Gutloading

[Halley]

Okay, I have read this on two different threads now, and it is starting to bug me. Both threads say that mealworms cannot be gutloaded because they are larva. Is this true? This doesn’t make sense. I give them beading, for food, and potatoes for moister. I know that they eat this stuff. So if they eat it, shouldn’t that mean that I have gutloaded them?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

There is a difference in "loading" bugs and "feeding" bugs. In the case with crickets, their bodies will retain (load up with) the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals from the food they consume which in turn get passed on to the geckos that eat them.

Mealworms, on the other hand, are larvae. Their sole purpose is to eat enough to grow and stay alive until they can pupate. Larvae need to eat, but they will not "load" the nutrients from their food into their bodies. They just poop out what they don't utilize.

 

[Halley]

Okay, but giving them more nutritious food, will make them better, for the gecko, than a low quality food? Is this correct?

 

[KelliH]

With mealworms the supplement you use is really more important than what you feed them. Just my opinion.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Okay, but giving them more nutritious food, will make them better, for the gecko, than a low quality food? Is this correct?/QUOTE]If you feed crickets, gutloading them is very important as well as supplementation. With mealworms (as Kelli said) the way you supplement your geckos is more important than what you feed the mealworms.