Insect Food UK, description et caractéristiques :

This insect food should form the starting point for your whole supplemental program if you keep any animal that consumes insects. Our premium gut loading formula is a highly palatable nutritional booster for feeder insects. Loaded with essential vitamins, minerals and natural colour enhancers, it ensures the very best nutrition is passed on to your pet.

Like all enlightened reptile keepers over the years, we have learnt to care for our feeder insects in order to pass on a decent level of nutrients to our pets. Several decades ago, caring for you your live food meant putting a slice of potato or carrot in the tub and thinking that was enough. Disturbingly this practice is still prevalent today and needs to be rectified and hopefully, with a little education, become a thing of the past.

We have introduced Insect Food because we have found that many "gut loading” products on the market are sadly lacking, containing little in the way of worthwhile ingredients.

So why do we need to look after our insects and what are the benefits?

Firstly, we have a moral obligation to provide the best conditions possible for all animals in our care, regardless of its intended purpose.

Secondly, by adopting good husbandry practices you can pass on a fully nutrient loaded, healthy meal to your reptile.

Our pet’s digestive systems and dietary needs stem from their wild relatives. Huge advancements have been made in the field of husbandry and understanding our animals’ needs by trying to recreate positive attributes regarding enclosures. Hobbyists also understand the need to mimic the life-giving force of natural sunlight, which provides heat via visible and ultraviolet light. Diet and its effects on our animals’ wellbeing have also been well documented, but the issue is relating this to a realistic regime that we can all adhere to. At our UK facility we grow suitable plants all year round, indoors under New Dawn lighting, to feed our animals and suggest you do the same if possible. Very little has been done to feed your prey insects to improve their overall quality and "gut loading” thirty minutes before feeding off insects is a step forward, but we, as keepers, can do much better. We need to use healthy, nutrient rich, premium quality insects, to feed our reptiles, if we want them to thrive and live quality lifestyles.
How to improve the quality and longevity of your live food.

1. Get a suitable container
You will need at least two containers suitable for housing your live food. Ensure they are a decent size to house whatever live food you use, for example. locust will need more room than mealworms or roaches. If you are not sure, always choose the larger size, with flatter, wider enclosures and good ventilation being ideal.
2. Put is somewhere appropriate
Keep your insect enclosure away from extreme temperatures, such as a window ledge where it can be exposed to draughts or direct sunlight. It needs to be on a flat level surface that is easily accessible. Noise and vibrations can create stress and lead to premature death.
3. Put your insects in the container
Gently transfer all of your live food into the clean container, keeping the piece of egg crate to give more surface for the insects to move about or to seek shelter. If you have a lot of live food, it may be worth adding other shelters and tubes to create more space.
4. BIN THE BRAN!

This is only in there for aesthetic purposes and you really do not want you insects eating this. Bran contains a unique natural substance called phytic acid which impairs the absorption of minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium and most importantly, calcium. If your insects consume this and you feed it to your reptile, it has the potential to block calcium from being absorbed.
5. Hydrate
Your store-bought insects will need hydrating as soon as possible, as they may have been without food or a moisture source for up to a week. Dehydration is the main cause of death with live foods. We do not recommend using a water bowl as many insects tend to drown, polluting the water.
6. Feed with Insect food
This is where Insect Food really shines, made from top quality ingredients, it gives you an easy way to provide solid nutrition and, if mixed with clean water, a premium hydration source. It is a very convenient way to ensure you always have nutritionally optimized live food. It can be used wet or dry and all insects in our trials found it highly palatable.
7. Feed daily
Feed your insects everyday as much food as they will usually eat in a 24-hour period. Everything needs to be kept clean and remove uneaten or soiled food. This will keep your insects in top condition.
8. Feed your live food for up to a week before using
If you were wondering where the other clean tub comes in - this is where you find out. When you purchase your fresh live food keep it for at least a week in the good conditions we have outlined to give your reptiles the best food possible. Rotating between the two tubs enables you to have clean, fresh quality food always.
9. Dust with supplement.
Before using your insects, dust them with a good quality supplements to provide vitamins and minerals and enable a positive calcium profile. This is where the other two products in the range, Vit A Min and Calcium Ultra plug the gaps in the captive diet.
Alfalfa

Alfalfa is widely regarded as a superfood and prized for its superior nutritional content. It is a good, natural source of a whole host of nutrients including many vitamins and minerals - most notably iron, magnesium, manganese, vitamin A, C, E and several B vitamins, as well as good quality fiber. It is also consumed by many grazing animals in the wild and has been grown as a livestock feed for hundreds of years.

