Calcium vs. Calcium + D3

[musick]

Can anyone find a scientific journal article that proves D3 is detrimental? If so I'd liek to see it.

I use just D3 and I also use vionate / and herptivite.

As a scientist, I have never seen such an article in my cursory research.

I did some simple calculations in page 1 and 2 of this thread regarding the actual amount of D3 a gecko typically gets if anyone is interested:
http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=55664

My opinion is there is no real risk on overdosing your gecko w/ a Ca+D3 supplement.

 

[AvandisFifth187]

I use plain calcium for the dish in each of their enclosures, dust with calcium twice a week, and once every 3rd feeding they get a dusting of vitamins with d3 along with their calcium.

 

[Taquiq]

I place a bowl of calcium without d3 in the tank and dust once a week with calcium d3.

 

[JennieDoomsday]

All of this is confusing me badly. I'm about to buy my first gecko. What do I do to keep it healthy? Small dish of calcium in the tank? Do they NEED D3 at all? Can I just put calcium in the tank and dust their food with reptile vitamin dust? Or should I only have calc in there and dust their food with calcium? Should I dust the food every day? If not, how often? I am so confused.

 

[BGalloway]

Just going to post an article here.

But first let me say I used Calcium with D3 exclusively and Vitamin powder. My little guy got calcium bubbles. I cut back on calcium and the bubbles shrank. Previous supplementation was resumed. Bubbles returned...repeat. I got sick of it and bought some Ca without D3. Bubbles have shrunk and not noticeably regrown, data inconclusive as I switched over recently. Just my personal experience.


I don't know how to do the quotes all fancy, but.
Quoting CapCitySteve

Can anyone find a scientific journal article that proves D3 is detrimental? If so I'd liek to see it.

I use just D3 and I also use vionate / and herptivite.

This article isn't really arguing one way or the other. Just presenting information, but I think its still useful.
http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/156/26/831
Influence of the calcium content of the diet offered to leopard tortoises (Geochelone pardalis)
B. Fledelius, DVM1, G. W. Jørgensen, DVM1, H. E. Jensen, DVM, PhD2 and L. Brimer, MSc, PhD, DSc1
The Veterinary Record 156:831-835 (2005)
© 2005 British Veterinary Association

And to JennieDoomsday, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Now I'd recommend Ca, Ca+D3, and Vitamins, but if you want to use only Ca+D3 go for it. There are more than enough people here that do and more than enough that don't. The important thing is providing some form of Ca for proper bone growth and maintenance.

Just my 2 cents on the whole matter.

 

[spykerherps]

Sorry I'm late to the discussion I some how mist this or didn't post for 1 or another.

Been using rep cal calcium w/ d3 for over 10 years. in a dish in the tank or theses day a tub. 0 problems

over the years tweaking the "formula" a little. used to dust more but now infrequently. I just leave the d3 in a dish in the tub make sure the insect pray is gut loaded properly with my own home made recipe. for young ones and gravid females supplement w/ multi vit sup. 1 to 2 meals a week. and maybe every 2 weeks perhaps 3 for everyone else. started the Less supplementation and better quality feeder feeding schedule a few years back and have had great success. (in my case roaches suptd. w/ crix and supers all on a good diet)

aside from that the gecko are still seeming to do a good job of regulating them selves with the calcium they need. Once or twice a week will I dust prey with calcium to give extra to young and gravid females. again the same calcium wd3 I put in their dish. 0 health problems. Within the last 5 years the only problems I have had with geckos is hatching out one or two clutches a year with eyelid deformities. Which I do not attribute to a d3 essue.

 

[bman123]

My local store only had calcium with d3 so that's what I use. It's a toss up on this subject, some use it with d3 and some don't.

 

[Lpac]

calcium + D3

 

[roger]

Pure calcium should be used daily.Calcium with D3 should be used monthly

 

[roger]

Sorry I'm late to the discussion I some how mist this or didn't post for 1 or another.

Been using rep cal calcium w/ d3 for over 10 years. in a dish in the tank or theses day a tub. 0 problems

over the years tweaking the "formula" a little. used to dust more but now infrequently. I just leave the d3 in a dish in the tub make sure the insect pray is gut loaded properly with my own home made recipe. for young ones and gravid females supplement w/ multi vit sup. 1 to 2 meals a week. and maybe every 2 weeks perhaps 3 for everyone else. started the Less supplementation and better quality feeder feeding schedule a few years back and have had great success. (in my case roaches suptd. w/ crix and supers all on a good diet)

aside from that the gecko are still seeming to do a good job of regulating them selves with the calcium they need. Once or twice a week will I dust prey with calcium to give extra to young and gravid females. again the same calcium wd3 I put in their dish. 0 health problems. Within the last 5 years the only problems I have had with geckos is hatching out one or two clutches a year with eyelid deformities. Which I do not attribute to a d3 essue.

Everyones regiment is different

 

[5HiddenLizards]

I haven't been dusting my insects. Right now I have mealworms & roaches. They both eat the roach chow (plus veggies), which is super powder fine ground up. When I mix the chow, I add in the calcium with D3 & some powdered reptile vitamins into the mix. Since they are currently using the gelled Fluker's cricket quench, the bugs have calcium from both sources. At first I was dusting them, but I noticed that the lizard's feces were becoming super hard & wouldn't break apart, so I stopped dusting & now everyone is back to normal.

 

[roger]

i use straight calcium daily and the Calcium with the D3 monthly

 

[Eureka]

Calcium + D3; I use Repashy Calcium Plus.

I would think Vitamin D3 insufficiency is more of a problem than the possibility of overdosing.

 

[bryman021]

I put pure calcium in the dish. I use pure calcium for dusting as well as +D3 about 2 to three times a week.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Personally I think this whole arguement could be moot if more owners used the complete formulas like Repashy calcium plus ICB or the T-Rex variety Leopard gecko dust. Allen Repashy has already replied on this thread, and I swear by his suppliments. My Leo has done great and you don't need to worry about leaving a calcium dish in the tank. It really takes all the guesswork out of whether or not you're properly supplimenting your leo because Allen has done all the research for you. Also I thought that supplimenting with too much vit. D could lead to pseudogout.

 

[Psychotic4mb3r]

the breeder i got my leos said keep calcium without d3 in tank at all times and use calcium with d3 a few times a week or so

 

[GeckosEcko]

I use Calcium + D3 in a dish in the tanks, and I dust with Calcium without D3 on their food. I also sometimes dust with Herptivite MultiVitamins on occasion on there food.

 

[im faster]

Does anyone have links or personal experiances with documented cases of ANY lizard that has suffered from a Vitamin D3 overdose?

THIS!!!

 

[ElapidSVT]

i have never heard of one documented case of vitD overdose in lizards.

the important thing, in my opinion, is whether it has Phosphorous or not. to keep the proper Ca ratio it's important to use Ca with no phosphorous on feeder insects and Ca WITH Phosphorous in the dish, if you offer one.

 

[mjr_my]

I am new to geckos, but understand physiology. I am pretty sure that the calcium cannot be absorbed properly without the D3...it is the vitamin that stimulates uptake and absorbtion into the bones. It is why we need sunlight etc to absorb the calcium we take in. Now, leopard geckos being nocturnal do not get much sun light or vitamin D3 from nature....they must get some in the wild and dusk or something. Or do they make their own vitamin D3?