Crickets w/o supplements/gutload?

[Cjbeals]

ok, so I posted a picture of my very sick chameleon last week. He has MBD and I'm certain he had it when I purchased him. So, I'm in a battle with the pet store because I want to be reimbursed for the vet bill and refunded for the purchase ( I have a picture of him in the terrarium at the store the day that I purchased him and it's clear now that he was sick). The staff told me several times that gutload is not needed and calcium is not needed. I talked to the general Manager today and he said that the calcium supplements aren't needed because the crickets that they sell as basically "genetically modified with enough calcium", ?!? Um if this were remotely true my chameleon wouldn't be on the verge of death. They discouraged ANY additional calcium. This is the first time though, that they told me that they're selling robot crickets. Does anyone have any insight on this?!?

 

[jpowell86]

They are full of s**t! That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. If they were selling genetically modified crickets, OMG I can't believe I'm even putting that in a sentence, wouldn't they advertise that?

Let's not even get in to that. No matter where you buy your crickets you want to gut load them. This is a key part of nutrition in your chameleon's diet. Also, you want to dust with calcium(without D3) on a daily basis..or at least every time you feed your chameleon.

If the people at the pet store were so knowledgeable about topics of calcium, they might have noticed that their panther chameleon had MBD. We were able to tell right off by pictures....but they couldn't tell in person???

Remember, all is void without the proper UVB lights for your enclosure. Unless of course you live somewhere tropical where your chameleon is relaxing in the sunshine on the daily!

I think I'm going to genetically modify my next generation of chameleons to not need calcium!!!!

 

[jajeanpierre]

They are full of s**t! That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. If they were selling genetically modified crickets, OMG I can't believe I'm even putting that in a sentence, wouldn't they advertise that?

Let's not even get in to that. No matter where you buy your crickets you want to gut load them. This is a key part of nutrition in your chameleon's diet. Also, you want to dust with calcium(without D3) on a daily basis..or at least every time you feed your chameleon./QUOTE]

I'm going to go one step further.

I don't like the term "gut load" because it implies that if you just feed crickets healthy food immediately before you feed them, they will be nutritious. Crickets need healthy food their whole life to become healthy food for chameleons.

A commercial cricket farm is going to feed their crickets with the cheapest food they can that will get the best growth rate. That doesn't necessarily make for nutritious food for your chameleon.

 

[MaiRemy]

Gotta gutload crickets with greens like collards, dandelion, kale, mustard green. Make sure to search it up first. The have a small calcium to phosphorus ratio which is bad !! You want more calcium always!! They get tired of crickets so variety is key!! Order phoenix worms medium sized ONES. They have the highest amount of calcium to phosphorus! Good luck !!

 

[MaiRemy]

.

 

[alphakenc]

If i were u,I will Go back to that General manager n tell him his crickets sucks like a rotten ham sandwich n take ur business somewhere else,crickets without gutloaded is like feeding cows with duck poop both stinks.

 

[Bush baby]

Sorry to hear this, but for future reference you should ALWAYS gutload crickets. I free range my crickets in the cage, and just leave this at the bottom which i see them feasting on every night. Turnip greens, blueberries and bug buffet.

 

[JGuinan007]

ok, so I posted a picture of my very sick chameleon last week. He has MBD and I'm certain he had it when I purchased him. So, I'm in a battle with the pet store because I want to be reimbursed for the vet bill and refunded for the purchase ( I have a picture of him in the terrarium at the store the day that I purchased him and it's clear now that he was sick). The staff told me several times that gutload is not needed and calcium is not needed. I talked to the general Manager today and he said that the calcium supplements aren't needed because the crickets that they sell as basically "genetically modified with enough calcium", ?!? Um if this were remotely true my chameleon wouldn't be on the verge of death. They discouraged ANY additional calcium. This is the first time though, that they told me that they're selling robot crickets. Does anyone have any insight on this?!?

I would just go over his head and call the coporate office let corprate know what he told you they will pay your vet bill and buy you a Parson's for you to sign a gag order and that general manager will loose his job That would be a PR nightmare if it got on the News that a major pet chain was selling Live GMO crickets and not disclosing it

 

[kiwilulu]

I am new to chameleons, but not to biology.
That is absolutely nuts!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

It's all the new fad for Petco and Petsmart to claim to have gutloaded crickets so customers don't need to do anything else to them. It's just plain wrong unfortunately because those crickets are not being sold immediately upon arriving at the store. They don't understand how gut loading works for only as long as the cricket GI time.

As a reptile veterinarian I am happy to write a letter on your behalf to educate them on the error of their statements regarding nutrition and supplements.

That would be a PR nightmare if it got on the News that a major pet chain was selling Live GMO crickets and not disclosing it

Ummm, what?

 

[JGuinan007]

"Manager today and he said that the calcium supplements aren't needed because the crickets that they sell as basically "genetically modified with enough calcium", ?!?"-Cjbeals
GMO=genetically modified organism
My wife refuses to buy anything GMO and won't let me eat anything GMO

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Perhaps you've seen the glofish that those stores sell? Those are genetically modified to glow in the dark. So they already do sell GMO animals and have since 2003 - just fyi. They aren't legally required to disclose it because it's not for human consumption and neither would the crickets. Even then it's not legally required across the board even. Most of genetic modification is to make crops produce more per plant and more resistant to pests thus requiring less chemical pesticides. This can be done by just editing the natural genome to remove or amplify genes that were already there to begin with, not necessarily introducing new DNA. I'd rather eat GMO than something lathered with chemical pesticides or apples with worms in them but that is a whole different controversial topic that is not the focus of this thread. To each their own.

The manager was trying to say that they're fed calcium from the producer during growth so they don't need as much supplementation. Comparing to GMO was really not accurate.

 

[Cjbeals]

My main concern was that they had discouraged me from buying the supplements and gutload- they said "give them a potato" that's all they'll need. Unfortunately, Rango passed away on Monday from MBD. Their corporate office agreed to reimburse $400 in vet bills and the cost of Rango. I never presented a receipt, just the photo of him in their cage before I bought him was leverage enough and confirms he has MBD before I bought him.

 

[Cjbeals]

It's all the new fad for Petco and Petsmart to claim to have gutloaded crickets so customers don't need to do anything else to them. It's just plain wrong unfortunately because those crickets are not being sold immediately upon arriving at the store. They don't understand how gut loading works for only as long as the cricket GI time.

As a reptile veterinarian I am happy to write a letter on your behalf to educate them on the error of their statements regarding nutrition and supplements.


Ummm, what?

 

[Carlton]

My main concern was that they had discouraged me from buying the supplements and gutload- they said "give them a potato" that's all they'll need. Unfortunately, Rango passed away on Monday from MBD. Their corporate office agreed to reimburse $400 in vet bills and the cost of Rango. I never presented a receipt, just the photo of him in their cage before I bought him was leverage enough and confirms he has MBD before I bought him.

That's a great outcome (not for poor Rango) and I am so glad you pursued it. They obviously wanted to get you off their back so the $400 was worth it. The chain has got to realize they can be held accountable for the suffering of livestock they misinform buyers about. They are darn lucky you found the forum and were able to provide evidence that their husbandry info killed this cham. If there's any way you can post your issue and the results to those websites that gather consumer complaint/customer business reviews I would try. And, post a warning about these so-called calcium fortified feeders they claim to offer.