Best Vitamin and/or Guttload

[quikksilver8]

Hey guys got another question for you what do you use for your chams vitamin source. I currently feed my crickets the flukers cricket food and the flukers cricket quencher with calcium. I also dust my crickets with the Rep-Cal Phosphorus-Free Calcium with VIT.D3. Just wanted to check if I was doing everything right or if any of you had any better suggestions or reccomendations.

Thanks again guys

 

[Dean Pulcini]

Sounds like you using alot of calcium 3x a week is more then enough . With a high calcium feed (gutload) and vitamins 2x a week supplementation should be sufficient. I use Rep-Cal Herptivite multivitamins and cricketfoods calcium and gutloads.www.cricketfood.com

 

[Parandrus]

I have always used the products from www.cricketfood.com and they have worked great. Of course, I can be acussed of being biased since Ronnie is a good friend of mine but I owe my success with breeding Panthers to his gutload.

Ivan

 

[quikksilver8]

Am I giving them too much calcium? I only dust the crickets every other day or every two days.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

Its that old saying everything in moderation .

 

[Cherron]

Dusting every other day is great. Make sure that you are using pure calcium with NO D3 added. The calcium with D3 can be used every other week or so. D3 can build up in the system, so you need to get the kind with no D3 and use that for your every other day dusting.

 

[Heika]

Has anyone tried the gutload developed by Susan Donoghue?

Rock Solid Herpetoculture Cricket Food

I have been making my own and really like it, but this stuff.. this looks perfect to me. Plus, I really like that the ingredients are listed. One of my biggest issues with buying commercial gutload from most places is that they give an analysis, but no ingredients. There is lots of protein in feather and bone meal, but it sure isn't something I would want to use as a gutload.

Same website has some really specific dusts for chameleons.. the more I read, the more impressed I am. Sure would like to hear if anyone is using these products.

Heika

 

[Trace]

Heika;

I use both the supplements and gutload from Susan Donahue/Rock solid. In fact, I use the supplements daily (yes daily!) and have no health issues like MBD, hypervitaminosis, gout, edema etc. My chameleons have never looked or have been healthier. They are consistently breeding for me annually and I'm not working with run of the mill, easy species.

Cheers,
T

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Trace,

Curious to know if you supplement with any additional pre-formed vitamin A.
I am looking into the aforementioned gut-load and supps and will probably give them a try.
I have been formulating my own gutload but in the end I think it's cheaper and easier to find someone who creates a product that is probably better than what I do and can just be ordered online.

-Brad

Edit: I notice vitamin A listed in the ingredients for the cricket food....wondering if it's preformed (from animal source) or beta carotene

 

[Trace]

I also have to put this disclaimer on: what works for me, might not necessarily work for the next person.

I don't attribute my successes(?) with chameleons solely to the Donohue supplements and gutload. I have a climate controlled "chameleons only" room that is like a mini jungle. I have seasons in there! I also use RO/DI water in my mist system. I do not handle my animals. There are other factors happening with me and my critters that I won't bore people with.

I will not use any other supplements as I find my animals look "off" for lack of a better word, almost immediately if I do.

Curious to know if you supplement with any additional pre-formed vitamin A

Nope.

I have been formulating my own gutload but in the end I think it's cheaper and easier to find someone who creates a product that is probably better than what I do and can just be ordered online.

LOL! Exactly! I can't be bothered to make my own anymore.

I notice vitamin A listed in the ingredients for the cricket food....wondering if it's preformed (from animal source) or beta carotene

You can certainly email Scott at Rock Solid about it and he'll get back to you. Last time I ordered from him I stocked up and it took a little bit for him to get back to me. Be patient.

Cheers,
T

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Thanks Trace!

-Brad

 

[quikksilver8]

Any suggestions on a pure calcium with no D3 I could get from a local pet store without ordering it. Would that be all i need.

 

[Heika]

Heika;

I use both the supplements and gutload from Susan Donahue/Rock solid. In fact, I use the supplements daily (yes daily!) and have no health issues like MBD, hypervitaminosis, gout, edema etc. My chameleons have never looked or have been healthier. They are consistently breeding for me annually and I'm not working with run of the mill, easy species.

Cheers,
T

Thanks, Trace. I am going to give the stuff a try.

 

[Kam808]

Im interested to know if you guys use that gutload from RockSolid as your sole gutload. Or do you still combine it with other..fresher..things like kale and collard greens..etc.

 

[Trace]

Hi Kam808!

For the most part my bugs primarily get the dry RockSolid gutload to eat on a daily basis. I'll throw in some healthy veggies (it varies; whatever's in the human fridge that week!) for moisture. I'm not particularly anal-retentive when it comes to feeding my insects.

Cheers,
T

 

[Kam808]

Ah wow cool! So this gutload seems like super food for crickets...so it must be super food for chams too! With a shelf life of 3 months, how much do you go through/purchase at one time? I usually go through 40-50 large crix per week. Would 1lb last a whole month?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I would imagine so....and you wouldn't want to keep it any longer.
Seems to have a short shelf-life....which is not a bad thing.

-Brad

 

[Vegas Chad]

Wonder if you were to freeze it if it would help the life of it...

I would imagine so....and you wouldn't want to keep it any longer.
Seems to have a short shelf-life....which is not

a bad thing.

-Brad

 

[Cherron]

Any suggestions on a pure calcium with no D3 I could get from a local pet store without ordering it. Would that be all i need.

RepCal with out D3 is usually available at pet stores. There is also Miner-al I that is often available, (Miner-al O contains D3).. Jurrasical is another. Pretty much any calcium supplement that lists no other ingredients is okay to use.

 

[Reptayls]

[snip]... I really like that the ingredients are listed. One of my biggest issues with buying commercial gutload from most places is that they give an analysis, but no ingredients. There is lots of protein in feather and bone meal, but it sure isn't something I would want to use as a gutload. [snip]
Heika

Hello Heika,
We are not one of the large, commercial operations, but we have been listing the ingredients for our gutload almost since the day we started offering it for sale. While we used some products made by Rock Solid (before they had that name), we couldn't afford to buy gutload in the quantities we needed, so we started making our own.

We consulted other herpers; a PHD Entomologist; 2 vets; and a lot of reading material. We believe we found a decent formula and have stuck with it. We decided early-on to avoid adding corn or soy fillers.

We use: alfalfa; flax; cottonseed; rice; wheat; oats; milo; white millet; lentils; dried fruits; dried nutmeats; oyster shell calcium; spirulina; brewer's yeast; probiotics; Fo-Ti; kelp and other botanicals. We add pre-made pelleted fish food to get additional Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, Vitamin E supplement, Phospitan C, Fish Meal, Meat & Bone Meal, Riboflavin supplement, Niacin supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Biotin, Thiamine, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ascorbic Acid, Salt, Manganese Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Chloride, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide (instead of adding extra preservatives).

Many of these ingredients are purchased through grocery supply or health-food sources. We grind & mix the ingredients and package in amounts requested by the customer. We recommend keeping it in a cool, dry place because we purchase pestacide-free products.

In the beginning we even processed eggshells for easily assimilated calcium - but now we use oyster shell calcium. Rarely has a customer asked for the analysis - so maybe the ingredients are important to you folks.

We advise to use powdered supplements along with gutload - we use RepCal and Nekton primarily. We love Ronnie's "Salad Topper" too...

~Morgana