what to gutloud my crickets with??
- Thread starter Zenalae
- Start date
mbetournay
New member
There are some different types of cricket feed you can buy at the pet store. Or, you can do like me and put a piece of potato or apple in there. Just make sure to change it out every couple of days.
Sinosauropteryx
New member
Gut-loading crickets
I feed my crickets with a staple of rolled oats but I round it out with other foods that I feed on occasion.
The main source of calories will probably come from the rolled oats, though as mbetournay said, you can also use potato to that effect.
I buy all of my crickets and I buy two dozen at a time so additional foods are more of a one-time thing for each batch of crickets I get. And I go through them in two to three days so the crickets are gone before the food rots. But I can always rely on rolled oats because it never rots unless it is wet and, if I buy a big bag of it, I will always have more in case what I put in with the crickets gets eaten.
If you are breeding crickets, you will want to replace their additional food much more often because they will be around longer and the food will rot. In my oppinion you can use pretty much any food you have lying around as long as it has one of the four requirements: protein, sugar, vitamins & minerals. Fruits and vegetables can supply vitamins, and leafy greens, nuts and meat can supply protein. You need fruit for sugar which adds additional calories for daily activity and you need vegetables for minerals like Nitrogen, Phosphate and Iron.
In general, any balanced diet will do. But it needs to be balanced because, not only are your crickets benefitting from the added nutrition, your lizards are too. Empty calories aren't going to cut it nutrition-wise so don't forget to add something extra.
I feed my crickets with a staple of rolled oats but I round it out with other foods that I feed on occasion.
- For protein and fatty acids I use peanut butter, cat food, and sometimes pieces of leftover meat like chicken or ground beef.
- For sugar, vitamin C & D and moisture I use applesauce, grapes, apples, peach, and banana.
- For additional vitamins, minerals like Nitrogen and Iron, additiional protein and moisture, I use cabbage, carrot, celery, and sometimes spinach or Swiss chard.
The main source of calories will probably come from the rolled oats, though as mbetournay said, you can also use potato to that effect.
I buy all of my crickets and I buy two dozen at a time so additional foods are more of a one-time thing for each batch of crickets I get. And I go through them in two to three days so the crickets are gone before the food rots. But I can always rely on rolled oats because it never rots unless it is wet and, if I buy a big bag of it, I will always have more in case what I put in with the crickets gets eaten.
If you are breeding crickets, you will want to replace their additional food much more often because they will be around longer and the food will rot. In my oppinion you can use pretty much any food you have lying around as long as it has one of the four requirements: protein, sugar, vitamins & minerals. Fruits and vegetables can supply vitamins, and leafy greens, nuts and meat can supply protein. You need fruit for sugar which adds additional calories for daily activity and you need vegetables for minerals like Nitrogen, Phosphate and Iron.
In general, any balanced diet will do. But it needs to be balanced because, not only are your crickets benefitting from the added nutrition, your lizards are too. Empty calories aren't going to cut it nutrition-wise so don't forget to add something extra.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Hi ~
Generally I use oatmeal flakes, alfalfa hay, and Fluker Farm's High Calcium Cricket Feed, although I have seen negative comments about FFHCCF. Sometimes I add carrots and collard greens!
Other folks I know use chicken mash.
I never use anything with minimum crude fat levels above 4%. Too much fat in a gecko's diet can lead to fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis). I would imagine that if you feed high fat content stuff to your crickets like dog food, cat food, or peanut butter, the fat gets transferred to your gecko. Bad news, geckos. Be certain to check the minimum crude fat content of all potential gutloads.
It is also quite important to keep the vitamin A levels "respectable". Feeding sweet potatoes is probably all wrong due to the extremely high vitamin A content.
Generally I use oatmeal flakes, alfalfa hay, and Fluker Farm's High Calcium Cricket Feed, although I have seen negative comments about FFHCCF. Sometimes I add carrots and collard greens!
Other folks I know use chicken mash.
I never use anything with minimum crude fat levels above 4%. Too much fat in a gecko's diet can lead to fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis). I would imagine that if you feed high fat content stuff to your crickets like dog food, cat food, or peanut butter, the fat gets transferred to your gecko. Bad news, geckos. Be certain to check the minimum crude fat content of all potential gutloads.
It is also quite important to keep the vitamin A levels "respectable". Feeding sweet potatoes is probably all wrong due to the extremely high vitamin A content.
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NIGHTRIDER
New member
Easy to do.
Take 200 grms of good quality dry dog food,add a couple of spoons of oatmeal,a couple of spoons of egg powder and a spoon of calcium powder for babies,put it in a blender and run it for a couple of minutes untill it all turns into a fine powder [might get a bit noisy at first].
Store in a sealed jar and feed 'em a couple of spoons at a time [depends on the number of crickets].
I gutload my feeder insects also on carrot,sweet potato,zucchini,pumpkin and fruits: melon,peach,grapes,apple and such.
Make sure you wash the fruits and vegetables in order to remove any possible traces of agricultural pesticides.
Take 200 grms of good quality dry dog food,add a couple of spoons of oatmeal,a couple of spoons of egg powder and a spoon of calcium powder for babies,put it in a blender and run it for a couple of minutes untill it all turns into a fine powder [might get a bit noisy at first].
Store in a sealed jar and feed 'em a couple of spoons at a time [depends on the number of crickets].
I gutload my feeder insects also on carrot,sweet potato,zucchini,pumpkin and fruits: melon,peach,grapes,apple and such.
Make sure you wash the fruits and vegetables in order to remove any possible traces of agricultural pesticides.
Riverside Reptiles
Administrator (HMFIC)
You may want to look through the feeders forum here on GU as well. This has been a topic before and there are many different opinions. I personally would never feed dog or cat food to my feeders.
Nayte
New member
That's genius!
The hide will hold the moisture well also, but this is going off topic
It'll also need to be pretty big for adults