Gutloading crickets for Jackson Chameleon

[SilverWolf]

I have a 4 month old Jackson Chameleon who is fed primarily crickets, although I am going to get some blue bottle flies for him soon. Right now, the crickets are on a certain schedule dusted with calcium with no phosphorous or D3, and multivitamins. But they certainly need some gut loading. My plan is to use turnip greens, and occasionally carrots. But I've also read about bug burger.

What is best for my Jackson Chameleon?

 

[kplatvoet]

I found that bug burger went bad pretty fast - I would tray "Cricket Crack" or "Bug Buffet" both are sold by members here- I haven't tried "bug Buffet" yet but the cricket crack (buycricketcrack.com) last longer than the bug burger - doesn't turn stinky -and has good ingredients -

 

[Bush baby]

I made my own dry gut load made of Bee Pollen, Wheat Germ, Spiralina, Brewers Yeast and calcium powder. I use this, along with turnip or collard greens, carrots and blueberries as their water supply.

Bug burger is o.k although the patty dries up pretty quickly, but serves as both the food and drink for the crickets.

Cricket crack is only the dry part of the gut load. You would also have to use veggies and fruits along with the 'crack'.

 

[kplatvoet]

Bush baby is right that you'll still have to use veggies and fruits with the "crack" I and home made is fun if you can find all the ingredients - My daughter has 2 beardies so my crickets also get an assortment - I've always been nervous about the health of my jackson - I think a good gut load makes her way more perky - and it's more noticeable in her than it is in my other chameleons-
She keeps a bag of butternut squash and mango's in the freezer and I will give them those - for moisture. When I had bug burger I still used other fruits and veggies - I find the dry lasts longer than the bug burger and so do the crickets when I'm using it - not as many dead ones.

 

[Bush baby]

Also, Tiki Tiki Reptiles who sells 'Cricket Crack' has a special formula listed as solely for gut loading feeders who will be fed to 'montane species' like Jacksons . I haven't heard anything about it but since montane's are slightly more sensitive to over supplementation and gut loading than Veileds and Panthers, it might be good to give that specific 'crack' a try.

 

[Lathis]

I use a combo of both. I keep Bug Burger as a constant and then rotate in whatever fresh rinds, cores, leaves I have in the house - almost always apples, cutie slices, and peppers. I also occasionally make frozen cubes of veggie goodness to mix in - butternut squash, carrots, and whatever else I have on hand. Since I am so busy, it's really handy to have ready-to-go cubes of stuff as an option.

It seems to me that since I started incorporating the Bug Burger, my Jax's health has been better than when I tried to do it all myself - probably due to better overall balance of the nutrients. I have some Cricket Crack to try - just haven't used up the BB yet.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

Have you read through Sandrachameleon's blogs? She has some amazing information on gut loading.

 

[BKFritz]

I like the Bug Burger. Instead of adding water, I puree the fruits and veggies and add that in. The bugs love it! I Keep it in an air tight container in the coldest part of the fridge.

1/4 cup of powder
about 1 cup of puree
Microwave for 1-2 minutes