[JIGSAW818]

Do geckos really go down to the dishes filled with calcium and eat it?? I find this hard to believe.. I have never seen it....

[Harley_Davidson]

My leos do......seen it on more than one occasion

[daggekko]

For the Phelsuma if your going to use the calcium in the dish idea I would find a way to not have it on the floor of the terrarium. I don't put calcium out for mine but for my Repashy I use powerade or water bottle caps and velcro. I doubt your will ever see your Phelsuma eat it unless it is elevated.

Also, your male shouldn't ever feel the need to eat extra calcium. Just the females.

I feel that in the end if your giving your geckos a good diet and use supplements on the feeder insects you probably shouldn't need a calcium dish. And giving the females a break in the breeding cycle.

[Yoshi'smom]

My leo's do as well. Just very occasionally.

[JIGSAW818]

Originally Posted by daggekko

And giving the females a break in the breeding cycle.

So seperating them?

[daggekko]

No not seperating them. I asked this a while back and got a many people telling me to cut back the lights for a seasonal change. The idea is (and someone correct me if I have the amount of hours wrong) that during summer the days are much longer and hotter, and in the winter the days shorten and are a little cooler. For breeding season lights can be on as long as 14 hours a day. After 6-8 months you can start cutting the lights back 15-30 minutes a week until you reach 10 hour days. Apparently from what I was told that a lot of Phelsuma will respect this change in "season" and stop breeding.

On the other note, many people recommend that if you have a pair of Phelsuma that get along you should not seperate them. When you go to re-introduce them you run a huge risk of fights, just like they had never met before.

I think (like I said, please correct me if I got the time wrong) 2 months was about how long the lights should be turned back to 10 hour days. And after that you slowly increase them back to 14 hour days and the breeding will continue. This gives the female a much needed break and can increase egg production and life span. I noticed that my females were much more thin after breeding for a few months. That is what made me ask the question!

[Kevin McRae]

I offer my grandis calcium in an elevated dish. I use Pet Tech Magnaturals. They're awesome.

My female lays a clutch every 2.5-3 weeks and the eggs look great. However, she doesn't have much for calcium sacs, my male has larger sacs. I use UVB and Plant Grow lighting which I believe is one reason why.

Anyone else have breeding phelsuma with no/small calcium sacs?

[daggekko]

Yes. It is common for female Phelsuma to have their calcium sacs get smaller as the breeding season gets longer. Males just about only use the calcium for growth, which usually by the time they are breeding they aren't growing much. If you were to seperate the female for a couple months or do a seasonal break in breeding her sacs would start to get bigger again.

[terradas]

My female grandis has small to no visible calcium sacs. They are slightly more pronounced outside of breeding season when temps are cooler and she isn't laying.

In general you see a lot of breeders whose females have extremely exaggerated sacs which looks very unnatural to me. I think people are so afraid of offering enough supplements to keep their animals healthy they sometimes offer too much to the point where animals can't even use up all of their reserves.

Size of calcium sacs themselves should not be used as the sole indicator of a healthy female. As long as you are dusting insects with the proper calcium as it relates to their lighting you should be fine. Monitor the health of strong eggs and any physical signs (tail and back) that might indicate your girl needs more calcium.

[anolisherp]

My leos use calcium dust for sleeping