Dry vs frozen gutload?

[RedMountainHome]

I'm a bit tired of trying to balance fresh fruits and veggies for me AND my feeders. Plus, there are tons of good gutload ingredients that my bugs never get because I don't want to load my own gut with them

I'm considering making a large batch of gutload that will last a while, plus include the ingredients I don't wan't to eat. I've seen a lot of home-brewed dry gutloads at reptile shows, and I've also heard of people making frozen or gel gutloads. Can anyone share the pros and cons of the different ways to prepare gutloads?

Also, any tips on where to buy the tougher to find stuff (like bee pollen, spirulina, etc) would be appreciated!

 

[jamest0o0]

Tip: buy on Amazon

I use both dry and wet gutload blends. So whether the bug needs hydration or not it is getting optimum nutrition.

 

[bobcochran]

Tip: buy on Amazon

I use both dry and wet gutload blends. So whether the bug needs hydration or not it is getting optimum nutrition.

I agree, both dry and wet gut loads are the way to go. You can make up large batches of both. Keep the wet frozen in freezer bags and the dry ingredients in ziplock bags in the fridge.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I made a feeder smoothy recently (there is a thread about it somewhere) and there were a lot of great comments/suggestions offered. I simply added stuff that was on the good list and avoided the stuff on the bad list lol... put it in a blender, added water until it was a good consistency (not toooo runny) and poured it into ice cube trays. I added bee pollen (ordered from Amazon), but if you have a farmers market near you, they almost always have someone selling honey and bee pollen. I have a small dubia colony and i keep a dry gut load in there at all times, plus water crystals. I rotate in either fresh kale, apples, carrots (whatever is not being eaten in my fridge honestly) and when I don't have fresh, I pop in a frozen cube of my smoothy. I put the cube on a paper towel (folded into a smaller square which also makes it a few layers thicker) and as the cube defrosts, the paper towel soaks up the moisture. I have found that I need to remember to check it in a few hours and mush the defrosted cube into more of a smear on the paper towel or the dubia don't seem to like it as much. Sometimes, they go nuts over the frozen smoothy cube, sometimes they don't seem interested. Sometimes they like the fresh collard/kale/apple and sometimes they ignore it. I'm still new at this whole thing, so I just put the food I have in their container and if they are hungry, they'll eat it. If not, they always have the dry food.

One suggestion was to use agar to make a gel and I have it sitting in my cupboard waiting for the frozen smoothy cubes to be used up.

 

[paulkaranik]

I swear by this.. cham superfood. Also great for humans

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

I make my dry mix and I make my wet mix and I combine both in the food processor, add hot agar water, mixed well and allowed to set at room temp.

My dry mix had Repashy superload, spirulina, bee pollen, sunflower seeds, almonds and a couple other things slipping my mind. My wet stuff was papaya, strawberries, kale, basil, cilantro, arugula, dandelion, apple, carrot, orange, alfalfa sprouts, collards, mustard greens and yams.

My last batch was bigger than I'd planned so it never set up like a hard gel but more like a thick, thick paste with very little liquid water. I spooned it into gallon bags (I made 6 gallon bags worth) and froze them. Now I break off enough for the week, and defrost it on some paper towel to wick away any remaining liquid water and refrigerate the 'dried' paste in a ziplock for the week until it's time to defrost more. My roaches and crickets blow through the stuff. Defrosting it on paper towels before storing a week's worth in the fridge eliminates excess water and mold problems once I feed it out.

 

[RedMountainHome]

I've found some old posts & blogs by sandrachameleon that have great info on gutloading, and even what seems to be a great recipe for a dry gutload to give proper portions. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of stuff to use in a wet / frozen gutload with approximate proportions? With as many tiny mouths to feed as I've got, I'd like to make a WHOLE bunch of a well mixed and balanced gutload then put it on ice till I need it.

Here's that dry post I mentioned: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/dry-gutload-mix-august-2012.697/

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

I used this from Sandrachameleon to make mine. Most items are clickable and come with rough nutritional value numbers so you can eyeball a balance overall.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/feeder-nutrition-gutloading.75/