Gutloading Crickets

[Cacti3]

Hey guys, sorry I’ve been posting so much. I’ve been wondering what products I could gutload my crickets with.

I keep my crickets outside in a 20 gallon tank. Whenever I put leafy greens or any normal gutloading food in their cage, lots of ants get in their enclosure. But, with the store diet, not many ants have been coming since. I don’t really want to/ can’t put them inside. I am currently using Fluker’s orange cube complete diet. Im trying to find something better. I’m also looking for something from my local Petco. I was wondering if any of these would be good gutloading store food?

By the way, I’m already using the orange cubes.

 

[Lucas00-]

Never be sorry for asking more questions! I personally have a high calcium dry gut load and then I make ice cubes out of veggies and fruits blended up to offer another source of nutrition for bugs.

 

[LizardLurkin]

These aren't really great for gutloading, iirc, it mostly just keeps the bugs hydrated rather than nutritious. I'd super recommend making gutload ice cubes. I love this idea, and it makes things so much easier than preparing little bug salads with scrap veggies and removing them.
You make them from a list of approved produce, and they can keep in the freezer for 3-6 months!

 

[ehdee6]

Another idea would be to feed these supplements to the crickets in your big bin; then take out the ones you're going to feed off the day (or 2) before and put them in a container with the fresh good stuff to gut load/feed off.

 

[Cacti3]

These aren't really great for gutloading, iirc, it mostly just keeps the bugs hydrated rather than nutritious. I'd super recommend making gutload ice cubes. I love this idea, and it makes things so much easier than preparing little bug salads with scrap veggies and removing them.
You make them from a list of approved produce, and they can keep in the freezer for 3-6 months!
View attachment 365122

Hi again, so, I really would do that. I really want to. I just have a question, would the ice cubes melt? ( like do they freeze in water.)

If so, I don’t really think that would work. The issue is if they melt. Like I said before, I keep my crickets outside on a porch. Every time I put veggies or fruits in their cage, tons and tons of ants come in their cage and on my porch. Ants have also been infesting/ coming into our house. We don’t really want any more to come in.

I also live in Florida, and it’s summer time and it can get up to 100 degrees or even more.

I am just trying to find a store food that could be good for them. Sorry if this sounded like complaining. I didn’t intend it to be like that.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ve had a problem with pests getting into my feeders, even when I had them in the house. Yes, I’m also in Florida. I took some lids from my biggest storage bins that were extra, flipped them upside down and put a nice ring of diatomaceous earth in the dip near the edge. This works great for every pest except those super tiny ants. They kept getting into my roach bin no matter what I tried. Finally I put my roach bin inside the next size bin and put some water with mosquito bits in it (just because gnats had also found the feeder bins in the garage). No more ants or other pests bothering my feeders. Of course, I spray for pests, but have to be careful with my animals. In areas where I can’t spray, I have bait stations and once I put diatomaceous earth on the window sill, it prevented just about all the pests getting into the house.
I don’t gutload specifically, but I do keep my buggie colonies well fed a diet of fresh greens, veggies, Repashy Bug Burger and I too have the ice cubes. I put the ice cubes in some of the tiny dishes I have that were bought for my geckos or came with my cricket keepers. They do spoil quickly in the heat, so I remove any remaining the next day. The orange and other colored cubes and jellies are mainly only good for hydrating. I can’t provide any particular reason, but I avoid the high calcium diets. If you are using a decent supplemental calcium for dusting your feeders, I don’t see the need.

 

[LizardLurkin]

Hi again, so, I really would do that. I really want to. I just have a question, would the ice cubes melt? ( like do they freeze in water.)

If so, I don’t really think that would work. The issue is if they melt. Like I said before, I keep my crickets outside on a porch. Every time I put veggies or fruits in their cage, tons and tons of ants come in their cage and on my porch. Ants have also been infesting/ coming into our house. We don’t really want any more to come in.

I also live in Florida, and it’s summer time and it can get up to 100 degrees or even more.

I am just trying to find a store food that could be good for them. Sorry if this sounded like complaining. I didn’t intend it to be like that.

Looks like Skittles offered you a good bit of florida specific advice.
Florida ants are a menace, and I often don't consider pests because the Alaskan climate kind of nullifies a lot of the more common ones

 

[Cacti3]

Guys in the end I just decided to put carrots and fruits.

I just decided the ants are gonna come in either way, so why not gut load them?

 

[jamest0o0]

There are a lot of ways to keep ants out. DE, double sided tape, Vaseline, etc

You could even try wiping out the nest with borax.

 

[Cacti3]

Hey people coming back to old threads cuz why notttttt

Also with the ant problem from before we don’t have thst anymore becuase it’s winter time so I can now properly gut load without having ants! It’s nice but the crickets freeze to death since I keep them outside ;-;.

Luckily I have liek plant warming heat thighs thst trap heat and keep it warm so I’ll put it on the next batch of crickets I get

 

[MissSkittles]

Even though I’m in Florida, it does get a bit chilly for my bugs. I keep them in the garage. My roach colony gets a heat mat to the side of their bin so they’ll be warm enough to make babies. It’s gotten a bit colder the past few days, so I have my cricket bin sitting in my living room atm.
Ants are a problem year round and I do all I can to keep them out of my feeders. I’ve turned spare XL bin lids upside down and have moats of diatomaceous earth. This seems to work the best at keeping even the itty bitty ants out.

 

[jmerrick27]

Hey guys, sorry I’ve been posting so much. I’ve been wondering what products I could gutload my crickets with.

I keep my crickets outside in a 20 gallon tank. Whenever I put leafy greens or any normal gutloading food in their cage, lots of ants get in their enclosure. But, with the store diet, not many ants have been coming since. I don’t really want to/ can’t put them inside. I am currently using Fluker’s orange cube complete diet. Im trying to find something better. I’m also looking for something from my local Petco. I was wondering if any of these would be good gutloading store food?

By the way, I’m already using the orange cubes.

I gutload all my feeders with carrots, cucumber, raspberries and blueberries and sometimes iceberg lettuce, my only issue with the "gutload" store bought stuff usually come with fillers that are not at all nutritional value for our chams that's my personal opinion but it can be different for others.

 

[MissSkittles]

I gutload all my feeders with carrots, cucumber, raspberries and blueberries and sometimes iceberg lettuce, my only issue with the "gutload" store bought stuff usually come with fillers that are not at all nutritional value for our chams that's my personal opinion but it can be different for others.

Just want to suggest swapping something else for the cucumber and iceberg…both are fantastic for hydration but lack nutritional value. One of my bug diet staples is squash…yellow summer squash (Or zucchini) is enjoyed by all my bugs. I also always have butternut squash. Try various greens (turnip, dandelion, mustard, escarole, arugula, watercress). For my busy or lazy days, I keep a bag of frozen veggie mix that has bell pepper, carrot, green bean and I don’t recall what else. I also use Repashy Bug Burger to supplement my bug’s diet.