions? I don't want to buy any products over the internet either. Thank you and I appreciate any input.

 

[pohchunyee]

There are no 100% guarantee that gotload will keep cricket alive. When cricket is kept in colder temperature, they live longer but grow slower. When cricket kept in hotter temperature, they grow faster but die earlier too. For gutload, i kept my 1500 cricket alive with orange, kale, lettuce, carrot and potato. And temperature kept at 80 - 85 'F. It is normal for cricket to die off... sometimes when they dont get enough food, they will start chewing on each other....Hope this help!

 

[pohchunyee]

here is a link which i followed:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/jan2003/crickets/crickets.html

 

[Tygerr]

You need to understand that it isn't gutload that is meant to keep the crickets alive.

To keep the crickets fed, you can use a wide variety of foods. Common fruits/vegetables (e.g. oranges, carrots), leafy greens, oats, etc.

And then to keep the crickets alive, you need a clean habitat for them to live in (which implies cleaning it regularly), hiding spots for the crickets (like egg crates), and the right temps for them.
Read the link posted above - it's a good guide to keeping crickets.

Now gutload is what you feed the crickets shortly before feeding them to your cham (at least an hour before feeding them off) so that the gutload is in their stomachs when they are fed off to your cham - in that way passing all those nutrients on to your cham.
I like to put the crickets that I will feed into a container with gutload the night before, and then feed them to the cham the next morning before I go to work.
The gutload can empty from their bowels quite quickly, so if you are leaving the crickets in the enclosure the whole day (i.e. your cham doesn't eat them immediately), then leave a bit of gutload in their with the crickets to keep them gutloaded.

 

[wst0209a]

what do you use to gutload them?

 

[Tygerr]

Personally, I make my own gutload following the recipe on AdCham (http://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/gutload.html).
But that's only because there are no good quality ready-made gutloads available here in South Africa.

As I mentioned yesterday in the post on the other thread about gutload, making your own gutload usually works out more expensive and it's quite difficult to get all of the ingredients.

A good ready-made gutload saves you a lot of hassle because it contains ALL the nutrients your cham might need, as well as providing those nutrients in the right quantities (quite often it's difficult to get the quantities right when making a home-made recipe).

Everyone used to recommend WER Gutload as the commercial gutload of choice, but they no longer produce the product.
I'm not sure what everyone has switched to. Perhaps some of the American keepers will chime in...

Just check the ingredients on any gutload that you use, and compare them to the advice given in this article: A look into gutload

 

[Chameleon Kingdom]

We order outr food at www.cricketfood.com
It's kinda expensive, but It's the bast that we've found so far.
They also have roach food and superworm food/bedding.
I would reccomend at least trying this gutload out.