Gut loading crickets
- Thread starter Lil P
- Start date
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Banana can be used, but very little. Vitamin k in high amounts of dangerous I THINK, maybe someone else can correct me. Either way lots of sugar isn't good. Go with dandelion green for a primary green, but mix with many others. Also add a little nuts and seeds. The key is variety, not any one thing.
Bananas I think have a lot of potassium...so I don't use them as a rule.
I feed/gutload crickets, superworms etc with a wide variety of greens and veggies such as dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc and a bit of fruit such as berries, apples, pears, melon.
I feed/gutload crickets, superworms etc with a wide variety of greens and veggies such as dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc and a bit of fruit such as berries, apples, pears, melon.
paulkaranik
Member
My gutload which has worked for years
Hibiscus
Papaya
Mango
Bee pollen
Basil leaves ( just a little)
Carrot
Sweet potato
Kale
Hibiscus
Papaya
Mango
Bee pollen
Basil leaves ( just a little)
Carrot
Sweet potato
Kale
JoeDigiorgio
Avid Member
I recently did a batch of gut load to last me a few months:
Papaya
Apple
Oranges
Strawberries
Sunflower seeds
Bee pollen
Spirulina powder
Arugula
Basil
Cilantro
Collards
Kale
Dandelion
Alfalfa sprouts
I put it all in a food processor, which took 3 full loads to get done, and blended it with hot water I'd dissolved agar agar and a bottle of Repashy Superload powder into to make it into a gel type food. I'm happy with how it came out and it altogether cost me less than $30 for 6 gallon bag flat packs about an inch thick.
Papaya
Apple
Oranges
Strawberries
Sunflower seeds
Bee pollen
Spirulina powder
Arugula
Basil
Cilantro
Collards
Kale
Dandelion
Alfalfa sprouts
I put it all in a food processor, which took 3 full loads to get done, and blended it with hot water I'd dissolved agar agar and a bottle of Repashy Superload powder into to make it into a gel type food. I'm happy with how it came out and it altogether cost me less than $30 for 6 gallon bag flat packs about an inch thick.
broderp
Avid Member
Man this is a loaded question with the possibility of sparking a debate. Most people would probably agree a home made brew of goodies like those mentioned above would be best. I would agree with that. However, for ME the quantities I would have to buy would be wasted as the crickets would never go thru all the food before it spoiled or got freezer burn. (Again, my experience)
The flip side to fresh this is a supplement that gives the feeders all the nutrients you cham will need. I use a supplement called Rapashy Bug Burger. It's an all in one feeding solution used by many cham owners and breeders. There are also other brands as well.
The flip side to fresh this is a supplement that gives the feeders all the nutrients you cham will need. I use a supplement called Rapashy Bug Burger. It's an all in one feeding solution used by many cham owners and breeders. There are also other brands as well.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
are we talking about fresh veggies and fruit as like a water source? I will probably be the weird one and one of the few who says this, but I feed bananas, I feed strawberry tops too, carrots and carrot top, spring mix and herb mix for my tortoise, kale and mustard greens when I have them, fresh hibiscus flowers when my plants are flowering, I feed arugula I grow myself, I feed home grown mulberry leaves and the berries, I feed pears, apples, collard greeds, endive raddichio, crush oak leaves, clean fresh rose petals, very little but sometimes camellia flowers,californian poppies (leaves, stems and flowers), dandelions, oranges... the thing is yes there are some things out there that have some bad things in them and aren't necessarily good for calcium or certain other things, but they also have tons of other things that the calcium rich plants lack. The whole thing is feed a little of everything. Unless it's useless stuff like white potatoes, instead reach for the winter squashes or sweet potatoes or yams, they give the starch but also tons of extra vitamins.
Dry gutload? You can make your own. I do it all the time, I make several pounds at a time, keep it in a mason jar, sell some with my dubias and other grain eaters, and it lasts me months kept at a cool room temp and in a dark place. If you put it in the fridge as long as condesation isn't an issue it will last you a year or more. ^^
Dry gutload? You can make your own. I do it all the time, I make several pounds at a time, keep it in a mason jar, sell some with my dubias and other grain eaters, and it lasts me months kept at a cool room temp and in a dark place. If you put it in the fridge as long as condesation isn't an issue it will last you a year or more. ^^
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
@Andee I've tried feeding hibiscus flowers and leaves to all of my bugs and they don't eat them. Which of yours do?
@broderp you could vacuum seal it to keep it longer. I make a giant blend and freeze it all. Haven't had issues and it's been a couple months. Not disagreeing though I can see your point.
For dry gutload I personally love bug buffet, has pretty much everything you could imagine in it and all of my feeders destroy it.
@broderp you could vacuum seal it to keep it longer. I make a giant blend and freeze it all. Haven't had issues and it's been a couple months. Not disagreeing though I can see your point.
For dry gutload I personally love bug buffet, has pretty much everything you could imagine in it and all of my feeders destroy it.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
I feed it to my dubias but I don't feed the leaves. They don't get them often, most of the flowers go to my tortoise. But when they get them they are gone within several minutes. But my colony is a garbage disposal XD
JoeDigiorgio
Avid Member
@broderp my advice to you is buy as many different commercial dry gut loads as you can. Some like repashy can be turned into a gel by adding hot water. Some are fed as dry powder and they tend to have decent shelf lives that way. Make a good dry mix with those, maybe some nuts, bee pollen, spirulina powder etc.
By having a good variety all mixed together you have a good chance of covering all your bases and then tossing in a different veggie every week for moisture and extra nutrients. It's easy to buy kale this week, arugula next week and oranges the week after that and so on and so forth paying attention to good nutritional balance in the big picture.
By having a good variety all mixed together you have a good chance of covering all your bases and then tossing in a different veggie every week for moisture and extra nutrients. It's easy to buy kale this week, arugula next week and oranges the week after that and so on and so forth paying attention to good nutritional balance in the big picture.
Lil P
Member
How much of the mixture should I put with the crickets? Can they regulate their own eating or will they over eat if I put too much in?
broderp
Avid Member
I make the Bug Burger with water and feed the crickets and dubias the gel. I also mix some of the dry powder with Cricket Crack as a dry option. I'll see if I can toss in some fresh veggies fro time to time.
JoeDigiorgio
Avid Member
broderp
Avid Member
Here's a question I thought of when I read your post.
Is there any chemical or nutrient change of the gut loads we feed the feeders? I mean, if we want the feeders to eat up, the more the better, why not feed it to our chams directly? Some chams eat veggies and fruit right? Maybe they could/ would eat some Bug Burger Gel?
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
I don't think that'd be a problem if they actually ate it. In the chameleon podcast the one explains that they eat bugs with dirt and crap from the environment and this is also a key part of their diet. So they'd probably benefit from eating the gutload, they just most likely wouldn't do it directly. I finished a plastic cup of bug buffet so I used it as a cricket shaker for dusting. The bug buffet dust was coating the crickets along with the calcium. I figured it'd just add to the nutrition
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
I'd just continuously feed nutritious foods. You know is a person healthier after eating one salad? Also, since the feeders eat their fill and then stop, they would most likely be full of whatever cheaper stuff we might want to offer beforehand and not as readily accept the nutritious "gutload".
I wouldn't think of it in terms of gutload, instead just think of it as feeding, especially before sending them off to be eaten.
I wouldn't think of it in terms of gutload, instead just think of it as feeding, especially before sending them off to be eaten.
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