[JayArndt]

So I've read the stickys on what to use for gut load. Instead of making my own I wanted to see if it would be more cost effective to just purchase a feed that fits my lizards dietary needs that I could use for gut loading. I have also heard that this is acceptable.

I found something called Dumor Poultry Layer. Here's the main ingredients

Crude Protein 16%
Lysine .70%
Methionine .35%
Crude Fat 2.5%
Crude Fiber 7%
Calcium 3.8-4.8%
Phospherus .50%
Salt .25-.75%

There are other ingredients including Vitamin A, Vitamin b12, and Vitamin d3 supplements, but since they were not given a percentage amount, I'm assuming that they are small amounts

50lb bag only $14.

Compared to homemade costs I think this is better as all the different flours and brans and yeasts + supplements will start adding up. I didn't actually price compare but I'm guessing for a 501b value, what I bought is cheaper.

So here's the questions

I know from what I've read this is great Cal/phosphorus ratio, but how do I know if this is enough calcium and should I add some?

I don't know what a lot of these other things are like Lysine or Methionine, how do I know if those things are ok for my geckos? I assume they are since they are safe for chickens.

Do you think I need to add vitamin supplements since I'm not sure of the amounts in the feed? do I need more D3?

Thanks

[Hannibal]

What are you trying to gutload? Crickets, dubia, mealworms, ect?

I switched to Rapashy's Bug Bugger this past summer and it has cut all the guess work out for me. I currently keep crickets & will soon be expanding into dubia, and I've noticed that I have less cricket loss after making the switch.

[Elizabeth Freer]

Jay ~

I use a chicken laying mash which has very similar levels of protein and fat as part of the food I feed crickets and Blaptica dubia. The ideal calcium-to-phosphorous ratio for geckos is 1.5-2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorous.

Use a phosphorous-free calcium with D3 to lightly dust your feeders 2, no more than 3, times per week when you feed them off. I like the Rep Cal brand.

[Riverside Reptiles]

I would be concerned about the quality of the ingredients. Remember that you are what you eat. Farmers often don't care much about longevity in hens as they simply kill them once they reach the stage of not being productive any more. And at $14 per 50# bag, I can't imagine it's made using very high quality ingredients.

[acpart]

My one warning is based on my own experiences a few years ago. I got a recipe recommending a wide variety of ingredients, went to my local food coop and got a whole lot of stuff that was all organic and high quality, without really paying attention to the specific indgredients and ratios. That all turned out to be irrelevant anyway: I ground up everything in the blender and used it as bedding for my mealworms, which quickly died since I had too many oily ingredients and they got completely stuffed up. Now I get my gutload from progeckos.com

Aliza