yea, make a paste(a little runny) of the calcium/vitamins and inject it with a seringe .......One of my tricks feel free to use it ...... Franko,Gyko,Red & Godzilla
Ooof. That's not gutloading. I'm not sure exactly what you'd call that, but it's something you definately do not need to do. That does nothing to address the nutritional value of the feeders, just their vitamin content. And that's not enough to ensure a healthy leo. Gutloading refers to feeding your insect a healthy and nutritious diet before giving them to your herps. That way you know your herps are getting the best diet they can get. Use the worm bedding from www.cricketfood.com Ronnie makes the best stuff you'll find anywhere. As for getting them the required suppliments, you just dust the mealworms with the powder right before dropping them in. No syringes required.
Yes! I love cricketfood.com, within a month of gutloading with their stuff my leo gained 9 grams! Gyko... never have I heard of stuffing mealworms with vitamin/calcium paste. It sounds like an awful thing to do to those mealies! As our moderator said, vitamin content is not the same as nutritional content. You can either purchase all natural gutload (cricketfood.com is the best!) or make your own. A good recipe is at drgecko.com. This will be a fine mixture of different grains, dried veggies, etc which your mealies will live in. Be sure to put a baby carrot on top of the mixture for moisture. What I do is keep my mealworm supply in the fridge (they stay dormant in there) and keep about 100 in a container outside the fridge being gutloaded.
Re: RE: Gutloading Mealworms He may, but if you're not providing a healthy diet for those mealworms you're not giving him a healthy diet. How healthy would you be if you lived on a diet of bread and a multivitamin? Not very. And your guy could stand to gain a little more weight on that tail. It's not skinny, but not as fat as a healthy adult's should be. What you are doing is no different from just dusting the feeders. Instead of the dust being on the outside, you're injecting it on the inside. Absolutely no difference in terms of the nutrition of the mealworms. If you want to be providing a balanced and healthy diet for Gyko, get those mealworms into a good gutload so they have the nutrition he needs.
RE: Re: RE: Gutloading Mealworms Not to mention the fact that you could be overdosing your Leo on vitamins by injecting them into the mealies. Dusting is the standard and safest way to provide the needed suppliments. Without properly gutloaded food, your Leo will start losing weight (if it hasn't already) Like D said, his tail isn't skinny but it's no where near as fat as a healthy adults should be.
RE: Re: RE: Gutloading Mealworms His main diet is well fed crickets ( fruits veggies grains ) which i raise......His syringed mealworm are snacks.....I should have mention that when in my first post.......... In the wild Leo's have to be as fat as possible they never know when their going to get their next meal........ In captivity I don't think they should be that FAT uless its a female and she is going to breed ................................................. Its my trick thats why nobody has ever heard about it....it aslo works if your Leo is dihydrated just inject the worms with water........ Feel free to use my tricks everbody.......
Re: RE: Re: RE: Gutloading Mealworms I've heard of it plenty of times, it's just not a good idea. There are quite a few people out there that think doing techniques like this is what 'gutloading' really is. So it's not really a secret trick. You're just one of the few people that continue to do it when it's not really necessary. If a leo is eating its fill and is plenty active they will put fat on their tail. There is a point where it becomes too much, which is typically when they develop the fat pockets in their armpits. Until then, the leo's instincts are going to be to eat more. It is not unhealthy to let them eat, as their bodies are made to handle that level of fat reserves. If they never had to worry about a fast in the wild, they'd all have nice and fat tails from eating all the time.
RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Gutloading Mealworms I thought I inveted that technique But........ fat reserves Fat Tails is what's used for energy for periods when their is no food, Thats why they get skinny tails.......they used up all their fat reserves......so why have them that FAT in captivity.
RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Gutloading Mealworms I honestly find that to be a silly question. - In case your gecko accidentally drops its tail - In case you wish to one day breed it - Because the only way it will have eaten as much as it wishes to is if the tail becomes fat You could keep a healthy human at 100 lbs -- after all, it wouldn't eed to fight off predators in the wild -- but why not get it up to 150 or 160 through feeding an excellent diet? Oh, and as for whoever asked about gutloading...get a whole grain of some sort, (or a mixture) and keep the worms in that along with potatoes, carrots, or celery or all three.
RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Gutloading Mealworms There are also parasites to consider and hunger strikes not to mention the possibility of females becoming gravid without breeding with infertile eggs. Even unfertile eggs can take a rather heavy toll on a gecko without enough reserves to carry them through. I was not meaning to insult only to point out the importance of proper gutloading. I am sorry if you took it as an insult and I am not upset about your response concerning Willows weight. I have spoken with several very experienced keepers and breeders and not one has thought she was an unhealthy weight. She is not powerfed nor is she fed anything other than healthy nutritional feeders. She is active and alert, has no fat pockets and is super friendly. To be fair perhaps the photo with her all spread out would give you the impression she was unhealthy, I just really love her bright colors in that one . Tray I do not want my "fat" gecko to scare you away from proper gutloading. It really is so good for them and helps to insure they have everything they need. Maybe this one will help ease any worries you may have of growing some monster gecko with good food lol Cerus I really do value your opinion .... If I am wrong and you feel she looks unhealthy please feel free to comment. :lol:
Before gutloading with www.cricketfood.com (Ignore the sand, he is no longer on it) After gutloading with www.cricketfood.com How can you question perfection?
Gutloading means the bug has eaten healthy food before you feed him to your Leo. That way the benefit of what the bug has eaten is passed on to your gecko. 8)
