What is Calcium?

Calcium is a white mineral that is the fifth most abundant element comprising approximately 3% of the earth's crust, and is essential for a variety of bodily functions such as muscle contraction and the development of teeth and bones.

The chemical symbol for Calcium is: Ca

It is found in dairy foods such as milk also leafy vegetables and other foods.

What does it do?

Calcium acts as a building block for bones. Bones in a very simplistic view are layers of fish net material, Connecting fibres of collagen and calcium salt crystals. This netting material serves as a holding surface for calcium deposits. Over time as more fibres grow there is room for more calcium to deposit onto the surface, creating more bone. So having a good constant supply of calcium is essential for the proper development of bone in a growing gecko.

What happens if they don’t get enough?

If there is not enough calcium in their diet they may not have enough for their skeletal structure to fully develop, resulting in very weak brittle bones. Geckos can be very active reptiles especially when they are hunting for crickets, they can be very rough during mating as well, putting their bones under stress and possibly resulting in fractures and breaks. A lively gecko will often jump out of your hand if not handled properly and cause its self injury if it falls too far. As geckos are fairly small creatures there is very little that can be done if they do suffer a fracture so it is very important that as a responsible owner you are aware of the problems and you know how to prevent these problems.

For females during mating it is especially important to provide enough calcium in their diets as the main ingredient in eggshells is calcium carbonate. The shell itself is about 95% CaCO3 and the remaining 5% includes calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate and soluble and insoluble proteins. So if a female is laying a clutch 2-3 eggs every 25-35 days during the breeding period that is a lot of calcium!

Because of this demand for the mineral geckos have special calcium sacs to build up a reserve.

The below is an x-ray of an adult Crested Gecko. Here you can clearly see the calcium storage glands located at the back of the mouth.

Many thanks to Dr. Alan Slack of DownEastHerps.com for allowing us to show

this image.

Getting calcium into your geckos diet. 

One of the best ways to get calcium into your geckos diet is to choose a complete diet food such as the T-Rex Crested Gecko Diet meal replacement powder. This will ensure your gecko gets all of the nutrients and minerals it requires at every feeding.

If you are feeding a mix of MRP and live foods such as crickets, it is recommended that you dust them at every feeding for juveniles and once a week for adults with a calcium dusting powder such as T-REX Bone aid micro stick powder. This product has been specially made to stick to live foods to ensure a good amount is ingested during feeding.