gutloading crickets: necessary?

[fishwithoutabik]

ok i read something the other day about gut loading crickets. i have just been maiming them right out of the petstore bag and feeding them to the Ts. then i toss any leftovers, am i supposed to be gutloading them too?

 

[ErinKelley]

Ive always fed my crickets before feeding them to anything. Check the enclosure at the petstore to see if it looks like they were fed recently and if they haven't it would be a good idea.

All the nutrients that go into a feeder go into whatever you feed. I get grossed out by the idea that those crickets eat the dead and dying when they dont have food available..YUK!

Erin

 

[GOMER113]

I don't know if it's necessary, but I don't think it hurts to do it. Each time I've bought a group of crickets, I've always given them gutload food and water and they've always chowed down on it immediately, after a few minutes of wondering what's going on and where they are.

The other day, one cricket was in the middle of molting and another one jumped on it and started biting at its neck while it was about halfway out.

The molting cricket died from being eaten alive, even though there was plenty of food and water in the enclosure. I grabbed a pair of tweezers and tugged at the cricket that was feeding off the molting one and it wouldn't let go of the neck. I pulled it out of the enclosure and it was still munching on what looked like a leg. Pretty sick stuff.

 

[penny'smom]

So what do you all use for food to gutload with?? I use my hermit crabs food for lack of anything else. The crickets seem to love it.

 

[Truff135]

I don't know if it's necessary, but I don't think it hurts to do it. Each time I've bought a group of crickets, I've always given them gutload food and water and they've always chowed down on it immediately, after a few minutes of wondering what's going on and where they are.

The other day, one cricket was in the middle of molting and another one jumped on it and started biting at its neck while it was about halfway out.

The molting cricket died from being eaten alive, even though there was plenty of food and water in the enclosure. I grabbed a pair of tweezers and tugged at the cricket that was feeding off the molting one and it wouldn't let go of the neck. I pulled it out of the enclosure and it was still munching on what looked like a leg. Pretty sick stuff.

Perhaps that's where the idea of Zombies came from, someone had been observing crazed crickets for too long

 

[verry_sweet]

All the pet stores I have dealt with feed their cricket’s Gutload. When I do buy crickets I ask to go back with the employee to see the cricket tank myself to check the cleanliness and so on.

So no I do not gutload and honestly I do not see a need for it.

 

[GOMER113]

I use water pillows as the water source and Fluker's High Calcium Cricket Diet. I put the cricket food in bottle caps and add a few drops of water. The crickets seem to prefer it moist.

 

[penny'smom]

There's actually a food called Gutload???? I have never heard of that. Canned mealworms yes, canned crickets even (never used/don't plan to), but never "Gutload".

I guess I never imagined there would be cricket food. I though most ppl/places just fed them whatever.

 

[verry_sweet]

Yup here it is. You can buy it at most petstores but I bet fruits and veggies are just as good.....if not better.

http://www.petsolutions.com/Gut-Load-Cricket-and-Insect-Food+I96300350+C40002001.aspx

 

[The_Thunderer]

There's a "ground grain" kind of substance that they sell here called "Gutload". I feed it to the ones that I don't feed to my pets right away.

I know that we don't know the nutritional needs of T's necessarily, but I do think it can't hurt to feed the feeder insects at least decently.

 

[Truff135]

This is sort of relevant...I have the little to-go box style container left over from my T with nothing in it. How long can you keep crickets (not wanting to breed them or anything)? Like if my T doesn't eat them when I initially give them to her, can I toss the crics back into that container and hold them until the next attempted feeding, or will the crics get hungry and eat each other even if I give them this Gutload stuff? I've been wondering this for the past few days...

 

[BCscorp]

Hi, the store I go to for supplies sells crickets in prepacked containers with about 15 crickets inside. They are also divided into age group...anyways in the container is a dish with a blue gel and a seed log. The gel is gutload which they get their water needs and calcium etc. The log is dry food.Crickets are cannibals..maybe like hermit crabs when they molt? Crickets will eat alot of things, fruit/veggies is good, keep in mind you will be feeding them to your T. so feed them good natural stuff they'd eat in the wild.

 

[Truff135]

Ooo that sounds good! I think I'll go look for one of those this weekend. Thanks!

 

[Drachenjager]

i keep good feed in wiht my crix all the time. "gutload" is a bogus term. just feed the feeders well thats all it takes

 

[Mina]

Necessary, no, a good idea, yes. Remember, the more healthy the food is that you feed to your T's, the more healthy your T's will be.
You really can feed crickets anything. Oatmeal, fish food, cat or dog food, bran, cornmeal, trout chow, rabbit chow, chicken scratch, pelleted bird diet, any kind of fruit of vegetable. Or you can buy prepared cricket diet.

