confused about supplementation

[blenderhead]

I got a young (less than a year old - I would guess he's about 6 mo. old) male leopard gecko a couple weeks ago and am confused about supplementation. I've been giving him Cal-Stron (calcium without d3), but am feeling wary about it since I read some negative things about strontium. What's a good calcium supplement to use? I've been leaning towards Rep-Cal with d3. Should I be dusting his mealworms every day? Is it okay to leave a dish of calcium with d3 in the tank or is it best to use plain calcium? Also, is it necessary to use a multivitamin? If so, how often should they be used? I bought Reptivite with d3 a couple days ago but am thinking about returning it and getting one without d3.

Any info would be great, thanks.

 

[MiamiLeos]

I do this for all my leos: When I fill up their worm bowl, I sprinkle a 1:1 mix of Calcium w/ d3 and Herptivite in with the worms. The worms will gutload on this and also get dusted as they move around. Then, the leos have a small dish of pure calcium in their enclosure as well. I plan to switch to the Vionate/Calcium mixture shortly, but the way I supplement will stay the same.

 

[gumbii]

what type of dish do you use to keep the mealies in...?

 

[fuzzylogix]

i just switched over to repashy super cal plus. has everything already in it pre-mixed, and smells like bananas. i use it to dust every meal. geckos seem to love it, even the picky eaters...

 

[Dog Shrink]

i just switched over to repashy super cal plus. has everything already in it pre-mixed, and smells like bananas. i use it to dust every meal. geckos seem to love it, even the picky eaters...

If you use this suppliment is it still necessary to leave a dish of pure calcium in the tank at all times? How long do these suppliments keep for? I know when I was using suppliments on my tortoise that we wouldn't go thru half a container by the "better used before" date.

Also what are your feelings on the premixed vit. suppliments designed for leos? Such as:

Made by T-Rex

 

[MiamiLeos]

what type of dish do you use to keep the mealies in...?

I use petri dishes or the bottom dishes for potted plants

 

[MiamiLeos]

If you use this suppliment is it still necessary to leave a dish of pure calcium in the tank at all times? How long do these suppliments keep for? I know when I was using suppliments on my tortoise that we wouldn't go thru half a container by the "better used before" date.

Also what are your feelings on the premixed vit. suppliments designed for leos? Such as:

Made by T-Rex

Some people feel that only laying females need a dish of pure calcium in the cage. I keep one in with every leo year round just because I know that if they need it, it's there. And I have witnessed males and non laying females licking up the benefits of the pure calcium. Always go by the expiration date on the supplement just to be sure, they are there for a reason. I stay away from premixed supplements that contain all the "essnetial" clacium and vitamins because some elements in the vitamins can actually break down the calcium, causing it to loose it's potency. Right now I use Herptivite and Calcium+d3 in the worm dish, not premixed, and pure calcium in a seperate dish. Shortly I will be switching to the Vionate/Osteoform mixture in the worm dishes.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Laymans terms :main_thumbsup: Thanks hon

 

[fuzzylogix]

I use petri dishes or the bottom dishes for potted plants

yeah, i use the bottoms of the little potting plants, and they have pure calcium at all times in their habs, males and females. geckos know when they need more calcium intake, so even after dusting, if they need it, its there.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Just out of curiosity, which would you say is more important to leos, calcium or multivite. suppliment. What is the purpose of the multivite? You only use that once or twice monthly and leave the calcium 24/7 right?

 

[MiamiLeos]

Hmm... ya know they both play really important parts in the over all health of the leos. My leos get their 1:1 mix of multi vitamins and calcium+d3 every time they decide to eat with their worms. If I noticed some huge side-boobs, I would cut back to a few times a week, but mine all seem to do great with this method. I've heard that some owners only dust with multi vitamins like twice a week, but then again, I'm not using pure vitamins.

 

[pawsible]

calcium

Hi-
Make sure you dust her food with calcium powder. Use a reptile vitamin once a week and once a week use a calcium with D3.(but beware they can overdose on vitamin d3 as well so this is why I dust with d3 only once a week)

http://www.theultimateleopardgeckomanual.com/

 

[roger]

Hi-
Make sure you dust her food with calcium powder. Use a reptile vitamin once a week and once a week use a calcium with D3.(but beware they can overdose on vitamin d3 as well so this is why I dust with d3 only once a week)

http://www.theultimateleopardgeckomanual.com/

I only use the calcium with D3 once a month