gutloading

[Mozart]

okay so ive heard different things and i read a couple blogs on gut loading and stuff, i powder my crickets with calcium as well. But i usually just put potatoes in there, what do you recommend? i wanna hear your guys opinions

 

[Flapenn]

i give my feeders cricket crack along with carrots, oranges, tomatoes, strawberries, apricots, and other things. It is essential to gutload your feeders im sure other members will give you more detailed info

 

[Jbujarski]

Wait for Sandra to chime in, this is her specialty.
I gutload with mustard greens, little bit of leeks, raspberry, blueberry, orange, apple, carrot, little bell pepper, arugula

 

[Solid Snake]

i give my feeders cricket crack along with carrots, oranges, tomatoes, strawberries, apricots, and other things. It is essential to gutload your feeders im sure other members will give you more detailed info

I would recommend getting a good dry gutload. You can make one, but it is much simpler to purchase one. I currently use cricket crack.

In addition to the dry gutload, I use turnip and dandelion greens all the time. I also cycle other greens and fruits in at random.

Sandrachameleon is the authority, and you can find what is safe to use, and what is unsafe to use in her blog, along with a ton of other info on gutloading:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

 

[samuk]

Does anyone have a reccomendation for a dry gut load you can get in the UK? I've searched around and most seem pretty basic and don't have such a variety in ingredients like the ones I see available to the US, one of the problems is they just seem to generic gutloaders over here for lizards in general, I have found one that had bee pollen in the mix and some other nutritional additives however I want the stuff that you guys use!

 

[Mozart]

Anything i can make at home, or do i have to go out and buy certain gutloading bases to add stuff too?

 

[imcurt]

Does anyone have a reccomendation for a dry gut load you can get in the UK? I've searched around and most seem pretty basic and don't have such a variety in ingredients like the ones I see available to the US, one of the problems is they just seem to generic gutloaders over here for lizards in general, I have found one that had bee pollen in the mix and some other nutritional additives however I want the stuff that you guys use!

You can find flukes at most pet store that sell crickets.Cricket crack can be bought on line.Our forum sponcers have it all! and the most ship fairly fast. The top 2 dry gutload in my opion are rapashys bugbugar or tom kilgore's Dinofuel. Last night my crickets got char with dinofuel sprinkled on it and a chunk of orange. the nite before they got my home made dry gut load ,with yams and colared greens.Varity is the key. good luck!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Potatos are not great for gutloading. They don't have much nutritional content at all. I don't use them. Here is some food for thought.

Gutloading is the process of working through the food chain to feed the prey animals the nutrition that your insectivore pet needs to replicate what they would eat in nature. Crickets are basically just water and chitin (not very nutritious or digestible) and the pet stores only feed them cardboard, or potato at most, so feeding crickets directly after you get them from the pet store or vendor is not providing much in the way of nutrition to your pet. Supplementing with a calcium and/or multivitamin powder is important, but not sufficient alone for proper nutrition in any species. Gut loading can't be done in all feeders but is very easy in crickets and super worms - two common feeder bugs.

How do you chose what to use? Gutloading ingredients should be chosen that are higher in calcium than phosphorus. High phosphorus levels in the food impedes calcium absorption. Inadequate dietary calcium leads to metabolic bone disease. Commercially available gutloads (such as Fluker Farms Cricket Food) are not balanced or sufficient for good nutrition in any species. Ideally there should be a wet and dry component to your gut load:

Good Wet Gutloading Ingredients: dandelion leaves, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, escarole lettuce, butternut squash, carrots, mango, alfalfa sprouts, oranges, blueberries, raspberries, sweet potato, strawberries, hibiscus leaves and flowers, papaya

Good Dry Gutload Ingredients: bee pollen, alfalfa powder, kelp powder, brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, raw uncooked sunflower seeds, raw uncooked pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, small amounts of whole grain cereals, spirulina algae, tortoise pellets

Foods to AVOID: Broccoli, spinach, beets, and parsley, have large amounts of oxalic acids which bind calcium absorption. Lettuces and cabbage do not have any significant nutritional value. Also, avoid things like dog food, cat food, and fish flakes which are high in animal proteins which can cause kidney damage. Feeding such things like pinky-mice, fuzzies, and feeder anoles that are extremely high in fat and protein content is harmful to your chameleon's health, bones and organs that can lead to serious illnesses like gout, edema, organ failure and fatality.


This site has nutritional info on many commonly available fruits and veggies to help guide you in choosing good gut loading ingredients: http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm
Sandrachameleon has many more blog entries on gut loading and nutrition.

