Gut Loading Bugs

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Filling feeder insects with good, nutritious food before feedingGutloading:

 

Filling feeder insects with good, nutritious food before feeding them off to your chameleons. The better the gut-load and variety of feeder insects offered the better chance your chameleon has to reach his/her full potential. You want to avoid foods that are high in oxalic acid because it binds to the calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium and potassium and interferes with the absorption of these in the body. Which means even if your using a calcium supplement it won't be properly utilized in your chameleons’ body.

 

Below is a list of foods to keep in mind when grocery shopping and others to avoid completely when putting together your own gut-load.

 

Wet Gut-load Ingredients: (these should be your primary ingredients in your gut-load)

 

Dandelion leaves

Squash (butternut, spaghetti),

Hibiscus leaves and flowers

Grape leaves

Papaya

Carrot

Alfalfa sprouts

Mustard greens

Romaine

Spearmint leaves

Basil

Apple

Mulberries

Clover

Garland

Chrysanthemum

Chickweed

Cilantro

A few blueberries

Small amounts of raspberries

Peas

Sunflower sprouts

Small pieces of steamed and cooled yam

Leek bulb

Dry Gut-loading Ingredients:(Smaller portion of your gut-load and will need to be well blended in a coffee grinder)

Spirulina

Dried seaweed/kelp/dulse

Bee pollen

Dried alfalfa

Organic raw sunflower seeds

Sesame seeds

Flax seed

Hemp seed

Poppy seeds

Fennel seed

Dehydrated cranberry powder

Beet powder

Zucchini powder

Dried Mulberries

Fig powder

Ground dried hibiscus

Ground almonds

Small amounts of ground Brazil nuts

Small amounts of ground/chopped beechnuts

Small occasional pieces of oak leaves

Small amounts of kale powder

 

Items that should be limited in your gut load (some are fine but these times should not be regular items in your gut load):

 

Broccoli

Beans

Cabbage

Bok choy

Beet leaves

Parsley

Cassava

Watercress

Kale

Collard greens

Spinach

Swiss chard

Soy/edamame

Bran

Buckwheat

Almonds

Sesame seeds

Pine nuts

Apricot

Figs

Kiwi

Asparagus

 

Gut loading ingredients that should be avoided (are heavy sources of animal protein and/or fat and may provide excessive preformed vitamin A and also D):

 

Dog food

cat food

Fish food

milk

meat

Eggs

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Dry Gutload Ingredient List

 

Nettle

Dandelion

Mulberry Leaf

Marigolds

Hibiscus Flowers

Nasturtiums

Sweet Clover

Fennel Seeds

Bee Pollen

Alfafa

Kelp

Rice Bran

Papaya fruit

Blueberry

Strawberry

Repashy Superload

Spirulina

Sunflower Hearts

Bug Grub

Brewers yeast