Cricket Crack

I was wondering if I need to gut load with anything besides the crack. Ive been using flukers cricket feed, collard greens and carrots but I wasnt sure if I need the vegies and the cricket feed.

If I could get a quick response that would be awesome because he will be eating soon. Thanks!

the crack whats that mean??? you can use orange slices apple slices ummmm cat food oatmeal pretty much they will eat anything but those things i use on top of what you use oh and DUST DUST DUST your crickets with multi vitamins or calcium or calcim with vit. D before feeding they sell the "DUST" at the pet store

Thanks ryan but you didnt answer my question. I believe you are a bit misinformed with you supplements as well. You should only be dusting your feeders with calcium w/o d3 on a daily to every other day basis. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivitamin 1-2 times a month. Please do a little research before posting incorrect information.

edit: Cricket crack is the ultimate gut load for crickets I believe.

ummmm i read and was told by the local pet store multi vitamins every other week calcium every day or everyother day and D3 once every week an a half (3times a month) i never wrote to you how to dust i told you TO dust so i never posted incorrect informationand and idk about your veggies and stuff but i use it because im pretty darn sure the crickets like it and its a healthy source of food

graydon said:

Thanks ryan but you didnt answer my question. I believe you are a bit misinformed with you supplements as well. You should only be dusting your feeders with calcium w/o d3 on a daily to every other day basis. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivitamin 1-2 times a month. Please do a little research before posting incorrect information.

edit: Cricket crack is the ultimate gut load for crickets I believe.

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I use Fluker's Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet (I believe this is what you are referring to).

According to both the manufacturer and several vets, it is a complete solution (water + food + vitamins) is the only thing you need to use if this is what you are using.

Be careful on overdosing with D3. Over supplementing can be as dangerous as under. If your mulit-vit has D3 in it, and you also use calcium with D3-that is too much D3.

Graydon-you are feeding your crickets right. They need the veggies for the moisture. You can add sweet potatoes, other leafy greens like dandelion or mustard, and go few on the carrots.

gmotdot said:

I use Fluker's Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet (I believe this is what you are referring to).

According to both the manufacturer and several vets, it is a complete solution (water + food + vitamins) is the only thing you need to use if this is what you are using.

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Complete solution for the crickets-yes, but you cham eats what you feeders are eating, and it is hard to compete with fresh veggies and fruits.

I use Cricket Crack (see SSSSwimSSSS) LOL or something like that. Steve as he is commonly known. I have been using this for my crickets for years and all is well with crickets and chameleons.

I occassionally give them a piece of potato or orange pieces, but not regularly. Cricket Crack has all the necessary gutload to keep your chams healthy. I use the water crystals because they are cheap, easy to store and my crickets love them!

I tried the orange cubes early on my chameleon road and I never could get my crickets to eat them.

SO BE IT - just my opinion.

Julirs said:

Complete solution for the crickets-yes, but you cham eats what you feeders are eating, and it is hard to compete with fresh veggies and fruits.

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As BocaJan mentions above, the Cricket Crack and/or Cubes are nutritionally balanced to be the ideal gutload for your cham. In most ways it is better than fresh fruit and veggies because as well as containing the nutrients your cham needs fruit and veg naturally contains filler which is little to no use to your lizards, while the Crack/Cubes are balanced to contain ONLY the nutritional aspects.

Ryan123 said:

ummmm i read and was told by the local pet store multi vitamins every other week calcium every day or everyother day and D3 once every week an a half (3times a month) i never wrote to you how to dust i told you TO dust so i never posted incorrect informationand and idk about your veggies and stuff but i use it because im pretty darn sure the crickets like it and its a healthy source of food

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sorry bud... you said to use catfood. thats definately wrong info.

-Steve

Thanks for all the correct info guys, and ryan, make sure you don't overdose your cham on d3.

Wile the Flukers feeds, all of them, may be sufficient, they are not as good as using multiple fresh leafy greens and various fruits. The Flukers is not the same thing as the cricket crack Steve sells. Nor is it as nutritionally healthy for your crickets and cham alike as the cricket crack.

Ryan, I see you're eager, but perhaps you should put just a little more thought into what you type before you type. Also giving a more complete answer would be appreciated. You have to remember someone browsing these forums may read what you type and run with it. It's very easy to OD a cham on D3.

Cat food and any other high protein food is not an appropriate "gut-load" for your cham. It can and will cause gout in chams and other reptiles. It can be fed to the crickets as a means of providing food for the crickets. But you should wait a few days after the last time you have fed them the protein rich foods and only after they have been properly gut-loaded before feeding them to your chams.

This is a dry gutload, so you do need a source for (water) moisture. I use plain water crystals, sliced carrots that I soak in water overnight, for added moisture, butternut squash ( diced, and put in bowl of water and nuke for a couple of minutes in microwave, this softens the squash up. Allow to cool, and serve. ), apple slices, orange slices about once a month. Mulberry leaves, collar greens, dandelion leaves, watermeleon rinds in summer months. In other words, I use a variety of food items for the purpose of cricket hydration.

