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Very interesting study done on calcium!

ACTUALLY....if you look at Tums, the active ingredient is calcium carbonate. That's why people also use it to get their calcium. However, it has added flavors and colors at the very least, and who knows if it's safe for the geckos.
 
Calcium carbonate is a different form of calcium than that used in reptile powder. It might be ok for people to take it, but its an ant acid non the less and its job is to neutralize stomach acid so you dont get heartburn. Thats what the calcium carbonate does, neutralizes the stomach acid. There was a study done on calcium carbonate sand awhile back, someone on here linked to it. What the guy did was test a weak acid, weak base, then strong acid and strong base on the sand. The sand was a sand marketed for reptiles sepcifically and what he found was that not only did the sand barely dissolve at all, he tested the ph of all 4 before testing and after and found that each was closer to neutral than before the sand was added.
 
umm....reptile calcium dusts are made from oyster shell or limestone....guess what they're composed of.....calcium carbonate....and that's all the dust is...pure calcium carbonate.
 
StinaUIUC said:
umm....reptile calcium dusts are made from oyster shell or limestone....guess what they're composed of.....calcium carbonate....and that's all the dust is...pure calcium carbonate.
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Then theres something else at work because the animals are unable to digest calcium carbonate sand. Surface area is the only other things that comes to mind.
 
Do you think it would be possible to go to a sotre like GNC and just buy human Calcium powder there or some pure Calcium pill and crush them ultra fine?
 
That's still generally going to be calcium carbonate...I have clacium pills that have calcium carbonate and cholecalciferol...I have no idea if cholecalciferol is bioavailable to reptiles.
 
For what it's worth i have been using cuttle bones as my plain calcium source for the past two or more years with no apparent problems with any of my reptiles
Sandy
 
Calcium carbonate is used almost exclusively in reptile calciums (if not completely). An alternative would be to find calcium citrate, which is suppose to be easier to digest due to it's already acidic nature. I don't know of anyone who has tried it, but it can be easily found for human consumption at most pharmacies and vitamin shops.
 
Calcium carbonate is a limstone product and Im not sure how many people have tested this as limestone is a not so great thing for a leo.
 
yeah, you just have to be sure of what you are buying, most people I know that use the calcium carbonate buy it by the 50lb bag. I went to get it here locally and could only find the limestone version and Id go through a jar a day of rep cal with all of my critters lol
 
I work (for an OEM) in the powder processing industry and many of our customers use our equipment to grind Calcium Carbonate (Limestone Variety) and it is usually a much finer grade than what you will find in a Miner-All or Repcal container. I can only imagine that the finer the calcium would be absorbed easier and I am willing to bet if I gather up a retention sample (1/2 Lb or so) from a lab test that the geckos will have no problems with it. Then I could save a bundle on calcium supplements since I have access to many pounds of it on any given day. Where do Geckos get their calcium from in the desert where there are so few calcium powder dishes laying around I ask you?
 
I use Vionate, Mineral, and Reptivite with a little vionate in each mealy dish too. I also have a jar lid of calcium for them to lick, I am currently using pure calcium from premiumreptiles but their site has been down for a while now so when I run out Ill have to get soemthing different.

If the limestone calcium carbonate is ok to use, Ill get it, I can get 50lbs cheap from the feed store.
 
Then theres something else at work because the animals are unable to digest calcium carbonate sand. Surface area is the only other things that comes to mind.
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Tom, you basically answered yourself here. First its the fact the 'sand' is too large, then its made of calcium which can attract them to eat it. Two bad things, I hate to think how many animals have died or come close, from that stuff.

It is the same ingredient in the powder, it is just digestible as a powder, not a gritty imitation sand. Just think, the equivalent of me feeding you either rocks, or sand. Which one is going to stick? :raspberry
 
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