Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was reading a gecko forum (Hong Kong), and came across 2 threads that needed help. One was a owner looking for a mate for his girl, and someone suggested him to get a male, so they can breed; the other thread was the owner discovered his gecko has soft limbs, what to do. Well, I was trying to help, so I replied them (typing in chinese ofcourse, took me forever).

The first one, I said there is a chance that the male will stress out the female in a 1.1 group. I got a reply saying that it will only happen with Cat geckos, and not leopard. So, I replied with references and links to some of threads in this forum, since this topic has been asked so many times. Guess what, I got a reply this morning dismissing all things I said, they said they keep 1.1 group all the time, and that I don't have proof to say that 1.1 group won't work out! I've already put in links, how else can I give them proof?!

The second one, many people replied the original poster with few words like 'calcium', 'calcium deficiency'. So I added that the owner should use calcium w/D3 supplement, he should supplement their food every feeding (it seems that the owner never gave it calcium ). And I got a reply from that very same person, saying that "they're nocturnal, so they can get enough UV from the enviroment to produce calcium! So, D3 is not needed" How stupid!! I then explained to him the best I can, and gave him a link to Dr gecko, the page with MBD info; and his reply this morning is that he has lots of geckos, he never gave them D3, yet they are healthy; the infor in the Dr gecko website is just for the good sales of D3 related product!!!

Please note, he's not a troll, he's one that lurks in that forum all the time helping people out. And everyone trust him. Can you imagine how fustrated I am, I love leopard geckos, I'm just trying to help these poor leos that are suffering, and this guy is taking them nowhere!!

Which forum was this at?
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chickabowwow

www.aherp.com
the geckos forum

and the original poster agreed with what I said. And I think he is taking his leo to the vet too!!

I joined the forum, but for some reason my browser's only seeing half of the Chinese on there and the other half is jibberish.
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chickabowwow

www.aherp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022

I am still getting feedback from that person, but I'm quite tired to answer back now.

The poster suddenly agreed with the use of D3 this afternoon; I didn't even anwer his previous post. Don't know what happened...maybe he talked to someone else?

Most of the [bleep] users state that calcium without D3 is sufficient, since multivitamin supplementations should have enough trace D3. Many of these proponents have been keeping their leopard geckos for years have had no problems relating to calcium or D3.

Personally, I have no idea what to think, and was wondering if there're more studies/opinions on this subject.

I, personally, use the kind with D3. My leos get NO UVB/UVA lighting except what they can get across the room from the beardies, so I like to think it helps. I have absolutely no information on studies or such, but I would think that because leos are so small they wouldn't need a lot of it, which is why trace amounts is usually enough.

I do worry about the opposite, D3 poisoning. I remember seeing a thing of powder that use a synthesized vitamin that does the same thing as d3 without being toxic if there was too much. I forget what it's called and I don't like to be the first to try.

To answer the title: in leaoprd geckos D3 is a little overrated, but in iguanas, beardies, any larger lizRd that needs UV it can help them more (even though they naturally create this with the UV light). I will continue to use in small amounts until I use UV lights (not likely in my rack system), or find something better.
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
WYSIWYG

Ok...D3 is dangerous is over-dosed. But D3 is important, almost necessary in all reptiles. Breeders who have not used a D3 supplement and had healthy reptiles means that they obviously have been feeding their feeders a diet that provided enough D3 to metabolize the calcium in their herps. I've talked to many many people, including vets, and I've had at least 3 in the past month tell me why D3 is important. Vitamin D3 allows calcium to cross over into the bloodstream and then is carried out to the rest of the body and is used up. Even though leopard geckos and other nocturnal herps don't ever see the UVB light, I have all my 9 geckos under it. The colors are much more enhanced, they eat better and they're much healthier. So, whether people choose to use UVB or supplement their animals, I'm going to. I'd rather let the D3 be produced naturally than by forcing D3 down their throat and overdosing them on it.