Gut Loading???

My 2 month old baby beardie is having issues eating greens. He's just not interested in them. I was told that I could just feed his crickets his mix fruit/veggie/greens diet to gut load them and he would still get the same nutrition as eating the mix himself. What do you more experienced beardie owners think of this?

There are two methods of Gutloading.

At minimum you should feed the crickets good food for 48hr prior to feeding when possible. The same stuff that goes in a salad, is simple and easy and can offer moisture to them too. though some items are more palatable to insects than others. (I've not found my bugs to like greens so much.) there are also commercial diets that are good for crickets - though many are falsely advertised so be ware. Anyway. this fills the digestive tract and helps make the insects more nutritious. Some vitamins may also be converted into more usable forms after being eaten by the bugs. He will get more nutrition than crickets that haven't eaten, but remember their guts are small and won't hold as much as he would eat on his own. That said - babies eat more bugs than veggies anyway and it may take a while for him to warm up to his salads. Even once he does, still feed the crickets a good diet.

The other method of gutloading goes a bit further and can boost calcium and other vitamins as well. It's more complex and requires more effort and planning but can reduce or eliminate the need for supplement dusting. This is more practical for large collections like zoos though their are ways to formulate a cricket chow, and some commercial ones that do well.

It is not uncommon for young beardies to refuse veggies. At 2 months he/she needs mostly live insects anyways. I would continue offering veggies so that he can get more familiar with them and eventually come around. But until he does come around gut loading insects is excellent. It provides a much more nutritional insect for your Beardie. My dubias eat better than I do lol. I give them greens, veggies, and fruit every day (just make sure to clean the insects cage often so you don't attract fruit flys and mold).

I've been gut loading them with their own cricket food and water with a calcium supplement. I was just wondering if it was true that if I fed them his greens instead, would it be better for him because he's refusing any greens right now.

I use
carrot chunks (food and hydration)
fresh buk choi greens ( an entire leaf for 80 crickets ) for more hydration, to add vitamins and calcium
repcal adult beardie pellets dry straight out the bottle (about 6 pellets for 80 crickets) for dry food.

Enzynom":2esrco8b said:

I've been gut loading them with their own cricket food and water with a calcium supplement. I was just wondering if it was true that if I fed them his greens instead, would it be better for him because he's refusing any greens right now.

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Depends on the food. Some of the cricket dry chows are pretty good. If you are using the gel food+water+supplements then they are basically worthless.