Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can anyone tell me what is the shelf life of calcium powders. i have some tetra reptocal for about 3 years now. has it expired it use for the frogs health.
thanks
pa.walt

Most supplements expire within a year. And personally, I would only use either Miner-All 1, or Rep-Cal (not reptocal) with D3 AND herptivite mixed in a few times a week. Pretty much all of the other supplements on the market are garbage. I hear dendrocare is alright, but I have never used it. The flukers ones are especially brutal, and Zoo-Med's reptivite is crap as well. Check out Patrick Nabor's website... he has a great little article on calcium deficiencies.
Double J

I agree with you on the supplementing issues. When I first started out, I was supplementing with Zoo-Med's Reptivite which contained Vit. A. This ended up killing a few of my adult frogs due to leg infections. I was unsure what the cause was at the time but after speaking with several other keepers and a vet we concluded that the infections were due to vitamin A overdosing. I have since switched over to RepCal's Herptivite and haven't had any problems since. I was considering Dendrocare, but the price scared me away as Herptivite was half the price and contained nearly the exact contents as Dendrocare. I calcium supplement with RepCal as well.

-Bill J.
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I also use Herptivite, anbd repcal 1:1. I dust a couple times a week.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
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0.0.2 D. ventrimaculatus

The shelf life of usable calcium is not that long. I want to say a couple months, but I know that at 6 month it is time to switch. From what I remember the calcium will oxidize and change forms to an usable form. To get around this, I dust with Dendrocare daily to every other day and once a month grind up a Centrum Silver and dust the flies with it.
Another product that has been recommended to me, by a zoo keeper was Quantum Series Frog & Toad from www.herpnutrition.com/ If you read through thier site the recommend getting new vitamin dust every 2-3 month. I will most likey try this product next.

Hope this helps,
Benjamin Green
www.thechocohut.com

So could you just go to a health store and buy any calcium supplement and grind to powder and dust flys with it for the frogs?

Calcium supplements for humans do not contain vitamin D3... I would not use human supplements exclusively because of this lack of D3. Without the D3.. they cannot really use the calcium anyway. I am sure they are valuable to throw in the mix... but I would not use as a staple. It would be far cheaper anyway to go out and buy some rep-cal or miner-all 1.
Double J

thanks

Ben,

Can you confirm that Oyster Shell calcium (the type used in RepCal) oxidizes into an unusable form? The chemical composition is CaCO3. While addition of strong acid will make a calcium salt (in small quantities dependent upon the acid used), CaO, and CO2, I cannot think of what would cause oxidation of CaCo3 simply on the shelf.

Actually, CaCO3 is quite stable. It's so stable, in fact, that most of our capitol buildings are made from it--it's the primary component in limestone. Unless the D3 breaks down or chemically reacts with the calcium (which it might, as I'm not real sure of the chemical structure of D3 other than to know that it is hydrophobic), I would think it should have a very long shelf life. Other vitamins might be shorter, especially if you mix your calcium and vitamins together.

Probably a long winded way to say that I think you should have a shelf life of at least one year (and probably a lot longer) on calcium derived from oyster shells. Calcium citrate, on the other hand, has a much shorter shelf life, but is more easily absorbed (although I know of no frog products using this).
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

Homer,
I had to check with my buddy that orginal told me the information and I had it mixed up. He said you are correct and that CaCO3 is stable and has a long shelf life, but it has to be keep seperate. He said that if the calcium is being supplied as part of a complete vitamin and mineral supplement, like in dendrocare, then the vitamins can oxidize and he believes that calcium tends to react with them (especially D3) speeding this process.

I don't know if people here have heard, but a new book is coming out at IAD: www.frognet.org/cgi-bin/ads/ads.cgi?dispitem&misk&1076639163&Miscellaneous There is an article
by Ed Kowalski on Nutrition, he works at the Philly Zoo, and should clear a lot more of this up. For the other articles follow the links to Tracy Hick's website.

Sorry for the wrong info before,
Benjamin Green
www.thechocohut.com

Thanks for checking! You always wonder if you are missing something if you see information that conflicts with your understanding of how something should work.

As for mixing Calcium with vitamin powder, that definitely shortens the shelf life. That's why I like the RepCal/Herptivite. They're both pretty high quality stuff that is intentionally separated so as not to reduce the shelf life. Someone there knows what they are doing. I respect that.

By the way, I really like your pics and backgrounds. I have your "Foot Prints" pic up on my desktop right now!
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

i like many beginners got the reptocal because didn't know any better. i got some repcal[herpavite and calcium] from my friend rich's store. i was just wondering if it was any good after all this time.i should of figured it being open and over a year old it would of lost it's potentcy.
thanks
walt