Gut Loading Livefoods

Gut Loading

It’s something you read about in care sheets, it’s advised by your pet store, and frequently crops up in queries on forums. But what is gut loading?

Gut loading is a way of boosting the nutritional value of your insect livefood by feeding a high quality, balanced diet. There are several ways of doing this; commercial bug diets, fresh green foods, or dog food. The most successful method will differ by species, as an omnivorous species of insect will benefit more from a diet designed for omnivores than a herbivorous one will. So in short, ‘gut loading’ is just a fancy way of saying ‘feeding’!

But why do we do it? Is it important?

Insects, when they come from the supplier, are usually packed with bran in the boxes. This is sufficient to keep them alive for a limited time, but isn't terribly nutritious in and of itself. The suppliers need as many bugs as possible to reach the shop and, ultimately, the customer alive; if shipped with bellies full of food they are much more likely not to survive until they reach the end user. So, when you get them home, you need to fill them up so that they not only survive longer, but they are more nutritious for your pet. You are what you eat!

Fresh leafy greens are good, and have the added benefit that the insects will get all the water they need from them. Locusts in particular need fresh greens; as a herbivorous insect they will really benefit from the fresh feeding method. Fruit can be used, but remember that whatever you are feeding your bugs you are ultimately feeding to your pet, so go easy on the citrus fruits. Fish food can be useful, as this often has colour-enhancing ingredients which will be passed on to your pet. Dog and cat food is high in protein, and is especially good for cockroaches.

Several of the large supply houses make their own commercial gut load mix; these are often an easy way to bulk up your bugs before feeding. Using different brands in rotation will ensure that any minor shortfall in vitamins and minerals will be compensated for. There are now ‘jelly pots’ available for gut loading; these are basically protein and calcium, and ensure that the bugs are getting all the water they need without having a water bowl they can drown in.

Give your bugs at least 24 hours with your chosen food type before feeding them to your pet, and don’t forget to dust them with a good calcium supplement!

Buy your livefoods and insect foods online from Evolution Reptiles 

5 Reptiles you will love and 4 you won't

5 Reptiles you will love...

1. Bearded Dragons - 

Massively popular because they are great pets. Easy for kids to handle and very resilient. They are friendly, outgoing and enjoy interacting with their keepers 

2. Leopard Geckos - 

They are very simple to keep, handle very well. They are relatively small lizards so easy to house. They are available in a huge range of colours. An excellent first lizard.

3. Corns Snakes - 

They are very easy to keep well. Only grow to about 4ft long. They are very easy to handle and generally feed well. They are available in in a huge range of colours and patterns. 

4. Crested Gecko - 

These are cheeky geckos! Require less heating than the majority of pet species, in fact in most centrally heated homes they will need no additional heating at all. The other big plus point is that they can quite happily thrive on the fruit based meal replacement powders that are commercially available. No more bugs!

5. Royal Python - 

Of all the python species these are probably the most popular - and with good reason. They are calm and gentle and stay small, which means that their housing doesn't have to dominate the room. They are available in an enormous range of colours and patterns, and captive bred animals are usually good feeders. 

...And 4 that you won't.

1. Yellow-bellied Sliders

Which includes most of the mass captive farmed species of basking turtle. Whilst these guys have got absolutely delightful personalities, they grow very large and require a huge volume of water to stay healthy. They eat a lot, have very specific requirements for UV, lighting, heating, and diet, and don't like to be handled. 

2. Burmese pythons

Burms (as they're usually referred to) are great snakes with lovely personalities. The trouble is, that cute little 2 ft hatchling will hit 6 - 9 ft in a year, need to be fed on large prey like guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens, and eventually need at least an 8 ft vivarium. They eat a lot, and the mess they produce is epic! Females can top out at 18 feet long, which is a lot bigger in the flesh than you think it is. Big, long lived, and awkward to look after as adults because of their sheer physical size. These points are equally true for all the giant snakes.

3. Bosc (or Savannah) monitors

Often recommended as the best pet of the large monitor lizard species, these animals are often available cheaply as captive farmed babies. Like all the big monitors they are very intelligent, active, and inquisitive; they also have very particular needs when it comes to housing. Unless you can provide a zoo-sized enclosure, it's probably best to leave these guys alone.

4. Green Iguanas

Probably the most impressive lizard regularly available through the trade, and one of the least suitable for the average pet keeper. Just giving them the correct environmental conditions is difficult enough, and providing a balanced diet needs a good understanding of how nutrition works. Then there are the temperament issues, and the fact that an adult male can reach 6 feet long, and is well armed with talons, teeth, and a tail like an iron bar!

All of the above species can, in the right hands, be great pets. The trouble is, all of them need a huge commitment in terms of time, space, and money; all of them are cheap to buy, but none of them are cheap to house, heat, light, or feed. That £25 turtle could conceivably cost £1000 to house properly as an adult!