Gut Load Recipe? Tips?

[cowgirlsblues]

Hello all,
i'm sure this has been covered many times but I am VERY new here. We just rescued a baby beaded dragon. My first reptile. We have had and raised many exotics and have done wild life rehabing in the past, but this is the first reptile i've had. I had done some research before I got in to this and i'm doing a LOT more now. But it was one of those I had to get her out of the situation she was in right away sort of things. Anyway...

I have raised meal worms for years off and on, so those I know more about, Crickets, I have never raised before but i'm going to try to start, as this little thing is is gonna quickly eat me out of house and home at pet store prices for crickets and mealies.

So now i'm looking for a recipe someone can share for a good gut load for crickets and meal worms. The mealies i've raised in the past were not being fed to reptiles (mainly sugar gliders, hedgehogs, and wild birds) and were treats so I didn't have to worry about them being very gut loaded.
If anyone has any tips they can share for successful cricket rearing, gut loading, and anything else anyone thinks I may need I would really appreciate it!
Thank you so much for everyone for your patience with a newbie, and your consideration!

 

[DragonJosh]

When I had crickets I used fish flakes for gutloading, but you can also by "cricket food" from various venders for example Ghann's (online) when I used to deal with crickets as a staple. Make sure to have a moisture source, no actual water as they'll drown in it. Like a sponge, fruit, or potato works well. Also don't forget to dust the crickets with a calcium and multivitamin supplement powder.Tons of ventilation to reduce humidity = less casualties. Paper towels/toilet paper rolls work well for hiding spots for the crickets, and just keep the enclosure clean regularly. As far as mealworms, it's usually advised as to NOT give to a baby bearded dragon as they have a lot of chitlin (hard shell), and can cause impaction as a young age. They should be used more like a once in a while variety if you wanted, and not as a staple. Hope this helps, and welcome to the fun!

 

[cowgirlsblues]

I realize that. I am going to be raising my own meal worms and crickets. Thus i was asking for a recipe for the best diet to feed them as i have never needed a gut loaded insect before. And any tips anyone could pass along to help me get started.

 

[warnisha]

I use the stalks from the greens and cut up fruit for mine! Plus I grind up cat/dog food for them I don't know about actual gut loading recipes I just feed them what my dragons eat plus the dat/dog food.

 

[AHBD]

All above suggestions are good....one more thing I use is actual bearded dragon pellets. I put some in a shallow bowl, like a lid from margarine tub or one of similar size, and add water. The crix love it. Just experiment with the amount that you use, so as not to waste it.

 

[cowgirlsblues]

Sorry for the weird post, when I was looking at this on my phone while my mom was in the ER last night, it was telling me the name/type of topic and I thought someone was telling me I couldn't post my question! So sorry if that confused anyone!

I really appreciate all the good advice. This is a new venture for me.

I have ordered cricket gel, i'm waiting for it to get here. right now I have cut up sweet potato in the box with the crickets and some Kale. I got some starter grower chick feed at the local feed store, and was going to grind that up and put it in there for them i'd read on one site they recommended it, but I wanted to see if anyone else thought this was a good idea before I did that?

I have done a lot of reading on the net about how to raise some crickets, but I have found nothing about how long it should take to start getting some baby crickets? Do they start breeding right away? I know the mealies have to go through their pupa stages and become beetles before you can start to get eggs then you have to wait for those to hatch, but with crickets they are already, well, crickets... so I was guessing it shouldn't take long for the adults to start to breed? Any experienced forlks in this area would be greatly appreciated!

I have a large rubber made tub and some egg crates I will be putting the adults in (I was told she was a half grown juvi dragon until I went to go pick her up and found out shes a BABY, and only about 3 months old, according to a beardie person at petsmart) The guy claimed he had had her for at least 2 months, and I don't see how that would be possible. but anyway... I had bought large crickets and they are WAY too big for her so i'm going to use that as my starter breeders.

Do I need any special screening? I was reading that crickets can chew through most plastic and fiberglass, if this is true what should I use? metal window screen or hardware fabric?

Thank you everyone for being so nice and patient with a newbie.