I've gotten some feedback, that some users simply add, or mix water into the gutload. This can work, but would have to be discarded and replaced with any signs of mold.

Pure said:

Wile the Flukers feeds, all of them, may be sufficient, they are not as good as using multiple fresh leafy greens and various fruits.

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Sorry... are you a vet?

(or in any way professionally trained to make that comment?)

WTF makes you think I need to be?

My comment has the chams best interest in mind. you can take your attitude and stick it.

Flukers is a staple feed. Very few feed items are as good as quality fresh foods. Steve's crack has been one of the only things shown to even compare.

I really don't appreciate your tone nor attitude. so next time...just STFU.

Pure said:

WTF makes you think I need to be?

My comment has the chams best interest in mind. you can take your attitude and stick it.

Flukers is a staple feed. Very few feed items are as good as quality fresh foods. Steve's crack has been one of the only things shown to even compare.

I really don't appreciate your tone nor attitude. so next time...just STFU.

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It's just that 3 vets and a reptile nutritionist have told myself and my wife differently... so, if you have some field of expertise that can provide information to contradict those people, whose advice as experts and specialists I value and trust more than a rude (even in acronym) forum poster, I would be open to hearing it...

I apologize for my comments. But your post wasn't much better. Perhaps mentioning that in the first place vs questioning me the way you did eh?

The truth to the matter is most vet don't know squat about reptiles and I would seriously question any "nutritionist" who advises that anything in a can is better nutritionally than fresh foods.

The simple truth to the matter is what I've learned through years of keeping reptiles and reading as much information as I can and actually retaining what i read, on top of various conversation with others who have used all forms of feeds myself included has shown that Steve's is the only thing that comes close.

I'm sorry friend. just about nothing in a can is going to compare to natural fresh foods that are fed in a mixed variety. This is common knowledge and you don't need to be a vet or a nutritionist to know this.

And for the record I wasn't "some rude forum poster" until you were rude first. I was trying to be helpful. I can garantee you one thing. That will be the last time I make that mistake. Next time I see your idiotic avatar I'll just move along.

Pure said:

I apologize for my comments. But your post wasn't much better. Perhaps mentioning that in the first place vs questioning me the way you did eh?

The truth to the matter is most vet don't know squat about reptiles and I would seriously question any "nutritionist" who advises that anything in a can is better nutritionally than fresh foods.

The simple truth to the matter is what I've learned through years of keeping reptiles and reading as much information as I can and actually retaining what i read, on top of various conversation with others who have used all forms of feeds myself included has shown that Steve's is the only thing that comes close.

I'm sorry friend. just about nothing in a can is going to compare to natural fresh foods that are fed in a mixed variety. This is common knowledge and you don't need to be a vet or a nutritionist to know this.

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These are actual herp specialist vets (or staff members), not any old cat & dog veterinarians...

The concept is based on the fact that 80+% of the fruit and veg that you feed a cricket is filler that has no nutritional value to the cham, and since the cricket can only eat and hold a limited amount of food, you are better to load the cricket with a specifically targeted mix of nutrients. This isn't long term cricket care here (I could care less about the little buggers), it's about gutloading as much +benefits and nutrition into them as possible in the last supper to deliver to the cham.

People are always going to believe what they want to believe... Here, I am following and simply passing on the best expert opinion on today's solutions that I can find.

gmotdot said:

These are actual herp specialist vets (or staff members), not any old cat & dog veterinarians...

The concept is based on the fact that 80+% of the fruit and veg that you feed a cricket is filler that has no nutritional value to the cham, and since the cricket can only eat and hold a limited amount of food, you are better to load the cricket with a specifically targeted mix of nutrients. This isn't long term cricket care here (I could care less about the little buggers), it's about gutloading as much +benefits and nutrition into them as possible in the last supper to deliver to the cham.

People are always going to believe what they want to believe... Here, I am following and simply passing on the best expert opinion on today's solutions that I can find.

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Not trying to start WWIII here-but could you please provide some documentation from a reptile nutritionist that has kept chams for a long period of time and could shed some light on this theory?

ok, ok, here is my 2 cents...

first off, freash fruits and veggies have far more of what your cham needs then just fluckers orange cubes...and I use the flukers from time to time, so I know.

fillers? HA! do you even know what a filler is?
the second ingredient in fluckers orange cubes is carageenan.
carageennan is a filler...it is what holds it all together.
it's like Agar Agar that you can buy in stores to make your own cubes.
think jello.

kale, dandilion, even romaine, is far better as they have minerals and vitamins that the cubes lack, and the chams need.
fruits like real oranges, strawberries, and blueberries, contain vitamins and antioxidents that your cham needs and the flukers cubes do not have.
carrots and potatoes have a ton of minerals that the cubes also don't have and your cham needs for healthy bone and muscle growth.

this is not a debate. this is fact.

as for Steve's cricket crack...
please know and understand that it is high in protien.
it's main ingredients are different kinds of BEANS. beans are loaded with protien and sould be used in limited amounts.
even Steve says that it is not the only food you should be feeding to your feeders.

Harry