Is gutloading necessary if...

[HiroProtagonist]

...I buy just enough crickets for each feeding from the reptile store? Don't they feed them the same stuff that you gutload with? I've been wondering this for a while because it seems like a waste if they're already loaded and ready to go straight from the repti-store to then give them more food right before you feed.

Am I wrong? Does anyone know what a decent reptile store feeds it's crickets?

 

[westcoastchameleons]

Almost all reptile stores put them with the egg-crate ONLY. They either cannabalize each other, or eat the crate which mean not GOOD! Gut loading is necesary.

Jake

 

[TRI0N]

My local store guttloads theirs with just Cricket Food and no water. But once I get them home I use Guttload Cubes that also contain water. I can always tell my crickets are guttloaded when their lower bodies are green and if you use such All-In-One Cubes to guttload you will notice that your Cham will not drink as often as he did when they were not guttloaded with Cubes.

They also offer to powder crickets for 50 cents more. But I have my own and perfer to control just how much dusted food she gets.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Thanks for the responses guys!

Ya know, at the most local of my local pet shops, usually I do see what looks like a small bit of glowing green goo inside some of the crickets. So maybe they do gutload there? I still dust with vitamins weekly and vary my chameleons diet with worms and such.

Also, is there anything I can make from scratch that would be good to feed the crickets?

 

[royden]

Remember that a cricket can lose it's gutload within 24 hours. So even if your shop is gutloading great, you'd have to be picking up the crickets every day, and feeding them same day.

Just a head of collard greens from the groc store work good for my gutloads. You want your crickets crapping green dots.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

I've got some lettuce in their little container right now...are collard greens better or will that suffice? Is citrus fruit ok? For some reason I think I've heard somewhere that citrus fruit like oranges is no good..

 

[mightyzug]

use collards. lettuce is basically nothing but water.

are you getting the 'reptile lunch box' things with the green ball inside? if so that thing is for moisture and not so much a gutload.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Okay here's my issue with assuming insects are well gut-loaded from the reptile shop:
Most of these retailers sell gut-load products which I find primarily to be of inferior quality (cricket bites, all in one food/water cubes, flukers cricket food etc.) This is what they gut-load their crickets with...if they gut-load them at all.
You need to provide the crickets at home with a diet that will make them as nutritious as possible for your cham whether or not they were fed anything at the retailer.
A dry grain based gut-load that you either make yourself or purchase per recommendation online plus collard, kale or chard (high calcium greens), carrot peels, apple peels or pieces, squash, sweet potato, pumpkin, etc.
Often times a handful of produce "scraps" that would go in the garbage or compost heap is perfect for your crickets or roaches. In other words, if you eat well....your bugs should too!
Steer clear of offering brocolli, spinich and tomato as toxicity levels are high enough to warrant leaving them out of the mix.

-Brad

 

[Chill]

well i work at a pet store and we do gutlaod with food and water, but still its a good idea to gutload because then you know what your chams are getting out of there food

 

[royden]

I agree with Brad. I would also point out that when we all hear the word 'pet shop', I think we all think petco, or petsmart or some massive chain. Their are still some great little mom and pop shops alive that care about the animals they're selling.


The first time I realized that my crickets needed gutloading I was kind of overwhelmed with trying to keep the cham healthy, and now the crickets too?!

But you'll work something out and settle into a routine that works for you and your cham, is little trouble, and inexpensive.

And then you'll hate crickets and switch to roaches eventually.

 

[Chill]

Yah i work at a local pet store not a big chain one. I really am not a fan of the big chain guys, but i would also liek to see the store i work at change some of the ways they keep things. Im the big cham guy at my work though so i make sure they all get very special treatment

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Ok, so I'm going to the market to get some collard greens...what should I use for the grain part of this? Dry grain like....unsweetened oatmeal maybe?

 

[royden]

I get my dry gutloads from the cricket dealers. They often offer a bag of the stuff when you order crickets. Can't remember which dealer offered them now.