Supplementing according to Repashy calcium plus directions?
- Thread starter Digs
- Start date
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
May I ask why you'd wish to?
Thing is instructions like that are highly dependent upon feeding frequency. For instance, hatchlings may eat daily (although smaller portions), while most adults from 18 months old may only eat 2x per week.
Maybe [MENTION=8562]acpart[/MENTION] knows. She's been using Repashy's Calcium Plus for ages.
Last edited:
Digs
Member
I still have some Repashy calcium plus and Asia is exposing herself to the 10.0 bulb longer than I expected. Problem is that I don’t have a solar meter to tell how much uv rays are reaching her in the areas she likes to expose herself so I don’t know if I really want to go back to the uvb supplementing schedule. Repashy calcium plus has been tested by breeders and pet owners with animals either without uvb or with uvb without any adverse effects. Plus I don’t think I’ll be able to finish the zoomed supplements Before their expiration date. I don’t want nothing but pure calcium just cluttering up in storage from buying calcium with d3 that’s going to expire.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
At some level we need "to trust" a leo's efforts self-regulating their UVB intake. I'd let Asia do her thing with the UVB you had been offering. These guidelines were offered specifically for [MENTION=65717]Marillion[/MENTION]'s leo by Dr. Fran Baines in Reptile Lighting's facebook group. Fran is a top-notch expert in her field!!! As long as you're following those, Asia should be good.
- 20 long enclosure: 30 x 12 x 12 inches tall
- + Zoo Med's ReptiSun UVB 10.0 mini-compact fluorescent bulb
- + UVB bulb perpendicular to enclosure over the warm end
- + 8.5 inch diameter shallow dome fixture for the UVB bulb
- As the backup D3 dose @ 1 feeding per month just offer Repashy's Calcium Plus multivitamins (which contains cholecalciferol -- D3) in place of Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins withOUT D3 that week, if you run out of Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3.
Dr. Baines only recommends a backup D3 dose @ 1 feeding per month -- just as a preventative. Many keepers safely use UVB without owning a Solarmeter 6.5 or 6.5R.
Last edited:
I think one important question with how often to dust feeders is whether the gecko tends to eat the feeders right away, or to wait for awhile until the feeders may have groomed all the calcium off themselves. Of course, if there grooming the calcium off, are they ingesting it and it's still available to the gecko? I have no idea. I am much more of a seat of the pants caregiver than a strict schedule one (though I do have a schedule so I can be sure every one of my 52 reptiles is getting fed) so if I found it easier to dust with Repashy at every feeding, I'd probably do so. I think the geckos would still be getting less supplement than they would if a bottle cap of it were left in the enclosure all the time.
Aliza
Aliza
Digs
Member
I actually use the zoomed naturalistic terrarium hood is this ok?At some level we need "to trust" a leo's efforts self-regulating their UVB intake. I'd let Asia do her thing with the UVB you had been offering. These guidelines were offered specifically for [MENTION=65717]Marillion[/MENTION]'s leo by Dr. Fran Baines in Reptile Lighting's facebook group. Fran is a top-notch expert in her field!!! As long as you're following those, Asia should be good.
Asia probably needs the UVB she had getting.
- 20 long enclosure: 30 x 12 x 12 inches tall
- + Zoo Med's ReptiSun UVB 10.0 mini-compact fluorescent bulb
- + UVB bulb perpendicular to enclosure over the warm end
- + 8.5 inch diameter shallow dome fixture for the UVB bulb
- As the backup D3 dose @ 1 feeding per month just offer Repashy's Calcium Plus multivitamins (which contains cholecalciferol -- D3) in place of Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins withOUT D3 that week, if you run out of Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3.
https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Naturalistic-Terrarium-12-Inch/dp/B001HW7ZS0
Digs
Member
That’s why many zoos and reptile nutritionist find it important to use a 24-48 hour formal gut-load diet. Insects will groom supplements off but I don’t know if the calcium will act like a formal gut-load when they groom it off. There was a zoo that gut loaded their insects with a mixture of fresh vegetables and Mazuri tortoise diet and quite a few insectivores we’re beginning to suffer the early stages of MBD though I don’t know what supplements they were using. The problem with using a 24/7 maintenance diet as replacement for a formal gut-load is that the insect will just digest all of the nutrition in the diet and it will simply be adding to the feeder’s muscle mass instead of increasing calcium to optimal levels in the feeder. Formal gut-load such as Repashy bug burger, super load, Mazuri hi calcium gut-loading diet and better bug contain 4 to 9% calcium that’s fine enough to where the feeder doesn’t just skip over it to eat smaller sized pieces of the diet. When they eat the diets listed above their bodies will be able to absorb some of the calcium while some remain in the gut. That’s why in my personal opinion the best thing to do is to combine formal gut-load with dusting so all variables that would cause the reptile to receive less supplements are reduced.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Please post a photo of this hood's underneath side just for me.
Does the socket hold the bulb perpendicular to the enclosure?
Last edited:
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Has your particular ZooMed Naturalistic Terrarium Hood which holds compact bulbs horizontally actually been given a "thumbs up" by Dr. Baines?
Because UVB is measured by Solarmeters 6.5 or 6.5R for the Ferguson Zone chart, I thought I had heard that UVB beams needed to be directed downwards so that what a leo is exposed to would actually coincide with the Ferguson Zone chart.
Digs
Member
I actually got that info from an article she wrote on Reptile Magazine
An In-Depth Look At UV Light And Its Proper Use With Reptiles
http://rivista-cdn.reptilesmagazine.com/Baines-Figure6C(1).jpg?ver=1484241724
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
. . . . and then there is Repashy Calcium Plus HyD.
Maybe if I worked with more sensitive genuses I would appreciate all those levels.
I use three 32 ounce deli cups -- one for each Zoo Med supplement I have. The cricket goes from a 56 quart holding bin directly into my clean hands. I snip off the back jumper legs from below the knees down. I swirl the cricket in the supplement, give a light tap to shake off excess powder, and place that cricket(s) in my geckos' feeding dishes. After I'm done I tightly cap this container until the next feeding. Occasionally I use a new 32 ounce cup for new supplement.
The most important reason I like feeding dishes is to monitor the eating habits of my geckos. Feeding dishes are also a plus because there are less opportunities for crickets to groom supplements off.
I've never felt the need to recommend any Repashy's Calcium Plus multivitamins. A rotation of ZooMed's supplements depending upon the age (and health) of a leopard gecko has worked well for me. I thought Repashy's RescueCal+ (a calcium magnesiun supplement) was (is ?) a remarkable product. In my experience several times geckos "in trouble" rallied nearly immediately with a few grains mixed in warm water. When I met Allen Repashy in October 2019 he told me he had to remove RescueCal+ from the market, because it was too much like a medicine. I don't know whether he was ultimately allowed to sell RescueCal+ to vets.
Occasionally I use Repashy's Grub Pie.
You are a great researcher. Have you watched these presentations by Dr. Scott Stahl?
Last edited:
Digs
Member
I’ve never heard of reducing the amount of supplements a feeder grooms off by putting them into a dish thanks.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Any time, Digs!
I use 8 ounce Anchor brand bowls for dishes. There is nothing for feeders to brush up against like moss, rocks, or hides.
Digs
Member
I didn’t know insects rubbed against furniture to groom themselves but then again I only see them groom their front arms.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Digs
Member
They limit their services to their own zoo animals unfortunately