This is a general good-practice principle rather than a precise science with fixed timings or quantities that apply to every household. How long to gut-load, and how often, depends on the insects being kept, the conditions they're kept in, and the feeding schedule of the animals they'll go to. Rather than following a single fixed rule, it helps to build gut-loading into the same routine as storing and checking livefood day to day, vivarium supplier so it becomes a habit rather than an extra step.
That's particularly true if reduced interest in food comes alongside weight loss, lethargy or any other change, or if it carries on for more than a day or two. A vet who works with reptiles is the right person to assess what's going on and advise on next steps; a general husbandry article isn't in a position to do that, and shouldn't try to.
Once that figure is known, matching order size and delivery frequency to it reduces the two most common waste scenarios: over-ordering, where livefood sits around long enough to decline in condition or start dying off before use, and under-ordering, which leads to gaps where an emergency top-up order is needed at short notice, often at a higher unit cost than a planned order.
The basics are consistent across most common feeder insects. They need a container with adequate ventilation so air can move but nothing escapes, a stable temperature that avoids extremes of heat or cold, and enough space that they're not so crowded they start dying off before use. Egg boxes or cardboard inserts are commonly used in cricket and locust tubs to increase usable surface area and give the insects somewhere to sit that isn't directly on top of each other.
It's also worth reviewing quantities periodically rather than setting an order once and leaving it unchanged indefinitely. A collection that grows, whether through an animal maturing, a new arrival, or a change in feeding frequency, needs its livefood order revisited, and the same applies if an animal's appetite drops for any of the reasons that can affect feeding. Labelling delivery dates on livefood tubs also helps a household track how quickly stock is actually being used, rather than relying on memory alone.
For keepers wanting to build gut-loading into a regular delivery pattern, [browsing the current livefood options](https://reptilecentre.com) is a useful way to see what's available before settling on a routine. If you're ever uncertain about the right approach for a particular species or an individual animal showing signs of ill health, a reptile-experienced vet is the right point of contact rather than relying on general guidance alone.