Gut loading insects.

[Iceni]

Depends on your style of husbandry.

There are a few option with dusting and gut loading. I percive them in the following manner it may not be totally true but it's how i see things working in the tank.

Gut load the insects. Pro's been you can guarantee the vitamins will get into the pet. Cons, some chemicals break down and get absorbed by the insects as compounds that cannot be broken down by your pets. Meaning although there getting said mineral it may not be usable by the pet.


Dusting the insects. Pros. all the minerals you add are usable and will be absorbed if the pet needs them. Con's Frogs live in damp environments and dusting can be removed if your pets don't eat fast enough.


Personally i will use a dust once or twice a month. I'm a firm believer that the insects we feed should be fed on good quality food and there nutritional values will give your pets everything they need. The dust is just an addition to the outsides of the crickets to add essential elements that the crickets might be lacking in.


I belive in the wild frogs would get a varied diet but it would be seasonal. A lot of what they eat will be the same thing eating the same diet for long periods. Frogs in general pick the nearest target rather than the most nutritional one! And as such they would almost certainly eat the most abundant insect life en-mass, with the odd variation based on chance more than anything.

[SludgeMunkey]

I generally go for the gut load and skip the dusting.

While I have been unable to find any amphibian related information on the subject, there is a bit of data on the link between dusted crickets and respiratory problems with various reptiles (especially juvenile chameleons).

Since my cricket eaters all hunt for their free roaming live foods in their enclosures, I feel a good portion of the dust is lost before consumption anyway.