Gut loading
Encyclopedia
Gut loading is the process by which an animal
's prey is raised and fed nutritious food
s with the intention of passing those nutrients to the animal for which the prey is intended. This term is used most often in reference to the preparation of insect
s, such as cricket
s and mealworm
s, or mice which are used as food for reptile pets. Insects that are raised commercially for the pet trade are themselves of little nutritional value. By providing the prey animals with a high quality diet immediately prior to feeding, they become a more nutritious meal for the predator.
Gut loading can be accomplished by providing fruits, vegetables, and cereals or a nutritionally complete manufactured diet. Several commercial products are available and are fortified specifically for gut loading. These products often include varying combinations of carbohydrate
s, fat
s, protein
s, vitamin
s, and dietary fiber
.
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
's prey is raised and fed nutritious food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
s with the intention of passing those nutrients to the animal for which the prey is intended. This term is used most often in reference to the preparation of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, such as cricket
Cricket (insect)
Crickets, family Gryllidae , are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers, and more closely related to katydids or bush crickets . They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets...
s and mealworm
Mealworm
Mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult...
s, or mice which are used as food for reptile pets. Insects that are raised commercially for the pet trade are themselves of little nutritional value. By providing the prey animals with a high quality diet immediately prior to feeding, they become a more nutritious meal for the predator.
Gut loading can be accomplished by providing fruits, vegetables, and cereals or a nutritionally complete manufactured diet. Several commercial products are available and are fortified specifically for gut loading. These products often include varying combinations of carbohydrate
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
s, fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
s, protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s, vitamin
Vitamin
A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on...
s, and dietary fiber
Dietary fiber
Dietary fiber, dietary fibre, or sometimes roughage is the indigestible portion of plant foods having two main components:* soluble fiber that is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts, and* insoluble fiber that is metabolically inert, absorbing water as it...
.