too much calcium?

[pirasha]

Hey Everyone!

So I have a 7 month old leopard gecko, nice and pleasantly plump (48g) and very active. He uses all of his 30 gallon tank and makes a racket alllll night ^_^ Anyway I usually dust all feeders with calcium without D3 and give him reptivite multivitamins once a week. I noticed the other day that he was licking all the calcium that has fallen off the crickets I put in there, so I thought perhaps he needed more calcium and put a dish of it in his cage to lick to his hearts content. Anyway he loved it...and I mean the entire dish was gone within 10 minutes or so...he ate mouthfuls of the stuff...no licking just complete face stuffing. Should I be concerned about this? I never heard of a gecko eating mounds of the stuff in one sitting...especially because I dust everything already.

I was just very surprised...do you think he is lacking in some nutrient that he is trying to gain?

 

[OnlineGeckos]

You may want to dust with zoo med reptivite with D3 more than just once a week, try 2-3x a week at least. Understand that your once a week dusting is the only time your gecko is getting D3, which is what allows him to absorb calcium. Without D3, dusting with plain calcium is often wasted. So not enough D3 intake could lead to him wanting more calcium as his body may not be getting enough. It's just a theory, but makes sense I think

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Mine seem to eat mouthfuls on occasion as well so I wouldn't be too alarmed as it seems to be normal behavior to a point. It may indicate he is missing something in his diet though. Are you also supplementing with vitamins? Most of the Ca they eat in mouthfuls I would assume would be passed directly through the digestive system so you may find some greyish poops in the future. I haven't seen any hard evidence to this but have read some articles that indicate that it is possible for geckos to overdose on D3. They do need some but I don't know, however, how much is too much for a nocturnal animal. In addition, too much calcium may block the absorption of other vitamins and minerals they need.