Dog food for crickets

[SilverWolf]

My father decided to breed crickets now since buying them was so expensive, but, as expected, I am the one having to remind him what to do and what not to do when it comes to diet anyway. He put mashed up dog food in the cricket containers…both the breeders and feeders. Now I do not think that is a good thing but if anyone thinks dog food is a really bad idea, could you explain to me WHY dog food is such a bad idea?

here is what I did for cricket food and replaced the dog food with, ingredients and idea given to my be Lathis:

Apples, Green peppers, collard greens, butternut squash, carrots all blended together, put into an ice tray to freeze, then put two of the frozen cubes in the cricket container.

 

[deathdealer91]

Dog food has no nutritional value for crickets. i use a corn based cricket food. then i use the calcium based cricket water cubes. makes things much easier. ialso have a feeding schudule where i put greens and fruits in.

 

[drcrossfire]

dog food is high in animal protein which can cause a uric acid build up in your chameleons and then lead to gout.

go to your local feed store (i have farm and fleet) and buy a cheap 50 lbs bag of alphalpha then go buy a bag of water crystals made my miracle grow.

cheap and easy cricket growing food

 

[sandrachameleon]

Dog food has no nutritional value for crickets. .

not true. dog food is okay nutritionally for crickets. Its just not good gutload for crickets that will be fed to chameleons.

i use a corn based cricket food.

corn is not good nutrition - a poor choice of food for crickets/chameleons.
the calcium water cubes are a waste of money - way better options exist.

dog food is high in animal protein which can cause a uric acid build up in your chameleons and then lead to gout.

^ agreed.
also usually has some preformed vitamin A and D, so you have to consider that beside your supplementing routine

for the breeder crickets, some carrots, potatoes and alfalfa hay along with other fruit and veg works fine - even adding some dog food now and then is fine for breeder crickets.

for the crickets you will feed to your chameleons, check these links:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/847-commercial-gutloads.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/823-august-2013-dry-gutload-mix.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/659-green-leafy-goodness-gutloading.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/867-april-gutloads.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/697-dry-gutload-mix-august-2012.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/835-simple-gutload-bug-food.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/862-todays-gutload.html

 

[Fogerty]

I have used ground up dog and cat food as a dry mix for my crickets and dubia and they seem to love the dry cat food over the dry dog food, it does keep them alive and happy ,but I always take the ones I intend to feed my Cham out and put them in another container (death row) with some healthy stuff ,dandelion, collards, apple etc.. for at least a day or two to flush out their system and fill them with nutritional goodness before feeding them to my lizard.

 

[little leaf]

I was wondering about the all veggie dog food- I have seen it for sale, and wondered why would you feed a dog an all veggie diet - but the thought of this food did cross my mind for the crix/roaches - and it is not a corn based food ~ would that work I wonder ?

 

[Bush baby]

Dog food has no nutritional value for crickets. i use a corn based cricket food. then i use the calcium based cricket water cubes. makes things much easier. ialso have a feeding schudule where i put greens and fruits in.

It is full of nutrition..it's just not nutrition made for an animal that is going to be fed to a chameleon.

 

[Psychobunny]

I'm sure chams in the wild get some animal protein and fat from insects that feed on dead animals.

Of course, no one really knows exactly what the daily nutritional requirements are for chams.

Nutrition values have been established for cats and dogs, and I guess a few reptiles as well, but not for chams.

When I first started owning chams, it was very common for people to use dog food to feed their cricks, but over time, and learning, we find out that regular feeding of animal fats causes uric acid to form.
This will cause gout, which is very bad news for the cham.

I lost a panther to gout, I had to give him meds every day to help prevent further build up of uric acid, but it really doesnt work that well, and survival chances are slim

 

[Olimpia]

Sure, a little now and then isn't going to harm them. They might eat a gecko here, a small bird there, etc. But we don't want to give them crickets/roaches that are all gut-loaded with high amounts of animal protein every day for weeks or months. And cat food is even worse because it's even higher in protein!

It doesn't seem to be necessary for roaches or crickets to eat food that is so high in protein either, if you look up the issues Allen Repashy had when developing his gutload (the protein was killing off dubias due to uric acid levels) then you'll see what I mean. They're good with very moderate levels of protein, or protein from plant sources.