Gut Loading

[Ellron]

Hi. I just have a few questions about gutloading. I know these are some things that are good to include in your gutloads:
MOIST
Leafy greens such as collard greens, mustard greens, lettuce (Not Iceberg Lettuce, spinach, or broccoli)
Carrots (grated)
Oranges (sliced)
Grains

DRY
Spirulina
Bee pollen
Dried Kelp
Brewers yeast
Melon

I just have a few questions. For the additional dry ingredients, how do you implement those in the gut load? How do you feed them to crickets. I imagine you buy Spirulina tablets and crush them up, but what do you do with that, dust it on the lettuce or other green? I understand that the night before you feed you take some crickets or other feeders aside and allow them to gorge themselves on the gutload. What do you feed to the other crickets? That jelly cricket food stuff?

Thank you guys!

 

[Cainschams]

You can mix it in your wet gutload. This will help to solidify it some and not be so runny. You can also dust with spirulina. I buy the powder in a jar, no tablets. It seems to stick better when its cold right after you pull it out of the fridge. I usually only dust my flies with it and leave the crix and roaches to devour any other gutloads. You can also use wheat grass powder.

You can use a food processor to grind every dry ingredient up. The crix will eat them. I feed all dry gutload to crix that are not going to be fed soon. I supply them water with a wet paper towel that I change every day. This seems to keep their poops less watery and makes for less smell and easier clean up in the crix container rather than feeding the them the real wet veggies and fruits the whole time.

 

[Ellron]

So the gutload is a liquid? Do you mash up all the dry ingredients with the lettuce and stuff?

 

[pssh]

It depends. You can make it a mash or you can have two separate gutloads. I use a dry gutload seperately from the wet gutload. But you can do what you want.

 

[Lizardlover]

It depends. You can make it a mash or you can have two separate gutloads. I use a dry gutload seperately from the wet gutload. But you can do what you want.

all goes to the same place. so it really all just boils down to how you like to do it to keeps things clean, etc.

 

[Ellron]

So the crickets eat the dry powder?

 

[Lizardlover]

So the crickets eat the dry powder?

yes, they will eat dry powder

 

[Ellron]

ok. Thanks! And for the crickets not in the gut load "center" being fed of the next morning what do you feed? That jelly cricket food stuff?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Why have two different types of feed? Why not just feed all of them stuff that is also a good gutload all the time?

But if you're only going to feed the "good" stuff to the ones being fed off, I'd go longer than just overnight.

More info on gutloading:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html