# Repashy Calcium Plus for Dart Frogs & other amphibians



## Lilly Exotics (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi all

We are now UK distributors for the Repashy Superfoods range, please see Repashy Super Foods for the whole Repashy range which includes foods, supplements including Calcium Plus & many others which are ideal for Dart Frogs and most amphibians. Here are some details on the product:











Product detail:

CALCIUM PLUS

VITAMIN AND CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT


Our “All-in-One” Insect Dusting Powder provides essential vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Featuring both Retinol and Carotenoids as sources of Vitamin A.


INFORMATION: Calcium Plus was developed to increase the nutritional value of insects as they are fed to all insectivores, transforming insects into a food item that has an optimal calcium/phosphorus ratio, as well as balanced levels of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements.


INGREDIENTS: Calcium Carbonate, Dried Kelp, Cellulose (as carrier), Brewer’s Yeast, RoseHips, Calendula Flower, Marigold Flower Extract, Phaffia Rhodozyma Yeast, Paprika Extract, Spirulina Algae, Turmeric, Salt, Potassium Citrate, Magnesium Gluconate, Canthaxanthin, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (as mold inhibitors), Natural Flavoring, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract and Mixed Tocopherols (as preservatives), Vitamins (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta Carotene, Pantothenic Acid, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement).


GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: Crude Protein min. 2%, Crude Fat min. 0.2%, Crude Fat max. 0.6%, Crude Fiber max. 1%, Moisture max. 8%, Ash max. 35%, Calcium min. 17%, Calcium max. 20%, Phosphorus min. 0.6%, Vitamin E min. 2,000 IU/lb, Vitamin D min. 20,000 IU/lb, Vitamin A min. 200,000 IU/lb. Total Carotenoids min. 500 mg/lb.


DIRECTIONS: Use with every insect feeding. Best applied by placing insects in a plastic bag or container with Calcium Plus and shake to lightly coat insects. Feed insects to your reptiles shortly thereafter. To maximize the nutritional value of insects, use this product with Repashy’s SuperLoad and Repashy’s HydroLoad. Refrigeration will extend product life.


MADE IN USA


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

hey guys you found us
Stu


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## Lilly Exotics (Oct 10, 2008)

We now have plenty of stock of 4 and 8oz bags. Please see Repashy Super Foods

Thanks


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

hiya
aren't u a gecko and cham breeder

i haven't tried this on darts but the other animals i've tried repshy on either spit it out or won't eat it


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

People rave about Repashy.What makes it so good?


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## Lilly Exotics (Oct 10, 2008)

Yes we are.

This is a trusted supplement used by serious dart frog breeders in Europe and the USA.

Thanks


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## Lilly Exotics (Oct 10, 2008)

colinm said:


> People rave about Repashy.What makes it so good?


Just high end ingredients and plenty of science and trials to perfect the products. Not the cheapest but you get what you pay for. People rave about it because it's the best.

Cheers


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

That doesn`t really answer my question.I can understand people in the States using it but what are the benefits say over Nutrobal,Repton or the Necton products please?


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## Lilly Exotics (Oct 10, 2008)

It's an all-in-one supplement so removes the guess work from using multiple products.

Again, many serious dart breeders swear by it.

Thanks


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

hiya
my frogs and gecko's (what will take repashy products) don't like the taste, they prefer things like nutrobol and repton, or just mix in certain vitimins wth calc and there u go.

some of the breeders i have got animals from swear by it but when i've tried the animals on other brands they refuse repashy again


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Actually Colin, it does. It is much better formulated than other supplements, the Calcium plus is not only calcium, or calcium plus vits, it contains other supplements as well, including natural colour enhancers etc.

In the dart frog hobby it has gone down a storm! People who were having trouble getting their frogs to breed have switched to Calcium Plus, and et voila, their frogs started breeding.

I use it myself, and my frogs do brilliantly on it. It also sticks to the food much better than products like nutrabol, and has a quite pleasant smell. It's basically the most complete and well formulated supplement you will find.

Regarding Fardilis, sometimes animals take a bit of time to get used to it, I believe for the simple reason that more of it stays on the food than other supplements (except maybe the ZooMed superfoods range, which is an older recipee of this also formulated by Alan Repashy), and they just aren't used to it. Once they get used to it, they wolf it down.

I also started using the Repashy Superfly, and have been very impressed with this also.

