brands

[Tammy24]

Hi I was wondering if these brands of Vitamins and calcium was okay. I read that the Calcium with D3 I use is used by a lot of you (Rep-Cal) so i'm not worried about that. For Vitamins and pure calcium I use Jurassi-Vite and Jurrassi-Cal (both Jurassipet brand), has anyone used or heard of them? Do you need any more info to know if they are good?

I have used Rep-Cal products for 13 years. I use Herptivite weekly, Calcium w/D3 weekly (except for laying females... with every feeding), and Calcium w/out D3 every feeding.

I switched to T-Rex Sandfire Leopard Gecko ICB several years ago, and had literally EVERY egg fail for a couple of months since I switched back to Rep-Cal, so I'm sticking with my supplement regime.

[Gecko Ranch]

How disappointing Marica, good thing the T-Rex/Calcium Plus leo supplement is state of the art now! I did not have trouble with my leo eggs using the old version as I also alternated 50/50 RepCal and Herptivite as well as leaving Calcium out. That is no success story for the old version of the T-rex, agreed. I did have trouble with my Phelsuma using the old version, which I also breed a lot of. I even went to 2:1 RepCal to Herptivite exclusively and was still having trouble the the Days. For those who don't know I have a very large and diverse collection of Day Geckos from Madagascar.

So, based on my input and other breeders, and Allen Repashy's own breeding experiences with Rhacs, he upped the calcium mid-2007 and now my most difficult Phelsuma, P. standingi, Standing's Day, is producing perfect eggs. Philippe de Vosjoli also helped perfect the supplement with his work using it with frogs - they have higher calcium requirements than most geckos. The evolution of a frog egg to tadpole to froglet is a rigorous test!

Here's some eggs I just collected this week:



Same set so you can see what bowling balls these are:



There are no more larger, more heavily calcified eggs produced in legally obtained Phelsuma. This female threw out many bad eggs last season and only produced a few offspring. This is her first clutch this season.

P. klemmeri are a specialty for me:



and I have broken all my production records for them since the new version of T-Rex, aka Calcium Plus. I'll be sure and post up some pix of their eggs, offspring. and other species of geckos I work with. I have about 12 P. klemmeri offspring right now, all little visions of beauty, health and vitality. Also recent hatchlings in the last week are P.l. angularis (Angulated Gold Dust) P. laticauda (Gold Dust) and P. v-nigra pasteuri (Pasteur's Day, rare). The P. v-nigra pasteuri are extra sensitive, often I would get one weak hatchling or the eggs just would not hatch. In the last two days I have two vivacious hatchlings.

Another old problem from improper supplementation was kinky tail, I have yet to see one of these Phelsuma since using this version of the supplement. Some of these kinky tailed Phelsuma would not make it past hatchling stage with the old version and even 2:1 RepCal to Herptivite, they would start seizing with calcium tetany and expire on the spot if you upset them in the least.

Leos are late this year as I don't use an incubator for the females, and temps have been low in my room I keep them in too boot. I'll post of some of their eggs and hatchlings as they come out. Their eggs and first hatchlings are looking good except for two that were affected by the extra long time in the egg due to the low temps. These each had a lot of egg sac left when they hatched, poor little dickens!

I can see why folks in the leo community have the bad rap on the T-Rex/Calcium Plus and think I am nuts to be using it and asking my customers use it for best results, but it really is based on a quite a lot of successful production here using this new version. I have tried pretty much all the good supplements on the market in my (gasp) approaching three decades with lizards, at least the best attempts folks have made for geckos. The only other one worth using is the 50/50 RepCal Herptive combo (for leos). For each type of gecko you need to ask what is the best supplement and different types of geckos have different sensitivity to calcium and all the delicate ratios of phosphorus, D3 and Vitamin A that enable proper metabolism. I work with about 50 species and am using Calcium Plus for them all now, and no extra calcium supplementation has been necessary. Saves me a lot of time and work (no mixing, no little dishes for extra Calcium)!

Make no mistake though, if you buy the T-Rex Leo dust from the pet store you take a chance of getting an old version due to the slow distribution and long time things are on the shelf at such places. Allen Repashy made Calcium Plus available to his breeder dealers so breeders and hobbyists could get it fresh. So you know the difference, Calcium Plus is in aluminum resealable pouches and the T-Rex Leo dust comes in bottles. It is totally grassroots, made by a real gecko guy working with other serious gecko guys and gals like myself for the good of the geckos!