Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my geckos for exactly a week now. When I dust my crickets they eat like complete pigs, but when they aren't dusted they pretty much ignore them. I'm guessing that they are both about 1-2mo. old (7g and 9g). The dust I use contains D3...would it be OK to dust everyday? At what point does the D3 become toxic?

if yu are using a dust with D3, only use it once or twice a week. At your other feedings use a dust that is straight calcium such as Jurrasi-cal
-----
0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

....

while i can see why one would not want to use it, if not given to much you will not run into any problems concerning vitamin d3 toxins

the D3 is what helps them absorbe calcium, giving them just straigt calcium is fine, but it would be much better to give them a feeding with d3 at least 2 times a week, it can be very beneficial to them

i use rep cal calcium in the mealie dishes, all week long, i skip feed on thursday, and offer mealworms dusted with calcium and d3 on saturday and sunday, then monday i go back to the calcium..i've had an amazing egg laying rate this way..not saying this is the best way, nor am i saying i disagree with you..this is just MHO
-----
Dan Quinn
Manhattan Herps

Hey Dan,
The only reason I do not like to use calcium with vitamin D3 is because it can through the calcium/phosphorus ratio off or over regulate it..... And if your leo gets D3 from another sourse it can be harmful..... If I were to ever use D3 it would only be through the use of miner-all I..... And that would be used maybe once every two weeks..... Leos are nocturnal and do not need much D3 to help process calcium..... Anyway that is just my thought on the topic....
PS Dan I like the rack....

you make a great point, i've never used miner-all, so i dont know how it works, i have been using rep-cal w/vit d3 for a while now and never ran into any problems, im going to pick up a few more containers of rep-cal straight calcium and use that for a bit and see how that goes, and to see if i get better results
-----
Dan Quinn
Manhattan Herps

I don't know why, but it's nearly impossible to find a store with just straight calcium. I check every bottle, and got the one with the lowest amount of D3. Only one store out of 5 had just straight calcium, so I will go there tomorrow and pick some up.

Do you know of any actual D3 poisoning cases??

If you REALLY can't find straight calcium you can buy a cuttle bone from the bird section and use a cheese grater to grate a fine calcium dust. It is a lot of work so i would only do it as a last resort, but its better than using a supplement with D3 all the time
-----
0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

can I use human grade calcium? Like coral calcium or something else w/o D3 from the vitamin section of a pharmacy? Or crunch up calcium tablets?
-----

1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost
3 eggs a-cookin'