Gutloading Dubias

[BClizzi]

so i have close to 100 dubias and im not sure what to gutload them and if i already am.... I have a mixture of non medical chicken feed, fishflakes, catfood, and calcium powder blended up into a powder. i have that constantly in the container with water crystals. My question is is that good enough for "Gutloading"? i feed them oranges every now and again but not regularly... Let me know if you need photos as well. Thanks!

 

[brownie64]

You really don't want to give your cham that kind of protein. I would gutload the with things like collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, bee pollen, some fruits like oranges, strawberries. Then get you a good dry gutload like cricket crack.

 

[Bush baby]

Dark green leafy vegatables should be a gut load staple. Collard or mustard greens should be rotated in and out every few weeks. This along with one other fruit; blueberries, bell pepper, etc and a dry gutload should be what your crickets/roaches eat daily. Oranges are okay, occasionally, but i've heard the citrus can cause issues when used too often. Bottom line; dark green leafy veggies are a must…always.

Here's mine below. I place this in the bottom of his cage, then add the crickets in when the lights go out (so he won't eat them before they've fed on what i want them to eat), so when he wakes up in the morning, their bellies are full of these food items.

 

[Replife]

wat your currently using as gut load is terrible for a chameleon it's not any anyway a fish,cat or chicken if your going to make diy gut load use fruits and vegetables but you can just order bug burger and its a good source of food and hydration

 

[Andee]

I honestly wouldn't feed off those dubia at all. They have had time to build up uric acid in their bodies and are no longer safe feeders. Dubia do not cleanse their bodies of high protein/uric acid like most insects with a new diet.

 

[Alexander1]

I agree, start fresh with a new batch. Use vegetables high in calcium and low on phosphorus levels, there's a lot of gut load thread in here. I use fresh veggies and rotate cricket crack, Dino fuel, super load and bug burger

 

[Graves923]

I use bug burger as my main dry gutload. I use various veggies and fruits along with it. Kale greens, collard and mustard greens and carrots are usually what I use and occasionally oranges and apple slices.

 

[D4saken1]

His gut load sounds more like breeding food for fully developed roaches. Just like with superworm once they become beetles their food is quite different than what you gut load feeders on. As others said dark greens are great.

I don't have to worry as much because my beardies eat greens with their protein so I tend to load with fruit or veggies and give kale and the like for them to munch on. Their diet until adult is 80% protein 20% though. I know Chams are the same.

 

[Andee]

Chams are not the same as beardies when it comes to veggies and stuff in their diet. A lot of the time I don't even feed younger veileds (younger than 6 months) any sort of veggies/fruit because there is literally no need to. Veileds can technically eat veggies/fruit though they don't need too to have perfectly balanced diets. The majority of chameleons show no interest in veggies/fruits. Most Fucifer and Montane species don't though certain individuals may be more open to eating it on occasion.

 

[ChameLIonLover]

Dark green leafy vegatables should be a gut load staple. Collard or mustard greens should be rotated in and out every few weeks. This along with one other fruit; blueberries, bell pepper, etc and a dry gutload should be what your crickets/roaches eat daily. Oranges are okay, occasionally, but i've heard the citrus can cause issues when used too often. Bottom line; dark green leafy veggies are a must…always.

Here's mine below. I place this in the bottom of his cage, then add the crickets in when the lights go out (so he won't eat them before they've fed on what i want them to eat), so when he wakes up in the morning, their bellies are full of these food items.

Hi Bushbaby, the crickets don't stray far from the food?

 

[D4saken1]

I mean gutloading them with those foods not raw, sorry if I was being unclear.

 

[Remkon]

I use a mixture of something like arugula, alfafa, apple, banana, carrot and some spoons of Repashy superload...
(I basically follow the sheet of recommended foods and find those in the grocery store)
I put it all in the blender, then put it in an ice-cube tray and freeze it in... If I have oranges or w/e I may mix those in as well but I basically don't want it to get to moist as they will otherwise drown in it.

No abundance of veggies in my refrigerator anymore and the dubia's seem to like it way better than just vegetables.

 

[Bush baby]

Hi Bushbaby, the crickets don't stray far from the food?

They do wonder away once they've eaten their full. They seem to find the food VERY easily.