Dusting Vs. Dish of Calcium? Gut Loading?

[Condawg]

Well, I've been hearing positive things on both sides.

I'm getting my first leopard gecko tomorrow, and I want to keep it well nourished, so it can grow big and live a good life.

If I put a dish of calcium in the gecko's home for it to lick, will it lick it enough to maintain the same healthy effect as dusting the food?

Or do you recommend to dust the food?

I'm most likely going to be using meal worms over everything else, if that makes any sort of difference.

It just seems like too much effort to dust if it's not a necessity. Not that I'd mind making the effort if it would lead to a healthier, happier gecko, but if it's not necessary, I'd rather just leave a dish of calcium in there for him to lick in his own discretion.

Also, I know I could easily find an answer for this on Google or whatever, but I'd also like a first-hand experience...

Is it important to gut load?
I've been hearing good things about this, too, but... Well, maybe it's just me, but it seems like a bit of a waste to care after and properly carefully nourish something that you're planning on just feeding to something else anyway.

I know, you are what you eat, and it would make the food healthier, but I'm not looking to have hundreds of meal worms in my room alive at a time, well-kept and the like. I'd like to be able to just purchase as needed and feed them to the geckos, whilst making sure they're alive long enough to be eaten.

If it is a better choice to gut load, can you offer any good ways to do it with meal worms, that you've found to be healthy for the gecko?
For instance, what do you feed the meal worms, how much, how long do you wait before using them as food for the gecko, etc...

I really appreciate any help.
I'm incredibly looking forward to being owned by a leopard gecko, and I want it to grow up as big, healthy, and happy as can be.

Thanks

 

[LizMarie]

From what Ive been reading theres a big debate that sparked up recently about dusting and calcium dishes so I'm not going to comment on that.

You should gutload your mealies 24-48 hrs before offering them to your gecko. Its true you are what you eat and while you find it useless your gecko may possibly benefit. For gutload you can use oatmeal, baby cereal, some people add in some cat/dog food and you need some veggies or fruit for hydration. (I asked about making your own gutload a few topics down, incase you want to check it out) You don't need 1,000s of mealworms to gutload you can only gutload whatever your going to feed him. Also if you have a mealworm dish in the tank you can put a little gutload in there so they can continue to munch until they're eaten.

Have fun!

 

[Geck-O]

Gut loading really isn't that troublesome. Just get some veg, oatmeal, a potato or two or a carrot once in a while. I am doing withs with a few hundred mealworms. They are doing great. As for dusting and the calcium dish, I do both but if you find it to troublesome to dust, just get some phoenix worms. They are really high in calcium. I have a calcium dish in my gecko's cage so that if it doesn't get enough calcium from the dusting, it can go and lick on it's own.

 

[Condawg]

Also if you have a mealworm dish in the tank you can put a little gutload in there so they can continue to munch until they're eaten.

Have fun!

Ahh, very nice. Thank you.

The reason I mentioned that I didn't want to have many meal worms is because I figured that if I had to wait a certain amount of time before using them as food, I'd have to separate them from the newer ones, and if I didn't have enough the gecko would go without food for a bit and... Well, it's hard to put my thoughts down in text, but yeah.

 

[LizMarie]

Ahh, very nice. Thank you.

The reason I mentioned that I didn't want to have many meal worms is because I figured that if I had to wait a certain amount of time before using them as food, I'd have to separate them from the newer ones, and if I didn't have enough the gecko would go without food for a bit and... Well, it's hard to put my thoughts down in text, but yeah.

I just put verrrry verrry little because I don't know if it would be a problem if my gecko ate it whole. Just put enough that they would use and a little carrot role or something similar for hydration and be sure to change the fruit/veggie everyday and it'll start to rot. I also like to clean it out every few days with soap and water to get the mealie poop and food out of it. you don't want bacteria going in it.

 

[Condawg]

Well, I got 100 super worms, and there's like, little pieces of hay or something in there, as well as corn and the like, so should I gut load them anyway, or is the corn sufficient?

Also, if I do choose to gut load, how would I clean it and such like you said?
As mentioned, it's full of hay and corn and things, and I really, really dislike handling them, so it would be absolutely dreadful to have to carry them one by one to another container where there's no hay and stuff so I could clean it.

Thanks

 

[rcobourn]

Throw a fresh piece of carot or potato in there every couple of days. I use a nice set of 8 inch tongs to handle the superworms, you should never have to touch them. The substrate they are supplied in seems to be fine. Since I'm working on breeding, I pour the whole thing out into a larger container with the gutload I mix myself, but I don't bother to separate them from the food they ship in, and frankly, there is very little apparent difference between the mix I'm making and what they come in.

 

[nats]

According to the latest research, over supplementing with calcium (ie, a dish of it) is very bad for your leo. They should only get what is dusted on their food.

Read the calcium plus thread for more info.
You could also read Allen Repashy's research papers on his website.

 

[Geck-O]

I have been dusting my mealies with calcium for every meal so that it will get more calcium as it has a broken leg. Am I over supplementing? What happens if a gecko gets too much calcium?

 

[sushikam]

Ok, here's what I do...I personally place a dish of pure calcium in all my geckos enclosures. I may occasionally dust with the pure calcium, just for reassurance that I know they are at least getting it then, but I have never had any problems or signs of MBD with any of my geckos. But what I do dust with is the Calcium with D-3 and a Multi-Vitamin.

I don't see a problem with leaving the calcium in their enclosures at all times, because I do believe that they know when they need it, and will get it as needed. It took several months before I ever actually saw any of my geckos lick from it, but now I see it quite often. I have a few that tip over their dishes all the time, so I tend to just put the calcium in their mealworm dishes if they are "dish tippers" .

As for the gutloading...it's a definite must! As said before, you are what you eat, and the same goes for your geckos. The healthier the food they are being fed, the healthier your geckos will be. It's really not a difficult process, or an inconvenience. What I do is use Cody's Pro Gutload . I find this works great, as you know what all is in it and it's easy, just pour into a bin and place the mealworms in! But if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, oatmeal, some cereals, and other things work just fine. As others have said, be sure to provide the mealworms with moisture, such as carrots, apples, potatoes etc. Try to mix it up a little bit every now and then to provide them with different nutrients.

Oh, and as someone else said, use tongs to pick up the mealworms...it's a great tool :main_yes:! These can be purchased probably just about anywhere, but I personally got mine from Cody as well...just out of convenience at the time (tongs are tongs, no matter where you get them!).

Anyway, hope I helped a bit. Just wanted to give my opinion and experience.