Gutloading Veg

[joeandsoph]

Is there any vegetable and fruit that I should steer clear of when gutloading. I heard spinach and cabbage and tomato I shouldn't feed. any recomendations which people like to feed?

 

[weezyboi94]

hey there
try to avoid brocolli as well...I use apples,carrots,papaya,occasionally oranges,pears,collard greens and some green peas in the wet gutoad section.

 

[Miss Lily]

The reason that brocolli and spinach should be avoided is because they contain oxylates which bind to the calcium, therefore the cham doesn't get any benefit. I use carrot, apple and wild rocket and the occasional piece of raw potato. My feeders all seem to prefer wild rocket leaves. Crickets love bee pollen - I have actually seen them snatch it off each other and fight over it, lol! They also pick it up and walk around with 'their' bit of pollen too!

 

[weezyboi94]

Offcourse, thats it, oxylates. thanks miss Lily...

 

[joeandsoph]

Thanks! They're eating carrots and kale at the mo. Wanted to find other stuff but I just wanted to be sure. Went to get some butternut squah but my supermarket didn't have it. How about parsnips / turnips things like that?

 

[pssh]

Some of the best things to gutload with (in my opinion, along with other veggies) are collard greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, and papayas as they are very high in calcium. I do not use fruit very often though, and of course they need other veggies as well. But I use those the most when gutloading roaches, crickets, and superworms.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Is there any vegetable and fruit that I should steer clear of when gutloading. I heard spinach and cabbage and tomato I shouldn't feed. any recomendations which people like to feed?

The "wet" portion of the gutload, which should be your principle gutload, can frequently includes things like (switch it up with a different couple of items every other week): dandelion leaves, squash, carrot, yam, orange, collard greens, papaya, alfalfa sprouts, mustard greens, pomegranet, kale, romaine, hibiscus leaves, fresh spearmint leaves, cowpeas (blackeyes), apple, peas, blueberries, raspberries, sunflower sprouts, ... (avoid broccoli cabbage and spinach). Fruits and veggies such as these are important both for the nutrients they give (via the insect) to your chameleon, and also because well hydrated prey results in a better hydrated chameleon.

The dry portion (the lesser portion) of a gutload can include (blend/grind fine with a coffee grinder or food processor): spirulina; dried seaweed/kelp/dulse; bee pollen; dried alfalfa; organic raw sunflower seeds; unhulled sesame seeds; hemp seed; dehydrated cranberry powder; beet powder; zucchini powder; kale powder; fig powder; ground almonds; ground brazil nuts; oak leaves; small amounts of quality whole grain cereal (like Kashi or Total); small amounts of oats; small amounts of cracked rye; wheat germ; quinoa; very very very small amounts of skim milk powder; very very very small amounts of powdered egg; high quality monkey chow (read the ingredients); small amounts of avian pellets (read the ingredients, be cautious of too much Vitamin A).

Avoid dog food, cat food, fish flake food and other major sources of animal protien and fat.

You may find these links of interest:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...sphorus-ratios-common-good-gutload-foods.html

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

 

[joeandsoph]

Thanks!! Lucky for us though Tilly actually likes to eat the veg aswell as live food.