# ground Repashy Calcium Plus, recommended?



## blackpiranha (Jun 1, 2013)

Hi, froggers.

Recently I switched my supplements to Repashy Calcium plus ( In the past two years Ive been using Rep-cal Calcium and Herpitivite). I find particles of Calcium plus is a lot bigger than Rep-cal calcium, so the dusting result is not that good. 

I am going to ground the particle to superfine powder each time before I dust fruit files.

Any suggestions?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

blackpiranha said:


> Hi, froggers.
> 
> Recently I switched my supplements to Repashy Calcium plus ( In the past two years Ive been using Rep-cal Calcium and Herpitivite). I find particles of Calcium plus is a lot bigger than Rep-cal calcium, so the dusting result is not that good.
> 
> ...


Do you mean on how to grind it? 

I use a mortar and pestle and make up about 2 weeks worth at a time. I also use the opportunity to increase the carotenoid content of the supplments. 

some comments 

Ed


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## KCS2015 (Oct 28, 2015)

Ed what do you use to increase the carotenoid content? Also do you find the particle size to be unpalatable to the frogs or is it that the dust does not stay on as long? I use the calcium plus also and the frogs go for it. Should I be grinding the powder finer though?


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## blackpiranha (Jun 1, 2013)

Ed said:


> Do you mean on how to grind it?
> 
> I use a mortar and pestle and make up about 2 weeks worth at a time. I also use the opportunity to increase the carotenoid content of the supplments.
> 
> ...


Hi , Ed

Thanks for your suggestion . I am only worry about if grind will destroy certain kind of nutrients in the powder ? Also I am curious how do you increase the carotenoid content.

Thanks


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

KCS2015 said:


> Ed what do you use to increase the carotenoid content? Also do you find the particle size to be unpalatable to the frogs or is it that the dust does not stay on as long? I use the calcium plus also and the frogs go for it. Should I be grinding the powder finer though?


It doesn't change the palatability and there is already good adhesion. As I'm adding carotenoids to it regardless, the best way to incorporate the carotenoids is by grinding them together in the mortar and pestle. 

Calcium plus includes the Superpig mixture. I prefer to include a higher concentration of astaxanthin in my supplments for frogs as it is common in many terrestrial insects and is used for coloration. 

There is a picture from 2011 here http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/general-discussion/66425-pumilio-imports.html#post581104 that had been supplemented with astaxathin and beta carotene (until 2012) for 6 years at that point (I acquired him in 2005) and I still have him. 

There is also good data that astaxanthin enables a better reproductive success in pumilio see 
Dugas, Matthew B., Justin Yeager, and Corinne L. Richards‐Zawacki. "Carotenoid supplementation enhances reproductive success in captive strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio)." Zoo biology 32.6 (2013): 655-658. 
http://tulane.edu/sse/eebio/people/cori/upload/Dugas-et-al-2013-2.pdf (free access). 

Now I don't recommend switching to only astaxanthin as the source of carotenoids as both the Superpig and Calcium plus contain the six carotenoids that are most commonly found in anurans and there is also some data that those carotenoids aren't evenly distributed in the tissues so there could be different demands based on the tissues/organs. 

does that help? 

some comments 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

blackpiranha said:


> Hi , Ed
> 
> Thanks for your suggestion . I am only worry about if grind will destroy certain kind of nutrients in the powder ? Also I am curious how do you increase the carotenoid content.


If you use a mortar and pestle you can do it in a few minutes without raising the temperature high enough to cause damage. If you choose to use a spice grinder use very short pulses for as short a time as possible as the grinders can increase the temperature into the range that causes oxidation of the vitamins. 

If you only do a week or two supply at a time your going to reduce any issues from oxidation due to the smaller particle size. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## KCS2015 (Oct 28, 2015)

Ok then at least for now I will leave well enough alone. I have two leucs now (1.1.0) and will be getting two azureus in a couple of weeks (0.0.2) that are juvies. I will be doing all I can to provide both dietary variation and proper nutrition. I intend to culture all the insects I feasibly can (well ok not crickets). I do know however from bodybuilding that there is always that "new, guaranteed to work overnight, must have" supplement, powder, drink, diet, etc and then it turns out that it was nothing like advertised and may even have been harmful. As a result I tend to look for real world experiences especially from people like Ed and others who have far more experience in these areas and cite sources as well as their own experiences. I will hopefully get some more PDF species over time but it will be a relatively slow process. I still have more research to do on species I want to get eventually and I want to have plant material ready and waiting without having to re-buy those I already have. Of course there are many plants I still want to add to my collection as well as new isopod and springtail species. It is like having many collections under one hobby.


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## Tekman (Sep 6, 2015)

Ed,

What form of astaxanthin are you using? Are you just buying capsules and opening them up and mixing them in with the rest of the supplements? I have some pums that I am looking to help with breeding and of course just overall health which is more important in the end. How much are you mixing in? I'm going to start reading that paper now as well to get up to speed but it's always more helpful to get info from those that are current!y implementing something. 

Thanks. 

-Bob


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Hey Bob,

I've played with a lot of ratios of astaxanthin to supplement for a long time now and have settled on somewhere between 10-20% by weight (in addition to the superpig in the calcium plus). I had ran it up to as high as 50% for a two year period but on a visual inspection didn't see any significant changes over the lower values. 

At 25% by weight and above, my caucheros developed tiny red dots on their back. It was pretty interesting, and when I dropped down to below 20 % the dots faded over time. 

Currently I'm using this product Paracoccus Powder - Astaxanthin Powder. 

I use a mortar and pestle to incorporate it evenly into the dusting supplement and to ensure an even texture. 

Does that help? 

Ed


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## Tekman (Sep 6, 2015)

That helps greatly. I'll break out the digital scale so I can measure properly. Off to purchase some.

Very much appreciated!

-Bob


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