# Gutloading Crickets and Locusts



## x_Living_Dead_Girl_x (Feb 16, 2009)

This may be a stupid thing to ask, but what else can be used to effectively gut load crickets and locusts other than bug grub and other commercial gut loading products?
Oh and obviously I feed them fresh fruit/veg also.


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

i use a mix of calcium powder, multivit powder, wheatabix, paprika, wheatflower, dog biscuits and muesli all ground up into a powder. my crix seem to really like it and its nutritionally very good.


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## quizicalkat (Jul 7, 2007)

flakes of fish food are good too


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## x_Living_Dead_Girl_x (Feb 16, 2009)

trw said:


> i use a mix of calcium powder, multivit powder, wheatabix, paprika, wheatflower, dog biscuits and muesli all ground up into a powder. my crix seem to really like it and its nutritionally very good.





quizicalkat said:


> flakes of fish food are good too


Thank you for the responses. 
Is there not a risk of giving too many vitamins if you also sprinkle live food with calcium just before feeding?


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

ive not had any problems. i leave a dish of 6 parts calcium to 1 part multivit in the tanks at all times. i use my best judgement and only dust livefood with a mix of about 1 part multivit to 7 parts calcium. i also have uv and have had no problems at all with my leo since feeding the livefood like this and using uv etc.


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## noola (Sep 26, 2010)

*gut load*

Mine get fresh veg and fish flakes, cereals ,calcium and vit powder , they love potatoes raw.. just chopped in half..apple orange slices ,banana kiwifruit . really anything i have spare...


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## Blaptica (Jun 26, 2008)

The question to ask is, what might be in the stomach of the insect if my lizard was in the wild ? I doubt it would cereals.

Lizards generally are most likely to eat insects found above ground, and alot of them are eating plants. Not bran, not oats, not weetabix !

Feeding a mix of plant matter especially green leaves to your insects should provide the minerals and vits your lizards need.

From my experience that means lizards that are healthy, have good colours, and produce good eggs.


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## Shado (Jun 9, 2010)

Blaptica said:


> The question to ask is, what might be in the stomach of the insect if my lizard was in the wild ? I doubt it would cereals.
> 
> Lizards generally are most likely to eat insects found above ground, and alot of them are eating plants. Not bran, not oats, not weetabix !
> 
> ...


Never thought of it like that, very good point!


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## x_Living_Dead_Girl_x (Feb 16, 2009)

Blaptica said:


> The question to ask is, what might be in the stomach of the insect if my lizard was in the wild ? I doubt it would cereals.
> 
> Lizards generally are most likely to eat insects found above ground, and alot of them are eating plants. Not bran, not oats, not weetabix !
> 
> ...


A very good point, thanks for posting


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## Blaptica (Jun 26, 2008)

No problems.. I hatch hundreds of lizards every year of many species, so I can tell you from practical experience, it works.

I read alot of posts here to the effect that x person always feeds say carrots to their crickets. While carrots are a good food to use, its important to vary the gutload. Crickets can be feed garden grass for example. If you are thinking its not very nutritious, bare in mind cows produce huge quantities of high protein/calcium rich milk by feeding on it!!


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## Jas (Mar 9, 2005)

Blaptica said:


> I read alot of posts here to the effect that x person always feeds say carrots to their crickets. While carrots are a good food to use, its important to vary the gutload.


Hi Mark
I also take note at some of those comments, and to me I just call that feeding rather than Gutloading. The way I see it a particular lizard in the wild would eat a great variety of insects that inturn would eat a great variety of food so the nearest we can provide similar to our lizards is to provide a varied diet to the few feeders that we use.
I also think commercial gutloads have had a little bad press over the years as some of them are just a blend of calcium and bran or just chicken mash so again are ok for feeding but not realy for "Gutloading".
I produce a commercial gutload that came about because I realised that providing your animals a good and varied diet will pay off when breeding them as you will get better hatch rates and stronger babies.


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## Blaptica (Jun 26, 2008)

Hi Jas. See comments below in purple



Jas said:


> Hi Mark
> I also take note at some of those comments, and to me I just call that feeding rather than Gutloading. The way I see it a particular lizard in the wild would eat a great variety of insects that inturn would eat a great variety of food so the nearest we can provide similar to our lizards is to provide a varied diet to the few feeders that we use.
> I also think commercial gutloads have had a little bad press over the years as some of them are just a blend of calcium and bran or just chicken mash so again are ok for feeding but not realy for "Gutloading". Yes spot on. Its unfortunate that some reptile companies are marketing the food they use to grow the crickets with as a gutload. It is supposed to have added calcium, but I doubt its in a form the crickets will eat.
> I produce a commercial gutload that came about because I realised that providing your animals a good and varied diet will pay off when breeding them as you will get better hatch rates and stronger babies. Yes and the form your product takes means that IT WILL provide calcium to the insects as well as a range of other nutrients. Though I wouldn't recommend your product as an exclusive gutload diet, i believe it would be a VERY GOOD diet when it is varied with veg as well. Your breeding sucess is the proof of that.


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

Blaptica said:


> The question to ask is, what might be in the stomach of the insect if my lizard was in the wild ? I doubt it would cereals.
> 
> Lizards generally are most likely to eat insects found above ground, and alot of them are eating plants. Not bran, not oats, not weetabix !
> 
> ...



the dry mix i use is not the only food they get. they also get thinly sliced carrot, green beans, mixed salad, grass and weeds from the garden and millet plants on a regular basis and then any other leafy uncooked kitchen leftovers. the only reason i use the dry mix is it contains all the nutrition to keep the crickets healthy and can be left in all week without any going bad. and also i didnt just come upo with it because its easy and what i had. i came up with it after reading several gutload recipes including this one
Feeder Insect Diets & Gutload - Geckos Unlimited


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## Blaptica (Jun 26, 2008)

I had a look at that website link.

It seems unlikely to me that a mealworm or cricket is going to decide to eat the calcium/vitamin mix rather than the other foods. I bet the vitamins and calcium are simply left at the bottom of the container uneaten. 

Using paprika powder seems daft to me when a carrot or other green leafy veg would be high in betacarotene. Why not use a fresh pepper rather than a powder that would have less vitamins in it ? Fresh is best.

The difference in for example the gutload Jas makes is that the natural ingredients themselves included in the mix are high in calcium and other nutrients. The cricket/mealworm can't pick and choose. 

Wouldn't it be better to use wholemeal flour if you are going to use flour at all ? 

If you are worried about the mix being suitable for a week then it sound like a good maintenance mix rather than a gutload.


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

Blaptica said:


> I had a look at that website link.
> 
> It seems unlikely to me that a mealworm or cricket is going to decide to eat the calcium/vitamin mix rather than the other foods. I bet the vitamins and calcium are simply left at the bottom of the container uneaten.
> 
> ...



the mix i use is all ground up, and from what i have seen since ive been using it is that they do eat all of it. i do add greens and veg every day, but i put them in in an amount that gets completely finished overnight so that none goes bad. i keep the powdered mix in there so there is always food avaliable. i dont do it for maintainance since using the powdered mix they havent got any less greens, they simply get this as well as greens.


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