Preparation of veggies for gutlaoding

[Ironlung]

I just bought some romaine lettuce and squash to gutload my crickets. Do I have to prepare the food in a certain way? I already washed of the lettuce really well. Do I just cut them up into small portions and place it where the crickets are?

 

[dodolah]

cut it up and serve.
They'll gobble it up.
just as suggestion, there are many better veggies than lettuce such as Dandelion, Kale, Mustard Green, Collard Greens, Apple, Carrot, etc etc.

Avoid Tomato, Broccoli, and spinach.

 

[Ironlung]

Ok thanks, I'll be sure to get a couple of those next time. Does it matter how many veggies I offer at one time(if I had more than the 2 I have now)?

 

[dodolah]

The more variety you have the better the gutload.
Just make sure that you put enough food for the day (Don't overfeed).

 

[Ironlung]

Then I guess its time to chop up some apple I only put a little bit of the lettuce and the squash in there. How much can crickets eat in 12 hours? Is 12 hours enough time for them to obtain all the vitamins and such, or should I wait longer before I feed them to my cham? Should I also be dusting them with the calcium powder w/out D3 before feeding?

 

[chamlover]

It depends on who u talk to. I usually gutload my new guys at least 2 days before feeding them although i know alot of guys don't wait that long. I also use calcium and vitamins, not at the same time, on the gutload as well. You might also want to add some carrots, apples are great, sweet potatoes,oranges. Just give them as much variety as you can. Did you say 12 crickets? That's all you got? No i had to read that wrong. Just think of all the different things they would eat in the wild and all the good things that you want to get into your cham. I usually give them 4-5 different vegies for a few days then switch to differnt vegies, but i buy a few thousand crickets at a time.

Debby

 

[Ironlung]

Well I read that you should gutload them 12-48 hours before you feed them to your cham. So hopefully they have enough vitamins and such in them when I feed her tomorrow.