 

[DanSB]

I use Repashy's Bug Burger, whatever fruit and vegetable pulp was juiced i my juicer, orange peels, carrot slices, green leaf lettuce or romaine lettuce tips and for the dry gut load I used whatever I have laying around that is on Sandrahaeleon's list.

Definitely take Snake's advice and read Sandra's blogs.

Eventually I intend to emulate her gut load more completely but am having a hard time getting all the ingredients and feel what I am doing is sufficient but improving is always good!

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Does anyone have a reccomendation for a dry gut load you can get in the UK?

PM sent.

 

[Mozart]

i know its not :/ lady at petsmart suggested it because i knew i could make a gutload at home and didn't want to spend buying flukes, so she said just put a potato in there. i knew it wasn't good enough. ill try that also i found a nice recipe.
thanks

 

[sandrachameleon]

Agreed, potatoe is a totally inadequate gutload.

You can easily make your own gutloads with a mix of healthy vegetables and fruits, with a few seeds, nuts and grains, and even better adding spirulina and such. If you prefer to buy, try dino fuel, repashy bug burger, cricket crack.

Some links you may find useful:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
http://www.chameleonnews.com/05JunDescamps.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...just-crickets-roaches-gutload-everything.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/575-january-2012-dry-gutload-recipe.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/394-dry-gutload-recipe-january-2010.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-nuts-seeds-healthy-part-perfect-gutload.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/215-oxalic-acid-content-vegetables.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/nutritional-information/

 

[vangarret2000]

I was using potatoes and carrots to gutload the last couple weeks. After reading this I now know the potatoes are no good but one of the posts said tortoise pellets are good. I have Mazuri tortoise pellets. Would those and carrots and sweet potatoes be a good mix?

 

[sandrachameleon]

I was using potatoes and carrots to gutload the last couple weeks. After reading this I now know the potatoes are no good but one of the posts said tortoise pellets are good. I have Mazuri tortoise pellets. Would those and carrots and sweet potatoes be a good mix?

depends what is in th etortoise pellets.

 

[vangarret2000]

depends what is in th etortoise pellets.

Ingredients
Ground Soybean Hulls, Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Oats, Wheat Middlings, Cane Molasses, Soybean Oil, Wheat Germ, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dicalcium Phosphate, Brewers Dried Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, D-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Cholecalciferol, Biotin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Nicotinic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Natural Mixed Tocopherols (a Preservative), Ferrous Carbonate, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Rosemary Extract, Lecithin, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite.

Would it be good to use?

 

[vangarret2000]

This also shows its nutrition information

http://www.mazuri.com/product_pdfs/5E06.pdf

So would it be good to use?

 

[Kate]

Does anyone have a reccomendation for a dry gut load you can get in the UK? I've searched around and most seem pretty basic and don't have such a variety in ingredients like the ones I see available to the US, one of the problems is they just seem to generic gutloaders over here for lizards in general, I have found one that had bee pollen in the mix and some other nutritional additives however I want the stuff that you guys use!

Forget about crap you can buy. Look at Sandras blogs and make your own. What you feed your feeders will go straight into your Cham . If you can't obtain all the ingredients use what you can and add to it. It's much better than the bran that comes with the locusts and crickets.

 

[SpartyTessy]

For the dry gutload I let the sponsors here do all the hard work so I just have to sprinkle some DinoFuel and/or Cricket crack(which have the best of ingredients) on some mixed greens, Apples, Oranges, with the occasional carrots, etc. This works great on my HUGE colony of feeders that I have

 

[sandrachameleon]

This also shows its nutrition information

http://www.mazuri.com/product_pdfs/5E06.pdf

So would it be good to use?

Sorry to tell you, I dont think that's the best choice for gutloading, at least not regularily. for sure its okay now and then, if you are mindful that it contains vitamins like preformed vitamin A (some may be okay, but a lot is not) and adjust your supplement schedule accordingly.
Soy isnt a good choice
corn isnt a good choice
and you are likely paying far more than it is worth
you'd be better off buying dino fuel, cricket crack, or even repashy bug burger, or consider making your own gutload.

 

[vangarret2000]

Sorry to tell you, I dont think that's the best choice for gutloading, at least not regularily. for sure its okay now and then, if you are mindful that it contains vitamins like preformed vitamin A (some may be okay, but a lot is not) and adjust your supplement schedule accordingly.
Soy isnt a good choice
corn isnt a good choice
and you are likely paying far more than it is worth
you'd be better off buying dino fuel, cricket crack, or even repashy bug burger, or consider making your own gutload.

If its not good I won't use it. I just saw someone else on this thread suggest the pellets so I thought I would ask before I started using it.