Wet or Dry Gutload Next?

[NorCalAnthony]

I made a big batch of wet/moist gut load back in January and am just now starting to run low. All the ingredients came from various threads and blogs on the forum but mainly sandrachameleon's awesome blogs (which everyone should read if you haven't already ) and I puréed everything together and froze the mix in ice cube trays to make easy little "cricket food-sicles" that I've been using ever since (another tip I learned on the forum). The batch consisted of kale, mustard greens, dandelion greens, spirulina, mint leaves, butternut squash, carrots, red peppers, apples, oranges, and various other stuff that I can’t remember at the moment… Basically I grabbed everything I could find from the blogs I had read to get as much good stuff in there as possible.

Everything has worked out great and my chameleons and their feeders all seem to be doing well with my current gut load but now that it's time to make more I'm wondering if I should do another batch of the wet gut load or try making a batch of dry gut load this time. Does anyone prefer dry over wet or would it be best to start using a mixture of the two? It seems that the dry gut load would be easier to keep in jars/containers and scoop out whatever is needed but to me it seems like you would be able to get more vitamins and nutrients out of a wet gut load, or am I mistaken?

Also, has anyone tried to use different gut loads to flavor their feeders differently? My grandpa would sometimes experiment with feeding his chickens different things to make the eggs have different tastes (like slightly spicy eggs after being fed peppers) and I was curious if anyone has tried this with their feeders and if the chameleons seemed to enjoy it more or possibly end a hunger strike.

 

[NorCalAnthony]

I forgot to mention my chams! I have a 16 month old male Ambilobe (Loki), 9 month old female Ambilobe (Aphrodite), 14 month old male Nosy Be (Poseidon), and a 7 month old female Nosy Be (Athena). They are all kept indoors under 6% Arcadia and 6500k T5 HO lights and regular household bulbs for basking. I do take them outside when it’s warm but that hasn’t been as much lately thanks to my new job. Crickets are the main staple with occasional silks and horn worms and I finally convinced my wife to let me try out dubia’s so I’m hoping to add them soon.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I vote for having both.

the wet gutload IMHO is important for nutrients and hydration of prey (and thus assisting with hydration of cham).

a dry gutload helps round out the nutrients - it compliments the wet gutload. for example there as some nutrients that are easier to get in nuts than through veg.

 

[Seiryu]

I agree, both are good to have!

I tend to mostly stick with dry and do vegetables/fruits 3-4 times a week. I don't make an actual wet gutload, just change up what I give.

It's also important to have water crystals (just regular water ones) available 24/7 to make sure the bugs are fully hydrated.

 

[NorCalAnthony]

Thanks for the replies you guys. I'll start shopping around for some dry gutload ingredients so I can start rotating that in with the wet gutload.