Gutload Experiment

Nixy

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Insomnia Induced Gutload Experiment
1) I started out with all the supplies for this experiment.
- 2 clear well ventilated containers labeled A and B
- 4 oz uncooked plain cream of wheat
- 2 cups of plain puffed rice cereal
- 3 oz of mixed crushed quality fish flakes, beta bites, gut load and two crushed multi vitamins.
- 6, 3oz Dixie cups
- Two “water” dishes
- 10, 1st instar Pterinochilus murinus ~RCF~ slings numbered 1-10
- 6 oz small superworms (Zophobas Morio)
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Nixy

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2) Poured a base substrate of 2 oz. Cream of wheat into containers A and B.
 

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Nixy

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3) Poured a layer of one cup puffed rice cereal into containers A and B.
 

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Nixy

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4) Poured 3 oz of mixed crushed quality fish flakes, beta bites, gut load and two crushed multi vitamins into container B.
 

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Nixy

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5) Added climbing wiggling cups for the worms (For some odd they gather on these and other things like egg crates and tissue rolls) and a “water” dish to container A and B. Container A getting plain water. Container B getting moister from vegetables. In this case chopped cabbage.
 

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Nixy

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6) 6 oz small superworms. (Zophobas Morio) 3 oz per container, roughly 150 one half inch to one inch worms per 3 oz.
 

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Nixy

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7) Added 3 oz small superworms (Zophobas Morio) to containers A and B.
 

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Nixy

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10) Worm / Spider sets kept at the same conditions at 75 degrees.
 

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Nixy

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Project goal : To see if feeder diet/nutrition effects the molt rate and growth rate per molt of tarantulas.
As well as give me something to do at 3:00AM when I can’t sleep…. :D
I am keeping a journal on my findings. I’m going to give the worms enough time to eat and load up well before feeding the slings.
The slings were purchased from Snellgreene and came into our possession Oct. 29,2003. All are from the same sack.
 

MrFeexit

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OK I could not sleep last night and I watched a movie.(28 days later) Then I steam cleaned the carpet...You on the other hand are a MAD Scientist!!! Very cool experiment. I have always wanted to see the results of this exact thing. I hope it works well. Keep me posted as to the results!!

Ed
 

Navaros

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Wow, that's a very good idea for an experiment.Going to be interesting to see the results.:)
 

Buspirone

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You might consider adding a color enhancing Tropical fish food or Exotic bird food pellet to Container B. Any product that has capxanthin,xanthophyl, astaxanthin and Spirulina(MarineLand Labs BioBlend color enhancing fish food would be one example) to see if it affects the color of the Ts. I use it in my gut load but I don't have a control group to see if it really makes any difference. It would be good with the usumbara since those supplements are supposed to enhance reds and yellows and the spirulina is supposed to darken black coloring in fish/birds/reptiles. Good project idea!
 

MrFeexit

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I think we need to start calling her Dr. Nixy. The coloring thing is a great idea however I would think a third control group should be used to make sure the color is not just enhanced by better diet..know what I mean?? Nixy you are wayyyyyyy to organized. Wanna come over and organize my office??
 

Buspirone

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The beta bites or fish food she is using already may have color enhancers in them but I thought I would mentioned it anyway.
 

Mangrove

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Gut-Loading...

Does work I have done this experiment, and know the results! Trust me you won't be disapointed, those "gut-loaded" grrow alot faster.(IMO: I think color is better too.) <-- but that's not proven. Also, heat will also improve groth rates, as you all probably know, combined with this it's like super-charging your spider. The ones treated seem more active too. All those interested in pumping up you crickets, I recomend any product created by: Fluker's Labratories. They have Orange Cubes(fortified cricket food), and Crick Quencher (Calcium fortified drink). The Quencher is O.K. But the Orange cubes rock!! You can tell the difference between normal crickets and the fortified ones, the fortified one take on a tint of thier food, Orange!! Orange cubes have all the nutrients a cricket needs, but more importantly contains great stuff like: Caragreenan, Soya Protien, Yeast, Dried Kelp, Calcium Carbonate, Spiruluna, Potassium Sorbate, Ascorbic Acid, and Citric Acid. Further more the cubes smell suprisingly good, kinda like a fresh orange. Five stars IMO.

Peace, Matt.
 

Nixy

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MrFeexit - Mad scientist, Bwahahaa! IT's Alive! ALIVE!!!! Ok,,, nuff.... hhehehe....

Navaros - I've been curious about it myself but never could afford before to get a controled group. I might get more just to do a few more comparison experiements.

Buspirone - It is a heavy coloring enhanced fish food. I was curious myself.

MrFeexit - Our spiders, my computer files, and my blades are about the Only thing organised in my house. the rest is the joyfuly cluttered mayhem of two five year olds. :D

Buspirone - They do. My mix is: 1 part TetraMarine Flakes for the proteins. 1 part Omega One Freshwater Flakes natural fats, Color enhancment, more proteins, and a veriaty of vitamins. 1 part Tetra Tetra Terrafauna for hemit crabs, Rich in meat, fish, poultry, coconut and apple. Tetra Color Bits, color color color... Beta bits... color. Then I chop up fresh vegies and dehyrate them a bit on a few paper towels in the oven and grind those up and mix with the grains. Grind up a few childrens chewable vitamins, to catch anything I might have missed in the Other bombardment.....And provide fresh vegies for moister. This is what I feed our worm colony. Sounds like alot but the worms are growing bigger then Any I have purchased at the store, and their colors are Much more rich. So I am Hoping it moves Up the food chain. And it really doesn't cost That much. Considering you don't have to by it all the time and you use parts and not whole bottles. A little of each goes a long way and I want the best well rounded diet for the twins T's as I possably can give them. All that and it Still costs a Fraction to what Buying feeders costs. In the long run a little investment goes a long way.


Mangrove - I noticed the difference when I started feeding the T's from our colony as opposed to purshased food, A Great deal more activity, better colors, though I atributed that to just molting, This experiment will tell me though as now I have a controled group. As I said I would like to get another group and see if I can maybe go for enhancments of different colors,,, see what somehting geared for blue mhight due as opposed to red. Don't know, we'll see what the insomnia coughs up. I can't clean house or do anything else that would wake up everyone, so, quiet mad scientisting is what I have. :D
I'll keep tops records and give photo updates and keep everyone informed. :)

Thanks all :)
 

Buspirone

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Some gutload recipes and ideas of what to add to homemade gutload mixes can be found on the following sites:

http://www.drgecko.com/insectdiet.htm

http://www.leoloverslizardlounge.com/gutload.htm

http://www.chameleonjournals.com/husbandry/gutload.html

I came across a site that recommended using a product called "Greens-Plus" that is sold at health food stores as a replacement for alfalfa, spirulina and bee pollen. I'm not sure if I listed it or it was a site I forgot to bookmark.

Here are some places that pre-make high quality gutload diets for feeders:

http://www.cricketfood.com

http://www.speakeasy.org/~dervish/herpnutrition/invertebrates.htm

I don't know if they are any good but I thought I would provide the links for reference purposes in case anyone was interested.
 

Nixy

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Thanks Buspirone. Going to check them out. :)
 
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