Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok...

Some people (myself included) keep all of their feeder insects in a substrate that's all gut-load.

Some only take out a few feeder insects the day before and allow those ones, and those ones only, to gut-load overnight.

Any compelling reasons for the difference? Specifically I want to know why some people only gut-load in small batches, versus just leaving them in a constant gut-load mode.

Anyone?
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-Marcus The Great
Owner, 1.1 Leopard Geckos (T^2)
Master, sotik.com
Photographer, imesho.com

Keep in mind that this is only a guess, but i would say that if you kept all in a consatnt gutload (and thats assuming they are not refridgerated so that they can gutload) then they would eat and grow faster therefore not lasting as long. Compared to if in thr fridge and not eating letting them last you longer.
Other than that there wouldnt be no reason not to.If you bought them in smaller quantities like say weekly, i would say gutload away.
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Lazor1
2.2 Leopard Geckos (Izzy,Angel,Neeko,Petri)

>>Keep in mind that this is only a guess, but i would say that if you kept all in a consatnt gutload (and thats assuming they are not refridgerated so that they can gutload) then they would eat and grow faster therefore not lasting as long. Compared to if in thr fridge and not eating letting them last you longer.
>>Other than that there wouldnt be no reason not to.If you bought them in smaller quantities like say weekly, i would say gutload away.
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>>Lazor1
>>2.2 Leopard Geckos (Izzy,Angel,Neeko,Petri)

Well, if that's the case, it sure beats finding a dozen new aliens each day (at this moment I have 600-700 mealies).

BUT...I have to wonder what the nutritional differences are between the two methods. I would think constant gut-load would be more nutritional than the selecting-a-few-at-a-time-for-selective-gutload-the-night-before method (though I ghuess that really depends on how fast the worms process food).
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-Marcus The Great
Owner, 1.1 Leopard Geckos (T^2)
Master, sotik.com
Photographer, imesho.com

i used to refrigerate my hundreds of mealies and take out 10 to gutload for 24 hours. after i decided to breed my mealies, i just left a lot of them out in a big bin and removed the aliens... for some reason i'm not getting a bunch of new aliens for the past week, i've only had 5... and i still have 5... and i think 2 of them are dead lol.. dang!

i'm not sure about the nutritional differences - similar to yourself, i'm wondering if the mealies can process the food better and be more nutritious if left out... but i'm not too sure... but for now, since i'm trying to breed, i'll just be leaving them out it's a lot easier too - coz when i feed my leo, i take that big container, put 10 in a bowl, and put it back - all in my room without having to go downstairs 2 the fridge N hear my mom freak out about worms being in the fridge

[aimEe]
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

What I do is a mixture of both. I usually order about 500 at a time. So I end up putting them in their gutload mixture in the fridge and then keep about 50 out at a time so they are constantly gutloading. My leos are constantly deciding not to eat mealies but go for crix or whatever else they know I have. So there have been occasions where the mealiesin the fridge dont get taken out to get out so I pull those from the fridge out and keep them out in room temperature for a day or two so they can eat and get some food in them still rather than going into hibernation and then stick them back in the fridge after a few days so that I know they still get some kind of gutload.

My remedy for this.
Alicia
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2 male leos: Winky HY & Lenny TangCT & 6 Female Leos: Sunshine Super tang,Starburst, & Daisy Super tang carrot tail, Serenity Tremper HY Jungle Albino, Skittle Hypo-Golden, and Banana Patternless.

Yeah, my geckos have really cut down on the number of mealworms they're eating (their high was 17 or 18 a piece per day, but now they've cut back to about 5 every other day). Not sure if it's the change in seasons, that they're now chubby (they were skinny babies when I got 'em), that they're growing tired of mealworms (gonna try superworms and possibly beetles), or if it's something else.

They're doin' good, though.
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-Marcus The Great
Owner, 1.1 Leopard Geckos (T^2)
Master, sotik.com
Photographer, imesho.com

I still get aliens. Saturday I went through it 3 times and found new aliens each time and 2 of the ones I put in their bowl ended up turning into aliens (want some beetles? lol). Wondering what the processing of the food is, though, was my concern. I'm not sure how their digestive system works, but if they aren't going to be as healthy using the small-group method...well, obviously I want more bang for my buck.

I don't worry about putting them in my fridge, though - I have far worse things in my fridge.
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-Marcus The Great
Owner, 1.1 Leopard Geckos (T^2)
Master, sotik.com
Photographer, imesho.com

hehe ur 2 funny
secret message coz i said NP!
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0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.2.0 African Dwarf Frogs (Hobo & Bobo)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
0.0.2 Hermit Crabs (Kirby & Furby)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com