Cricket Crack & Other Pre-Made Gutloads?

[ChromaChameleons]

I've been very happy using Mazuri gutload.

http://www.mazuri.com/PDF/5m38.pdf

 

[sdheli420]

It was actually designed to be the exclusive source of food. It contains dried fruits, vegetables, seeds, grains, greens, flowers, algae, vitamins, carotenoids.

When I reformulated the product to reduce the protein levels a couple months ago, I added a lot of new ingredients that aren't on the label yet. The new labels are at the printer. There are now more than 50 ingredients in the product.

All of the fruits, vegetables, flowers, and greens are dehydrated

New formula Changes

Removed ingredients:

Pea Protein Isolate,
Whole Wheat Flour (it made the gel a little sticky and I really don't like gluten for a lot of reasons)

Added ingredients:

Stabilized Rice Bran
Germinated Brown Rice
Dandelion Greens.
Dried Fig
Dried Date

As far as one spoonful of dry and one spoonful of wet, it is actually simpler than that.... one spoonful of gel provides both.

Side note, I am trying to be helpful here and answer questions. As a manufacturer, I know I walk a fine line between my contributions being called advertising, so hopefully when I make a post in response to my product, it will be considered useful information and not just me pimping my stuff.

Allen

Allen, i do not take what you provide as tips for a grain of salt..from what i know "repashy" products have been around for awhile, and as a fellow reptile enthusiast you are only working of previous experience and knowledge..i dont look at your provided information as a "sales attempt" more of " this stuff may just be your answer, and heres why i think it would work for you"..im going to try some and see what kind of affects i get vs. the "norm" for gut loading...

THANKS!!!

 

[Winterhawk1960]

Very informative and USEFULL post for someone like myself. I haven't had a chameleon for almost 20 years and am very thankful for people like you, Allen, for continuing to develop and provide not only a beneficial product, but the insight and research necessary to do so. As far as I'm concerned, having the recommendation of both Ed and Liddy Kammer is "proof" enough for me. You will have my business.

 

[gerhartrx]

Do you use that alone or do you still add in fruits/veggies?

I think that gutloading is good but the key is change it up weekly even if you find a dry gutload or wet gutload. It seems like you get it and are very concerned about it which is good. This is something that you will always need to think about. As you change the products you will notice the good and the bad and make the appropriate changes.

I offer a dry gutload (cricket crack) and then I make a wet gutload from all the vergis and fruits mentioned already. With the wet gutload I blend together/ make a new batch every two weeks and freeze the mixture into ice cubes. This method has been working well and it's really easy to keep from rotting. I change the wet out every two days.

 

[Cainschams]

I use Cricket Crack along with other fruits and veggies. I will use the crack one or two times a week and fruits and veggies the rest. I can see not using certain things because they can cause complications, are toxic etc but I keep thinking just because it pretains to mammals doesnt mean it does to reptiles. Carrots are high in oxalates but I know someone who has used nothing but carrots for gutload forever (you guys might be surprised). I use kale a lot and have for sometime!!! I know people who feed hornworms straight out of the garden, have been doing it for a long time with no problems. Jim from chamco takes wild hornworms that have been eating tomato plants and grapes with no problems. Again, being safe is good but I just dont see all of the fuss about using WC hornworms, high oxalate foods etc. Has anyone had an animal get MBD from only feeding high oxalate foods? Was this proven to be the problem?

 

[sandrachameleon]

So why do companies, like the one above, sell premade gutloads if they don't work as advertised? .

Companies sell things to make Money. That's the whole point of business.
Which doesnt mean that everything sold is bad or good. You as the buyer/consumer have to figure that out for yourself!

You said Sandracham has a recipe for a dry mix, so what's the difference between that and what this company sells? .

What I posted is just information. Im not selling anything. You can use what I do as useful input into your decision making process about what to give your animals, or not.

There are plenty of easily available things for you to include in your own gutload routing, or you can buy a product you think is adequate and just add things like Mustard greens, rocket / arugula, dandelion, etc to supplement / improve. More info on nutritional content of various food items can be found here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/nutritional-information/
my summary of info on gutloading, plus links to information provided by others: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

I can't tell if some members juse overreact when it comes to gutloading, and if it really makes any difference. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on what is proper gut-loading. I can't imagine most members here keep bee pollen and or alfalfa powder onhand.

Well, yes, some people do overreact about just about anything. Some people also take their animals health very very very seriously, and maybe that's one too many very's for you. Might be one too many for me too
No rules here. You do, we all do, what we feel is best for our animals. We all research as best we can and then based on that, and our ability (time, money, interest) we then provide what we each deem reasonable. The lengths I go to may seem extreme to you, but they dont seem difficult to me at all. Its not like I spend hours and hours on this. And I'd rather my chameleons eat well, as I personally feel that means they live longer and have fewer issues.

BTW a bag or bundle of alfalfa is a CHEAP easy ingredient . No need to buy expensive powdered stuff if you dont want to.