Vionate without calcium dish

Josh P.

New Member
Messages
381
Location
Europe
Those of you who have experience with the use o Vionate as supplement on leopard geckos, does it work to provide Vionate inside the mealworm dish at all times and no calcium dish?

Several highly reputable breeders, including Matt Baronak (SaSobek) and Ron Tremper, claim great success for many years with this method and they don't provide a dish with plain calcium.
 

DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,590
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
Most of them mix vionate with osteoform SA Calcium and a bit of sand in the food dishes. I've tried it myself and it seems to work okay. I don't like the super fine grind of the Osteoform - it seems to kill feeder insects quickly. I also still provide a small dish of RepCal without D3 for laying females and they really seem to go to town eating it and I dust every other feeding with Repashy Ca Plus. I really do like the vionate as it is grain based and the mealworms eat it as they sit in the bowl which allows them to stay fairly well gutloaded and keeps them alive longer. I don't think vionate alone would be a sufficient supplement though.
 

Josh P.

New Member
Messages
381
Location
Europe
Thanks for the reply. Would Vionate inside the mealworms dish and added Calcium be sufficient?
 

indyana

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,336
Location
Massachusetts, United States
Yes, the info in his latest book jives with that. He writes that he uses Vionate for geckos up to 7" and Osteo-Form for sexually mature geckos. Keep in mind that Tremper also gutloads his insects with Layena chicken mash or hog mash though, which adds even more supplementation.

Most people opt to make calcium available as well as Vionate or do the Vionate/Osteo-Form mixing.

I personally just use Repashy Calcium Plus and heavily gutload the insects with MS2 chow and fresh greens and vegetables.
 

Visit our friends

Top