Calcium VS "All-in-one Super Food"

[Zafo]

So recently when I was at the pet shop, I decided to pick up some "Leopard Gecko Dust by T-Rex". Now the bottle claims that it "Contains all Vitamins and minerals" needed by Leos.

Basically I'm just wondering how true these claims are. Should I dust the crickets strictly in the "super dust" and leave a small thing of calcium in the cage? Does this "super dust" provide enough calcium needed for the geckos, or should I still be using my calcium powder?

Thanks.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

A few years ago when this product first came out, I switched from Rep-Cal's Calcium and Herptivite to the "all in one" product. For nearly 2 months every egg failed due to thin shells. Once I went back to my regular supplement regime, I started having good eggs again.

There was quite a bit of discussion on this topic over at Fauna, and we came to the conclusion that it may not be the product itself as much as switching to another one. At any rate, I am sticking to my Rep-Cal products.

I also know another breeder who uses the all-in-one product exclusively, and claims to have no problems at all... although her geckos are very small compared to most. It could be just a husbandry or temperature issue, though.

 

[LeopardLunatic]

i would use both because they get calcium and lots of other vitamins.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

I used the leo gecko dust one season and out of 9 females I only had 1 egg hatch out once I went back to reptivite, osteo form and mineral, I had no more problems.

 

[Gecko]

There's benefits and draw backs to both products. I have noticed though that the Leo Dust doesn't adhere in as thick of coat and seems to be removed quicker.

Only time I really care about which ones I use is if I need to worry about vit. overdose or need to make sure someone gets a lot of vit./ca. Otherwise I switch back and forth every few feedings.

 

[rhino43grr]

will they eat reptivite the same way they would with a dish of calcium or do i need to get separate calcium for a dish and use the reptivite for dusting only?

 

[LadyGecko]

I have had miserable luck with getting any viable eggs out of the one or 2 female Leos that i have bred in the past few years and I was blaming the male as i only used one male for the 2 girls
BUT-then I came across this thread about the Leopard Gecko Dust and dimly remembered reading a similar post elsewhere

Guess what vit/mineral supplement that I have been using-yup-you guessed it
T-Rex Leopard Gecko Dust

I just ordered Herptivite and Rep-cal 0% vit D calcium

I do have a question ?

If the Herptivite has vit d3 in it-is there really a need for the second calcium with D3?
I have np with using all 3 supplements but I am confused as to why you would need two separate sources of Vit D3

Would someone please be so kind as to explain that to me?

Sandy

 

[rhino43grr]

d3 is supposed to replace the vitamin d3 that they would get from natural sunlight i believe, so since they're nocturnal they don't need nearly as much d3 as a diurnal species would, in fact, too much of it could be harmful to them (i guess that's why you're supposed to leave normal calcium without d3 in their cage instead of calcium with d3)

i was just using zoo med reptivite at first but i finally found a pet store near me that had a decent reptile department and picked up some rep-cal without d3 yesterday and left it in his tank. the reptivite has some calcium in it as well as d3 and pretty much every other vitamin and mineral i could think of so i'm not worried about getting calcium with d3 in addition to those two...

 

[LadyGecko]

d3 is supposed to replace the vitamin d3 that they would get from natural sunlight i believe, so since they're nocturnal they don't need nearly as much d3 as a diurnal species would, in fact, too much of it could be harmful to them (i guess that's why you're supposed to leave normal calcium without d3 in their cage instead of calcium with d3)

i was just using zoo med reptivite at first but i finally found a pet store near me that had a decent reptile department and picked up some rep-cal without d3 yesterday and left it in his tank. the reptivite has some calcium in it as well as d3 and pretty much every other vitamin and mineral i could think of so i'm not worried about getting calcium with d3 in addition to those two...

I understand what you are saying and I thank you for your reply but I was just asking because i keep reading that a lot of people are using 3 supplements
a multivitamin/mineral-plain calcium and calcium with vitamin D3
I was wondering if the multivitamin contains D3 why you would need an anothel source of Calcium with additional D3?

As I said-I have no problems with using 3 supplements-I just wanted the reason behind it