# What are you gut-loading your feeder insects with?



## humantidy (Mar 12, 2021)

So I am curious, as a leopard gecko owner, I feed my pet gecko a variety of bugs – crickets, dubia roaches, giant mealworms, wax worms, horn worms, and phoenix worms. One of the things that is very crucial to the health of my gecko is what I feed his bugs. We call it "gut-loading". I gut-load my gecko's bugs by feeding them carrots, apples, bananas, broccoli, papaya, sweet potato, alfalfa sprouts and sometimes oranges (citrus can give a gecko the runs, LOL). I also feed them Repashy's Bug Burger and Superload. Anyway, there are actually some fruits and veggies that are bad for my gecko, that I must avoid feeding my feeder insects. 
 
So I guess my question is....are there any foods that should NOT be fed to a feeder insect before it's fed to a pet mantis? I'm asking this because I remember reading somewhere online to never feed your feeder insects carrots...that carrot-fed bugs can make a mantis sick. Do we know anything in regards to what's good for "gut-loading" the bugs we feed our mantids? I would imagine some foods are better than others. If there's a science behind it in dealing with geckos, I'd bet there is one for mantids as well.


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## guapoalto049 (Mar 12, 2021)

For roaches I do dry feed that smells like alfalfa, then citrus fruit. Flies gut loaded with sugar water or honey. No true science behind it that I know of, but I think it’s good to gut load with sugary substances. Chitin, the backbone of the insect exoskeleton, is a polysaccharide (a chemical structure of many sugars connected) so to me it makes sense


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## humantidy (Mar 13, 2021)

Interesting. Thanks!


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 16, 2021)

I use bee pollen and honey, milk, yeast,etc. The great Yen gave e permission to use his name on it. I called it Yen's special blend.


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## TheWrongCrowd (Mar 26, 2021)

I add nutritional yeast and bee pollen when gut loading my flies


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## Mantis Lady (Mar 30, 2021)

My feeders get a mix of grains (order that at a grasshopper farm) and salad leaves


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## agent A (Jun 16, 2021)

i give flies nectar, milk, and crested gecko food

roaches and crickets get a special food with alfalfa and vitamins, along with fish flakes and fresh produce


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## Introvertebrate (Jun 17, 2021)

I provide my feeders with the optimal nutritional requirements of those feeders.  That, in turn, will provide the optimal nutrition for my pets.  No black magic or urban legends required.


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