Calcium!?

[CourtneyZach]

So I've been googling this but can't find an answer. Should I cover my leo's mealworms in calcium before feeding them to him? Or is leaving the dish in okay? I've been covering the mealworms the last few days and have also been leaving the calcium dish.
Can he get too much calcium if I cover them and leave the dish in, or is this okay? Should I just have one or the other?
He's just a babe so I worry. Haha.

 

[Eve Saint]

I read it is a must to leave the pure calcium in the tank in a dish all the time. (In my case I use a little seashell that is held up by some amethyst and other crystals to stop it from tipping over). The Leopard Geckos can easily lick the calcium from the shell in order to prevent bone disease and stuff.
I have a second supplement I also use. It is a multi vitamin supplement by the company REPCAL http://www.repcal.com/supp.htm
that I use to only dust the crickets before feeding the crickets to my Leos. I used to use repashy brand vitamin supplement but it was turning the paper towels pink and I stopped using it and switched to the brand repcal. I dust the crickets almost every time with the vitamin supplement. But the other members here can tell you how many times they dust their crickets with their supplement.

 

[tgolden]

I use reptivit twice a week for my geckos and leave out a dish of calcium. I use repcal for my bearded dragon twice a week as well. The only reason I use a different one for my dragon is I started off with the repcal when he was little and just stuck with it.
There is a lot of conflicting info out there on how many times a week to dust. So I just went by the information on the back of the product when I got into lizards and have heathy animals. d3 its a issue with Leos so you don't want to give a lot of it. If your not up on d3 toxicity in reptiles you may wanna do some research. Hope this helps

 

[Caleb C]

It's not necessary to keep the calcium in there if you dust regularly and aren't looking to breed them.
I never dust my mealworms, since their exoskeletons are way too slippery, and most of the calcium and vitamins end up on the carpet. I dust my dubia most of the time, since their shells seem to hold the calcium well, and I feed them dubia maybe 2-3 times a week.

 

[CourtneyZach]

Wow thanks everyone that helps a lot! I've heard of some d-3 problems, so I made sure to buy a supplement without it. Why is D3 harmful? Just interested I will google it haha.
Thanks everyone

 

[Caleb C]

D3 helps them process the calcium better, but it can be bad for them in large amounts, it shouldn't be harmful, there are rare cases are where they seriously get way too much.

 

[CourtneyZach]

Ohh really?? But I should keep the one without it, yes?
Hey Caleb what are these okay temperatures. The hot side ranges from 88-94 but the cool side is as low as 67! Is that bad?

 

[CourtneyZach]

Oops! Not what are these, I just meant -are these okay temperatures- haha

 

[Caleb C]

You can keep both, dust with the d3 sometimes, and if you want to keep some in the tank, use the one without d3.
What gallon is the tank? That's a pretty steep temperature gradient. Those temps are fine, if they get too cold, they go to the hot side, and vice versa.

 

[CourtneyZach]

Okay I will do that. I know it's really steep. I don't really remember the gallon.. it's either 10 or 20. It's HUGE but it's also really tall since it was for fish. I should probably invest in an vivarium so the light isn't so high up

 

[Caleb C]

Probably a 20 high, I don't think that a heat light would be able to make a difference there, haha.

 

[CourtneyZach]

Hahah oh dang, really? Eh that's Canada for ya! Haha.

 

[Caleb C]

If you don't plan on getting more geckos, a 10-20 gallon long would be fine.

 

[CourtneyZach]

Okay! Good. I don't plan on getting anymore. When I was younger I bought a boy gecko named Miles and he was so great! Happy and healthy, could have lived forever I swear! Then I bought a second one and it had a parasite and they both died. ._,
Haha, it's all good but way too nerve racking now to get more than one!

 

[Star1]

I put calcium in the dish with the mealworms and kind of shake it to cover them and I also leave out calcium for them in bottle covers but I've never seen any of my geckos licking it so I guess they're getting enough from their food. I did have one go to the bathroom in her calcium dish.

 

[Caleb C]

Do we need a weird poop locations thread?

 

[CourtneyZach]

Hahaha, it appears so!

 

[Star1]

I bet there'd be some pretty funny places

 

[Josh2]

Do we need a weird poop locations thread?

I Think so!!