 

[Drachenjager]

Necessary, no, a good idea, yes. Remember, the more healthy the food is that you feed to your T's, the more healthy your T's will be.
You really can feed crickets anything. Oatmeal, fish food, cat or dog food, bran, cornmeal, trout chow, rabbit chow, chicken scratch, pelleted bird diet, any kind of fruit of vegetable. Or you can buy prepared cricket diet.

which is chicken mash or starter ground up lol

What is referred to as gutloading IMO is worthless. Gut loading is like taking a poorly fed bug then stuffing it full of good stuff then feeding it off. I dont think that your T will get near as good of nutrition out of using the cricket to hold cricket food to give the T. I believe that the feeder needs to digest it , turn it into feeder bug , then the T can use it. Otherwise the T would be eating plant material instead of other bugs...

 

[cacoseraph]

nah, drach

gutloading means what it says. making sure the prey has a bellyful of something hopefully beneficial before feeding it out.


something to consider (i think i remember it from _TTKG_) crickets eat their own poo, anything really. especially in more scandelous petstores. so... if you give them a bit of time to eat good food and poo and hydrate up you are probably feeding your pets a lot healthier prey


i once had a mantis that refused to be gutloaded. he would eat the whole cricket and leave the belly to drop. i am pretty sure that was what was occuring cuz i was feeding the crix those fluker's orange cubes and there was little orange balls in the mantis' cage. i saw it drop the ball out of the crix a couple times too. pretty funny. weird bugs.

 

[Drachenjager]

nah, drach

gutloading means what it says. making sure the prey has a bellyful of something hopefully beneficial before feeding it out.


something to consider (i think i remember it from _TTKG_) crickets eat their own poo, anything really. especially in more scandelous petstores. so... if you give them a bit of time to eat good food and poo and hydrate up you are probably feeding your pets a lot healthier prey


i once had a mantis that refused to be gutloaded. he would eat the whole cricket and leave the belly to drop. i am pretty sure that was what was occuring cuz i was feeding the crix those fluker's orange cubes and there was little orange balls in the mantis' cage. i saw it drop the ball out of the crix a couple times too. pretty funny. weird bugs.

maybe that didnt come out how i meant it. What i mean is , if you take a cricket from the pet store, feed it and water it and feed it off in a few hours, you just fed your T cricket food wrapped in a cricket husk. Better than the plain husk you got from the store but...I believe you should buy the crix and feed them for a few days a good diet that way the cricket digests the food and turns it onto "meat" instead of veggies in the gut.
I just dont think Ts are meant to eat grains, and if the cricket gorges on grain and gets fed right then , thats about all the T gets. its like we dont feed a calf and eat it right then, we feed it till it uses the feed and makes more meat . THEN we eat it lol

 

[The_Thunderer]

maybe that didnt come out how i meant it. What i mean is , if you take a cricket from the pet store, feed it and water it and feed it off in a few hours, you just fed your T cricket food wrapped in a cricket husk. Better than the plain husk you got from the store but...I believe you should buy the crix and feed them for a few days a good diet that way the cricket digests the food and turns it onto "meat" instead of veggies in the gut.
I just dont think Ts are meant to eat grains, and if the cricket gorges on grain and gets fed right then , thats about all the T gets. its like we dont feed a calf and eat it right then, we feed it till it uses the feed and makes more meat . THEN we eat it lol

That's what I meant. I buy crickets from the store and feed them this "grainy" stuff called gutload along with some green leafy stuff. They eat this for a few days because it is supposedly balanced and good for the cricket which makes the cricket good for the predatory animal. I realize that there's nothing "good" about having a cricket with a stomach full of "grain" or "poo" being fed to the T right away.

I can't imagine eating a cow that has just eaten "good" grains and eating his stomach so that I can have a stomach full of cow stomach full of grains... although if we changed this to sheep, it would be the same as eating "haggis". LOL.

 

[Drachenjager]

That's what I meant. I buy crickets from the store and feed them this "grainy" stuff called gutload along with some green leafy stuff. They eat this for a few days because it is supposedly balanced and good for the cricket which makes the cricket good for the predatory animal. I realize that there's nothing "good" about having a cricket with a stomach full of "grain" or "poo" being fed to the T right away.

I can't imagine eating a cow that has just eaten "good" grains and eating his stomach so that I can have a stomach full of cow stomach full of grains... although if we changed this to sheep, it would be the same as eating "haggis". LOL.

i generally buy crix small and feed them good stuff till they get bigger, unless im feeding slings lol