Calcium carbonate

Dandelion

Dandelions may the gardener’s nemesis but to every reptile keeper that owns herbivorous, or in fact, omnivorous species, they are an absolute seasonal treat. Easily recognisable by their beautiful yellow flowers, big leaves, and unmistakable floating seeds, the flowers surpass most, if not all, vegetables in abundance of nutrients. All parts of the dandelion are edible, stems, flower, leaves and roots.

Dandelions are a great source of fibre and vitamins A, C, K, E, folate, and small amounts of other B vitamins.

Carrot

Carrots contain the best-known carotenoid, carotene, which give carrots their bright orange color.

Carrots are packed with vitamins and minerals and rich in beta carotene, which your body converts into vitamin A. This nutrient promotes good vision and is important for growth, development, and immune function.

They also contain B7 vitamin, formerly known as vitamin H, biotin, which plays an important role in fat and protein metabolism. A group of related vitamins, B6, is involved in the conversion of food into energy.

Interestingly, they also have Vitamin K1 which is important for blood clotting and bone health.

Spinach

Spinach is a nutritious leafy green, high in fibre and packed with vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, B2, B6, B9, C, E, K1, iron, magnesium and calcium. Spinach is also considered a superfood containing a host of nutrients and antioxidants and is listed as having numerous other health benefits.

Bee Pollen

This is probably the most talked about reptile supplement in recent years, and rightly so, as it contains a wealth of nutrients with many benefits. It contains over 250 biologically active components and is rich in minerals and antioxidants.

Spirulina with DHA

This is an alga that we have specially grown for us. It is extremely nutrient dense, containing almost the full spectrum of B-vitamins which are essential to the health of the central nervous system and the brain. High in many other essential vitamins and minerals, the nutrients in spirulina are highly bioavailable and is easily broken down by the digestive system.

Containing all 9 of the essential amino acids, spirulina is high in net protein utilisation, meaning it is 85% - 95% digestible – with its amino acids being delivered to the body for almost instant absorption.

Natural Red Clay

Natural red clay, or Pelagic red clay, accumulates in the deepest and most remote areas of the ocean. It covers 38% of the ocean floor and accumulates more slowly than any other sediment type as they settled through the water column. These sediments consist of eolian dust, clay minerals, volcanic ash, residue of siliceous microfossils, accessory constituents found in red clay include meteorite dust and aquatic skeletal mass. These clays are very mineral rich and include a wealth of trace elements.

Papaya

Papaya is rich in fiber, Vitamin A, C, E and antioxidants like beta-carotene which helps prevent damage from free radicals.

Dunaliella Salina

This is a type of micro-algae, usually found in sea salt fields, revered for its antioxidant activity and its ability to create large amounts of high-quality carotenoids.

This is another alga that is grown exclusively for us under license by the French government in a protected area of outstanding natural beauty. It takes several months to grow and has a limit on how much can be harvested at any one time.

Due to the abundance of beta-carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant as well as a vitamin A precursor, D. Salina is a popular pro-vitamin A food supplement for both human and animal use.

Carotenoids act as antioxidants but are also crucial for eyesight by aiding clear vison and preventing damage by absorbing near ultraviolet and blue light.

The best-known carotenoid, carotene, give carrots their bright orange colour. The pink colour of flamingos and salmon come from carotenoids. Flamingos, salmon, shrimp and lobsters get their pigments from consuming algae or algae eaters.

Silicic acid

Silicic acid is a natural compound of the mineral substance silicon and oxygen. It can bind to a variety of harmful and toxic substances, including pathogens. This renders them harmless so that they can be removed naturally through the intestines and out of the body.

Silicic acid exists naturally in seawater as well as sand, quartz and even the human body. Orthosilicic acid is found in tissues, bones, tendons, kidneys and the liver, and is necessary for life.

This mineral content is also available in food sources such as beets, brown rice, bell peppers, soybeans, alfalfa, leafy green vegetables such as kale and whole grains.

Mango

Although we use mango mainly as a natural attractant it also contains a wealth of nutrients and antioxidants.

Mangos contain over 20 different vitamins and minerals, one serving provides 35% of your daily vitamin A, 100% of your daily vitamin C, and 10% of your daily vitamin B6.

Ref. * Gupta RK, Gangoliya SS, Singh NK. Reduction of phytic acid and enhancement of bioavailable micronutrients in food grains. J Food Sci Technol. 2015;52(2):676‐684. doi:10.1007/s13197-013-**0978-y Oonincx, D.G.A.B., van Keulen, P., Finke, M.D. et al. Evidence of vitamin D synthesis in insects exposed to UVb light. Sci Rep 8, 10807 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29232-w