 

[AHBD]

If you have large crickets, put the females [ they are the ones with an ovipositor, looks like a stinger in the back end ] In a tote with shallow plastic bowls that have a moist mix of vermiculite/ sand/ or top soil from garden center. The females will begin laying immediately.

 

[warnisha]

I got lots of great advice on here I will put a link to my thread
viewtopic.php?f=76&t=141965

I put my crix in a clear bin, with three cut outs on the top for venting, and one on the side.

I have a divider in there so its 2/3 big ones and 2/3 incubator side.

I just put a container in with coconut husk (moist) and left it in there for a while. It took me a few trys to get the moisture just so with that container at first I had a light on that side for heat and it dried out too quick. So I didn't have that side heated at all, just the other side this time and sure enough there were eggs in there (look like rice)

I took the container out and put it in a gallon size ziploc bag (I can't stand saran wrap) and had it sitting on an upside down critter carrier so it was close to the light. I have a small aquarium light on top of the screen part and had a 15w bulb but it wasn't warm enuf so I have a 25 in there and it stays about 85 now.

Sure enough the other day there were babies in there when I opened it up to mist it. So I cut some air holes in the bag and left it...then I shifted everything to a shoebox (plastic) covered with two ziplocs, put in some greens and an orange slice and every time I look to check on the moisture there are more and more babies!!!! I keep that shoebox on the carrier too so that the temp stays warm

Apparently they grow faster at warmer temps....although we may be testing that theory next year for a science project once I see that we can be successful at breeding!!! haha!


I am ready to start another breeding group...maybe roaches or hornworms!!! lol! Better wait till summer vaca!

 

[szubelak]

someone once posted a recipe and there were 4 ingredients - dry milk powder, oats, high quality cat food ground up (something about dog food not having the right amount of protein - I don't remember if it was too much or too little though) and darned if I could remember the 4th ingredient... it might have been like a multivitamin/calcium supplement - If I can find it I"ll post it

With the mix being so dry you would probably need a water source too - oranges and potatoes work really well - just replace them every day or two as they can get gross quick - I cut my potatoes on the thinner side (oranges too) because they go bad so soon that they don't get used up quick enough - just leave a stock pre-cut up in the fridge.

Hope that helps and I'll repost if I find/remember the 4th ingredient.

Good luck!
Lesley

 

[Paradon]

An easy and good way to do this is feeding the crickets poultry mash and the same veggies and fruits that your bearded eats.

 

[moongypsy]

When I had crickets I used fish flakes for gutloading, but you can also by "cricket food" from various venders for example Ghann's (online) when I used to deal with crickets as a staple. Make sure to have a moisture source, no actual water as they'll drown in it. Like a sponge, fruit, or potato works well. Also don't forget to dust the crickets with a calcium and multivitamin supplement powder.Tons of ventilation to reduce humidity = less casualties. Paper towels/toilet paper rolls work well for hiding spots for the crickets, and just keep the enclosure clean regularly. As far as mealworms, it's usually advised as to NOT give to a baby bearded dragon as they have a lot of chitlin (hard shell), and can cause impaction as a young age. They should be used more like a once in a while variety if you wanted, and not as a staple. Hope this helps, and welcome to the fun!

 

[AndieTaylor]

I use fluckers cricket food and repcal bearded dragon pellets to gut load mine. I also use potato and water gel for them and dust them wit a calcium d3 supplement. Seems to be working ok for me and I dont have very many die offs

 

[Paradon]

The Flukers stuff is the same the poultry mash.... Plus, I got more for $00.50 a pound at the feed store. :mrgreen:

 

[valcash]

I would ditch the mealies.

 

[cowgirlsblues]

Thank you for all the advice! Any more advice please feel free to keep passing along.
I am not feeding the dragons the mealies now, after being on here and learning a lot since we got them, I do how ever had a hedgehog who loves mealies and doesn't have to worry about getting blocked up by a few, so she can devour them

I got some super worms, and now Rex is on strike from the crickets, and only wants the supers, and i've been trying to order some reptiworms and can't get my order to go through so i'm kinda at a loss as to what to do, I don't want him to starve. Should I worry?