Calcium....Makes the body good Thread!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 2:59 pm

I've been on a mission to provide my hermies, currently at 11 of them now, with the best possible crabitat and FOOD and TREAT program.

At the center of my FOOD & TREAT program, is securing a steady source of calcium.

So with that in mind, I open this thread with several questions about the best ways to offer calcium to our hermies.

So without further due....the following questions I have are:

1) Anyone have any experience with calcium supplements like Jurass-Cal Calcium Supplement for Reptiles and Amphibians? It's only ingredient is Calcium Carbonate with a quality guarantee of no less than 30 percent Calcium and a max Clacium percentage of 40. That's more than I get!

2) What is the best way to effectively use cuttlebone? I hear conflicting tips about placing the cuttlebone in the water dish or not. Mine is currently not in the dish but close to it.

3) When using cuttlebone, do the flavored ones work better in general than the standard kind? Meaning, do the hermies take to it more readily?

4) How much calcium do hermies get from commercial hermie food? Is it far from ideal?

5) Anyone use Cal-Sand exclusively with no other major source of calcium? Does Cal-Sand have an almost osmossis (sp?) effect at times?

6) For the advocates of grinding eggshells, any calcium percentages really known with using that method?

Please add any questions you may have as well in addition to your opinions on the ones listed here.

For a more complete consensus, I'm posting this topic in both hermitcrabassociation.com and landhermitcrabs.com

Have a great day!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 8:47 pm

OK umm... I use tropical flavored cuttlebone and coral in my tank the cuttlebone is not in the water or really near it my crabs eat it alot it has been broken into a small piece and I have seen my crabs go crazy over eating the coral I am planning on buying calci-sand soon so I can try it out I wouldn't try reptile supplements too much on crabs because they are not the same type of animal and the doses would be to much for a small hermit compared to a bigger gecko or something.... So hope this helps some...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 9:50 pm

I heard that using a sea shell for a water dish provides calcium. Is that true? I"m using the shell, cuttle bone whole on the side of the tank and coral. Iwondered about the reptile suplements myself.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 11:20 pm

From what I have read a shell water dish is not a sufficiten source of calcium. Some calcium can leech into the water but not enough.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 1:15 am

The shell method of using a clam or oyster shell as a water dish isn't effective. I started with that but quickly upgraded....

I have a hard time believing that calcium supplements would be "bad" for our hermies when the one I am using only has one ingredient. And that ingredient is Calcium Carbonate....

Of all the questions listed, the questions about cuttlebone and Jurassi-Cal Calcium Supplement for Reptiles and Amphibians are the most important to me

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 11:18 am

As far as cuttlebone goes, I had some bad luck putting it in the water dish, it got a little icky. I have found that my crabs love it when I put little pieces of it in their food. It's really easy to take shavings of it with some scissors or a pocketknife, and my crabs eat the shavings right up much faster than ground oyster or eggshells. I also leave a big chunk of the cuttlebone in the tank. I have tried flavored cuttlebone. My crabs ate it but they didnâ€™t show any preference for it, they donâ€™t seem to care too much. I usually get the regular ones because they're cheaper.