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Termper Article in new Reptiles Magazine

M

mindcrash

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I read something in the article that Ron Tremper wrote for Reptiles Magazine where he said that you only need to leave a bowl of vitamins and calcium for the gecko to lick up, that dusting isn't necessary.

Is this true? I knew this for calcium, but if i could eliminate dusting that would save me a lot of time and effort.

Thanks!
 
hmmm...

Just because the geckos have a bowl of calcium and vitamins handy does NOT mean they are using it. Although it's a good idea, there is still no substitute for insuring your gecko is getting proper supplimentation than by dusting your food items with calcium and vitamins.
 
i whole heartily agree with Marcia. If i was a gecko and i had a big old bowl of calcium, i wouldn't want to lick it thats for sure! XD I dust my crickets and don't even offer a bowl with more calcium or vitamins. I could see them playing in it, but not really benefiting it. ;)
 
calcium

You can definitely tell the geckos are using the dish of calcium if the calcium is disappearing, or better yet, you see the geckos licking it which I have on many occasions. When it comes to crickets or mealworms gutloading with something high in calcium never hurts either. I mostly use wild cactus pads but there are commercially available feeds high in calcium as well.
 
Dust in the wind...

:spectator Mother nature doesn't dust crickets... neither do I. Leo's lick calcium because it's a necessity for them just like we eat fruits and veggies, I am sure they look at a carrot stick and think 'man, I wouldn't eat that!' Crickets that are properly fed and given a high calcium diet the day prior to them becoming a 1 course meal shouldn't need additional supplementation. I keep a small gatorade lid of calcium with each gecko and breeding groups get a dish with mealworms and a piece of carrot for the worms.
 
calcium

Mother nature doesn't dust crickets... neither do I.
Click to expand...
LOL! There is some debate on whether there even are crickets in the mountainous desert regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq! Kidding aside Gene, there was a time I might have agreed with you on this one, until I received two different geckos with calcium related problems from two VERY well-known breeders. One developed MBD within 10 days of receiving him, and the other actually had her lower jaw snap in half when she went to bite me upon delivery! Both breeders told me that was "impossible" because they kept calcium dishes in with their geckos. When I inquired if they dusted ther food items, both said, "No".

Reptiles have completely different nutritional and supplemental requirements in captivity than in their natural enviroment, so unless I actually witness each and every gecko I have lick calcium out of a bowl, I will continue to 'dust' my feeders as well as gut-load them!

If anyone has access to the ARAV's Journal of Herpetelogical Medicine, there was a great study done last summer by Mark D. Finke, PhD, Shari U. Dunham, PhD, John S. Cole III, on the nutritional benefits of gut-loading feeder crickets with calcium-rich food.
 
I don't dust my cricket any more ether!....but then again I don't have any "stinkin" crickets. I leave a cap "water bottle cap" in there cage with calcium & vit's and sometimes I put the same in the bowl with the Meal worms and they crawl around in it. But what about all this talk of "OVER SUPLIMINTATION"? How can your Leo's "decide" (if they do that) that they have had enough calcium & vitamins but since the crickets (or what ever) are dusted they have no choice. Animals seem to know what they need, like butterflies, deer, horses, dogs, cats, mice...and so on and so on licking minerals from a certain spot that is high in the minerals that they crave. Just a thought!
[size=-4]since the light at the tunnel has been turned off will everyone please turn around and head back[/size]
 
Actually there are Cotton field crickets in Pakistan. Other than that Pakistan also has lady bugs, grasshoppers, and sow bugs that I am sure make a tasty (ick!) meal. Remember, those countries not only farm poppies but also cotton and corn... it's not a complete desolate area.
 
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