color boosting?

[andrethegiant]

Are there any dusts/mixes that work in enhancing colors of your geckos? thanks:main_thumbsup:

 

[kthehun89]

I've heard of paprika being used, but thats about it. Incubation temps can affect it tho.

Welcome to GeckoForums, brother

 

[vctkiller]

I heard calcium plus has like pigment enhancers making your leopard gecko brighter.

 

[Gregg M]

I dont really agree with color enhancers... It should not take the place of natural genetics... I dont even give my feeders carrots... LOL

 

[LeapinLizards]

This conversation was already had on another thread about something asking if anyone uses Paprika to enhance the color of their geckos.
http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=27877&highlight=paprika

I personally don't agree with ARTIFICIALLY ENHANCING the NATURAL colors these geckos produce...I mean, don't we do that enough through selective and line breedings? I do give my feeders carrots on a regular basis (partly because of the beta carotene and partly because they are CHEAP) but I would never supplement my gecko with something that causes it's natural appearance to be "fake".

 

[shadowx362]

well I think the supplement is just suppose bring out the real colors. Using supplementation will NOT make a normal into a fire red tang. Its just a vitamin that a gecko would have otherwise in the wild, but in captivity they don't get it in their bugs so some supplements have included it into their produces. Well at least that is the way I understood it from the thread a while back.

 

[thestack510]

I agree with Heather. No fugaises for me thanks. All natural is fine.

 

[thestack510]

What if a breeder used Coloroids (Yes, I made that word up, but you know what I mean, right?) and someone buys a Leo from them; then later on down the line the colors fade dramatically because the keeper chooses a different supplement? If it were you, wouldn't you feel shortchanged, at least a little? I guess I mean to say that I feel that breeders should't use enhancers. It's sort of a truth in advertising issue to me, but to each his (or her) own.

 

[thestack510]

I had assumed it was just pigment, not anything of nutritional value. I'll have to read up on this...

 

[shadowx362]

MOST supplements now a days have Carotene which is what " enhances color"!!! HERPTIVITE and calcium plus both include this. Its a vital vitamin just like any other. So there is nothing wrong with using them, because if you DO have a problem then you should stop using your supplement LOL. So pretty much everyone uses them even if they don't know it. I dont know if abusing this would really make a normal into a marvelous gecko. But if you dont use it then your geckos color could sort of fade away according to some people ( Allen and Anthony to name a few)

Allen Raspashy
Carotenoids ( Xanthopylls and carotenes) in their natural state are NOT artifical color enhancers. They are natural compounds that are abundant in nature, but nearly non existent in captive diets. Carotenoids are not just pigments, they are a bioactive and antioxidant compounds that are currently being studied very intensely for their "nutraceutical" value. First, all carotenoid pigments are precursors to vitamin A, and can be converted into preformed Vitamin A in many species when deficiency occurs. Some of the well know compounds are Astaxanthin (pink-red pigments) Canthaxanthin (orange pigments) and Zeaxanthin (yellow pigments). Zeaxanthin for example is an important component in the retina of the eye, as well as Leutein. Beta carotene is one of the most famous Carotenoids

In nature, insects and plants are bursting with Carotenoids from their natural exposure to nutrients. Crickets raised on chicken feed get nearly nil.

Here is a quote from Heptivite

HERPTIVITE is the first reptile vitamin without Vitamin A. Instead we use Beta Carotene which is an anti-oxidant that is converted into Vitamin A in a regulated way, so there is no threat of Vitamin A toxicity.

http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=27877&highlight=paprika
Its all there if you really want to read it.

Ok scratch everything I said LOL

 

[LeapinLizards]

Edgar, we are not talking about the amount found in every day supplements, supplements they need in order to be healthy. We are talking about supplementing above and beyond that, merely to try and obtain a false level of color.

 

[thestack510]

I was initially thinking of edible dyes like I've seen people give birds, yet for all I know those may be vitamin supplements too. I wasn't thinking in terms of nutritional value.

 

[shadowx362]

AHH ok LOL.... I was going to say another long thread:main_rolleyes:
I wouldn't call carrots artificially enhancing either. Also on that thread they said that there is a limit to the geckos ability to get nice looking. So it still comes down to having good genetics according to the thread.

 

[froggz]

Spirulina algae is used in Repashy's supplement for leo's, and I feed it to my crickets in small amounts as well. It is full of color enhancing nutrients.

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

Is there proof that feeding your feeders carrots will change the color in your gecko? I feed mine carrots as well as other varied vegitation as another source of food and water.

I couldn't imagine that it would change the color of your gecko. The only real way to know other then doing extensive scientific studies on the crickets as well as the geckos.

I guess the easiest way since i highly doubt that any of us have the means to do those experiments would be to take the whitest gecko you can find. Feed it crickets that have been given carrots as a food source as well as other gut loading (as to not neglict the gecko of vit's and minerals) tuand see if the gecko rns orange.

 

[JordanAng420]

I've had a few clients with panther chameleons & geckos swear by this product called "Nekton Rep Color". Apparently it's a daily vitamin plus the extra cartenoids (or whatever those color supplements are called) in it already...

If anyone's interested here's the website...http://nekton-lori.net/Gebrauchsanweisungen/NEK-REP/ge-re--e.pdf