O.K I am interested in mixing my own gutload and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to work out the different quantities of various ingredients I would need to mix in. Having done my research by checking out the different gutload formulas on the market today I have a pretty good idea of what I want to include I just don't know how much of ingredient I need to use. As far as the basics go I know I need a minimumCa/P ration of 2:1 (maybe a bit higher to offset the negative ratio of the crickets) and I remember seeing that a 100-10-1 ratio of vitamins A-D3-E was desirable (although someone suggested 4-1 Vit A-D3 was better.
As for the ingredients I am looking at the following items: Cactus powder or alfalfa meal as a base, brown rice, oatmeal, barley malt, Jarrah Tree Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly granules, Hawaian spirulina, Japanese chlorella, Kelp, powdered spinach, brocolli, Dandelion, Red Beets and tomato, Purple Maize, Japanese Green Tea, montmorillonite clay and grape seed extract, there are a whole host of other items but i've alresdy gone on for too long.
As you can probably tell from this post I am something of a product wh*re, but I guess we all have a cross to bear right?
I have no commercial interest in formulating a recipe I just want to do the best by my animals(dwarf monitors and geckoes by the way)
Any help will be appreciated, sorry for the long post.
PP
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Making a gutload
Replies (1)
You'd be better off using alfalfa meal as the base-unless you can get enough cactus (Opuntia?) to dry. The only ingredients I would be concerned about is: powdered spinach-a calcium binder due to oxalic acid, brocolli-a goitrogen, beets-same reason as spinach-high oxalic acid, green tea-high in tannic acid-& bitter, montmorillonite clay-may be good for calcium, but there are other un-neccesary minerals like aluminum, sodium & silicates in it.
There are some gutload formulas mentioned in previous postings that work quite well. You can add your own ingredients, but I would be concerned mostly about calcium binders, goitrogens, and excessive amounts of vitamins, especially fat-soluble ones as they can be a problem. Even though these quantities of gutload are small (insect stomach-size), the amounts fed to the reptile/amphibians can add up.
