timber64
Member
I was looking into recipes to create my own roach chow, and more than one recipe called for straight calcium powder (nothing extra like D3 and other vitamins). For all the other ingredients, they keep saying you can get the cheapest version of each at the local dollar store, etc. So of course this got me thinking about calcium as well, as I certainly didn't want to use my Repashy or Arcadia products if I can save those for actual dusting.
This led me to wonder if there is a difference between all these reptile calcium powders on the market vs. calcium for humans you buy in the vitamin aisle at your local pharmacy/grocery store. Since I'm grinding everything to make the roach chow, couldn't I just use some calcium tablets I have in the medicine cabinet?
A quick Google search led me to an interesting article about the different sources of calcium, and that many of the cheap reptile products use oyster shells which aren't as good as calcium mined directly from the earth. This article warns we shouldn't be treating our reptiles so poorly and instead should give them human-grade calcium. I'm not saying I subscribe to this theory, which is the reason for my post. I'm curious what others know on this topic and does any of this make any true difference in your husbandry.
This article even mentioned using a supplement with both calcium and vitamins at the same time is a no-no since they can essentially counteract each other. Instead, it says you should dust one day with calcium and another day with vitamins. This could probably spur an entirely separate discussion, but curious about this as well.
OK all you scientific minds....GO!!
This led me to wonder if there is a difference between all these reptile calcium powders on the market vs. calcium for humans you buy in the vitamin aisle at your local pharmacy/grocery store. Since I'm grinding everything to make the roach chow, couldn't I just use some calcium tablets I have in the medicine cabinet?
A quick Google search led me to an interesting article about the different sources of calcium, and that many of the cheap reptile products use oyster shells which aren't as good as calcium mined directly from the earth. This article warns we shouldn't be treating our reptiles so poorly and instead should give them human-grade calcium. I'm not saying I subscribe to this theory, which is the reason for my post. I'm curious what others know on this topic and does any of this make any true difference in your husbandry.
This article even mentioned using a supplement with both calcium and vitamins at the same time is a no-no since they can essentially counteract each other. Instead, it says you should dust one day with calcium and another day with vitamins. This could probably spur an entirely separate discussion, but curious about this as well.
OK all you scientific minds....GO!!