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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Calcuim and D3.....

icedearthgoddess Sep 18, 2006 08:02 PM

I have heard that leos are not supposed to consume calcuim with D3....WHY??? I have read at least ten sites that recommend using calcium with D3... Please let me know why the D3 is bad for them. I would like reference it liturature is available. Thanks.
-----
~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn

Replies (6)

cottonmouth111 Sep 18, 2006 10:37 PM

If you have a UV light your gecko will get most of it's D3 from there. If not you might want to buy some calcium with D3 in it.

Paradon Sep 18, 2006 11:11 PM

Well, I read that vitamin D3 in high concentration in the body can be toxic. So, yeah, give them calcium without the vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 can be administer by way of multivitamin supplement, and I only dust the crickets with vitamins only twice a week now that my leo's are a little bigger. If they were tiny, I would do it about 3-4 times a week.

icedearthgoddess Sep 19, 2006 10:51 AM

I do not use uv bulbs becasue they are nocturnal. They all have an infared heat bulb. They get heat in the winter by the UTH while the "light" source is lessened during the day. The Calcium I use is the Rep-Cal with D3, it is expensive, but I find it to be better quality. I keep a dish for my leos and they regulate. I dust the little guys food with it a couple times a week. I don't think I am using it i "toxic" amounts. What classifies "toxic amounts" anyway. Like I said, please give me links to literature/websites that state this information.
-----
~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn

sleepygecko Sep 19, 2006 11:08 AM

UV/ full spectum bulbs can make an amazing difference. We have tried a normal heat or basking lamp and then after reading a lot of material conflicting about whether UV was useful or not, we thought we'd try it for a week ourselves. Our geckos were more active and ate more and the change was stark. We have never gone back. "nocturnal" is not completely true, I believe in the wild they begin hunting at dusk, at least the ones that have lived with us always have.

We dust with a vitamin/ calcium leo specific formula every feeding until they achieve adult eating patterns then we dust about 1 or 2 times a week.
-----
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

cottonmouth111 Sep 19, 2006 11:36 AM

You are fine with what you are using. You aren't using toxic amounts.

Paradon Sep 19, 2006 12:40 PM

If you scroll down to the end of the article and read the last paragraph, you will see that vitamin and A and D can become quite toxic in large concetration. I think there are enough vitamin D3 in the multivitamin to maintain a thriving gecko. So if you dust the food with multivitamin, that should be enough. Remember that vitamins are important, but the body only needs tiny amount of it to function properly.
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