What to use to gutload?

[DarkNTwisty]

I just got my two leos and I was wondering what to use to gut load the mealies and crickets. Im more worried about gut loading the mealies because thats what they seem to like most. They'll only eat crickets if theres no mealies in their bowl. Ive heard oatmeal, chick feed, and a few other things but I was wondering what you guys think is the best thing to gut load?

 

[Dinosaur!]

personally, for my mealworm colony, I keep them on a whole oats and cheerio mix (ground in a blender), and I feed them carrots for moisture, and because carrots are a super-food, don't mold very quickly, and hold their moisture for days. this whole set up costs me less then 7 dollars at wal-mart! oh, and of course I dust the worms before feeding! as for crickets... someone else is going to have to help with that question, as I don't feed crickets to my geckos... either way, I hope that this helps!

 

[Phantom240]

I feed my roaches and mealies kale, bananas, sweet potatoes, wheat bran and ground up dog food before feeding them off. The kale provides much needed vitamins like Calcium and a bit of protein. Bananas are a good source of B vitamins. Sweet potatoes are high in B6 and Vitamin A (not found in Herptivite vitamin powder). Ground up dog food (without corn) provides a source for protein. I also keep them with water gels and carrots, which are full of Beta Carotene, which has been speculated to help bring out the yellow and orange colors of leos.

 

[Olympus]

Do NOT give your feeders dog or cat food. That's a good way to give your reptiles gout in the long-run.

Kale is good in moderate amounts but not as a huge chunk of the gutload consistently.

Here's a good list of ingredients to use (copied from the chameleon forums resource page, written by a vet):

Suggested Ingredients

Best - These gutloading ingredients are best because they are highest in calcium, low in phosphorus, oxalates and goitrogens. They should be the primary components of your gutload:
mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion leaves, collard greens, escarole lettuce, papaya, watercress and alfalfa.

Good - These gutloading ingredients are good because they are moderately high in calcium and other vitamins/minerals. They should be used in addition to those from the previous category:
sweet potato, carrots, oranges, mango, butternut squash, kale, apples, beet greens, blackberries, bok choy and green beans.

These fresh fruits and vegetables can be combined with dry gutload mixes or home made mixes for optimal well-rounded nutrition. Dry ingredients can include:
bee pollen, organic non-salted sunflower seeds, spirulina, dried seaweed, flax seed and organic non-salted almonds.

Avoid These Ingredients

Avoid these gutloading ingredients because they are low in calcium, high in phosphorus, goitrogens or oxalates: potatoes, cabbage, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, corn, grains, beans, oats, bread, cereal, meat, eggs, dog food, cat food, fish food, canned or dead insects, vertebrates.

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Additionally, you could purchase a high-quality commercial gutload to give to your crickets and worms. I very much like the ingredients in Repashy Superload, Repashy Bugburger, Cricket Crack, and Dinofuel. And then you would only need veggies or fruit to provide the wet food for moisture (except for Bugburger, which is a moist food already)

 

[Phantom240]

Well then, it looks like I have some reworking to do of my roaches' diet. Thanks!

On another note, should the roaches I'm growing to feeder size and the breeders be eating the same diet as those being gutloaded?

 

[Olympus]

Yes and no - I like to feed my colony a nutritious diet all the time but I may only give the ones I'm feeding off the next day some of the more expensive stuff (like say, Superpig or Dinofuel, as these are products that are more costly) or a bigger assortment of fresh fruits/veggies.

People say to give the colony roaches things like dog food but that's just too much protein. Roaches will accumulate uric acid in their bodies and even if you haven't fed them of food for a week before feeding them off the acid still be there. And that's what can harm your geckos/lizards long-term, because then they build it up as well.

So I do a good commercial gutload and fresh fruits and veggies to grow out and breed the colony, and then slightly better stuff to the ones I'm feeding off immediately.

 

[Phantom240]

That DinoFuel stuff is RETARDED expensive. I'm trying to get West Coast Roaches to give me a nutritional breakdown of their roach chow. The owner said it would be no problem. Didn't ask for ingredients.

 

[GregHaugen]

Hello, I was just reading this thread and was pondering the protein/uric acid issue. It was mentioned that roaches retain uric acid, do crickets? If so, at what percentage of protein is it too much??