Can you gut load too much?

[ecoreef]

Is it possible to gut load too much? When I gut load roaches I REALLY pack it in them. I starve the roaches and heat them up for almost a week sometimes to make them extremely hungry and then offer the gutload about 1 hour before feed. They are so starved for food from the starvation period that they GO NUTS on the gut load and eat so much they seem to double girth. When the chams bite them you can see all the gutload ooze all over the place. My question about gutloading too much comes from me seeing interesting feces color after I do this extreme gutloading with roaches. I also use crickets and don't see this when I feed them. I'm wondering if offering panther chameleons too much plant material causes them to not be able to digest all of it and inturn create some funky poop colors. So anybody ever see this before? I'm also curious if this happens with veilds when they eat a lot of strait plant matter.

Here's some pics.

These pics are from two different chams that were fed roachs on day one and crickets the second day and the feces in these pics are from those two feedings.
You can see half of the poop has a yellowish-greenish tint and the other half(I'm assuming the cricket meal) looks normal.

Any input would be appreciated.
-Alex

 

[DanSB]

I am far from an expert but to me I am concerned about the overall health of the insect being fed not just the gutloading.

I think it is silly to starve the insect first because you aren't getting all the nutrients from the gutload metabolized into usable food for the cham. I am more concerned about a healthy insect that has all the meat and body mass rather than the gutload in its gut in huge quantities.

But then I keep a senegal who eats plant matter on his own when he wants it...

 

[carol5208]

I've often wondered if the gut has to be full of food. I think that when you are constantly feeding your bugs you are producing a healthier bug versus say one you did not feed at all and threw some water and a potato in there like the pet stores. I offer my food round the clock and I don't go overboard on what I feed. I use collard greens, kale, sweet peppers, carrots, apples and oranges for the most part. That is about it for my crickets and supers. The bugs should be getting some type of nutrition even if they poop it out. I mean we do and what we eat contributes to our health. That is the way I see it and maybe others will disagree.

 

[pssh]

I definitely agree with a healthier overall insect. I wouldn't starve them first, just feed them all the time with healthy, nutritious foods. I don't know what's up with the poop though.

 

[drcrossfire]

From what I understand, starving Dubai roaches for a few days is beneficial - it allows them time to break down any stored uric acid

 

[Olimpia]

Perhaps just having food in the stomach isn't enough, perhaps the insect needs to digest it, break down the plant matter, and then the chameleon can better digest all of it. I suppose it's like carnivorous predators, like lions, who will eat the guts of their prey to reap the benefits of pre/partially-digested vegetation that they wouldn't be able to digest themselves straight from the ground.

If these are panthers they may have a slightly harder time digesting veggies/fruit than a veiled would.

I also think that if you really want them to be stuffed for feeding time, perhaps not feeding them the day before should be more than enough time. That way they are still eating well, don't eat one day, and will be very hungry to take the gut-load a few hours prior to feeding. I always feed mine though, since I never know on a given day what feeders I'm going to choose to feed.

 

[pssh]

The uric acid thing shouldn't be an issue if you do not use dog/cat food, animal proteins, and try to only use veggie-based proteins for their diet.