Ade


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## Lilly Exotics (Oct 10, 2008)

Thanks Ade

It's nice to hear from someone neutral that's actually used the products. We are aware that we have a vested interest and people will be a little guarded on our claims. But having worked with Allen Repashy for the last few months, listened to the guy, seen what he's doing with all his projects and have spoken to some users in the States, we have no doubt that the Repashy products are top notch and second to none.

Cheers
Nick


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

Hi Colin if you havent tried it yet give it a go, im a bit old school like you and dont like change but ive got to say this stuff is brilliant, dont ask me to go into the science of it because i havent got a clue i just tried it because everyone was raving about it and it seems to be doing the trick frogs seem much better for it all round

fardilis try putting less powder on the food until they get used to it this normally helps

Richie


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

colinm said:


> That doesn`t really answer my question.I can understand people in the States using it but what are the benefits say over Nutrobal,Repton or the Necton products please?


 Colin you have been doing this way longer than me,so i'm not going to advise you but why not contact Allen Repashy he's real nice,and he's a herp man through and through this is his baby he cares lots and there has been alot of work done on his product. We do use his calcium plus for our darts,we were recommended it by so many folks that i thought it was worth finding out why so many wanted us novices to use this, and fork out to get it from the US...when i found out about these guys selling it here i posted about it on 2 forums not cause i wanted anything but because everyone i talked to rated it, and i wanted y'all to know.Whats really cool is i don't have to get it shipped from the states now:2thumb:. 
As far as our darts go well put it this way we are doing ok,for our first season am sure this stuff has something to do with that, and we have no problems with them taking it ,just had a d/o auratus munch some on some wild springtails,literally earlier today.I can answer one bit though it sticks way better than nutribal.
Buddy have alook on dendroboard,or better have a chat to the man,I'm sure these guys will put you in touch if you can't get to him,,,,smells good too:lol2:
regards
Stu


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

I understand what everyone says I would like to know the reasons behind it.There is a lot of mumbo jumbo talked about in general with Dartfrogs,not with supplements but as a rule.
To slightly digress on various Phelsuma forums the Americans swear by the Day Gecko food but as far as I can see it has Vitamin D and not D3 in it and smaller amounts of Vitamin A than say Repton.I have always believed that these two were essential for lizards.It just seems that in the States Repashy has a good marketing there and people are lead by the name.Perhaps we have more varied supplements available in Europe so we have a more difficult choice? 
I will give it a try because it will be will be interesting to see if there is any difference.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

It's Vitamin D COMPLEX Colin, as in more than the 1 type.

Have a look around bud, quite a bit by Alan Repashy himself about your exact questions.

Like Richie, I'm not into the science of it, but have done a bit of reading about it. I'm just not into trying to repeat it all for you, I'm too lazy. But there are a LOT of European keepers using this now, and ALL of them are reporting excellent results with it, even over other more established supplements.

Ade


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## Allen Repashy (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello Colin,

I am pretty sure I am qualified to answer your questions.  So I will start with your Vitamin D question. 

The labeling requirements in the USA (AAFCO) state that if a premix is used that The Vitamin type, not chemical properties are listed.

I in fact use two types of Vitamin D...... D3, and 25OHD3, which is a further metabolized form of D3 and much more bio available than regular D3. 

It is balanced with vitamin a in the correct 10 to 1 ratio.

The levels of vitamins are lower than some other supplements because the vitamin levels are balanced to the calcium level, and the calcium level is balanced to the phosphorous levels in an average cricket....

So by using the product, your dusted cricket ends up with a balanced calcium to phosphorous level, and vitamin levels balanced to this... 

Other supplements have higher levels of vitamins and are not designed for use at every feeding.

If you want to learn more, I wrote a pretty extensive article some years ago on the development of the product.

http://www.store.repashy.com/vitamins-and-minerals-in-the-superfood-products.html

Allen


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks for the clarification Allen. I knew it was something like that, but couldn't remember.

Your article certainly makes interesting reading, shame you can't do the same for fruit flies and frogs.  lol

Ade


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

Thanks Allen.I have a further couple of questions allied to Ades does the fact that we feed fruitflies mainly to our frogs affect this as it was developed for crickets?Secondly many keepers over here supply ultraviolet light to their frogs.Is there any chance that the frogs can overdose with D3 as lizards can with artificial supplementation?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Pretty sure I read somewhere that phibs can actually regulate D3 production. Dendrobatids definitely regulate their Uv-B exposure to regulte their D3 production. http://aark.portal.isis.org/ResearchGuide/Amphibian zoo studies/Amphibian UV-B and Vitamin D3.pdf. Doesn't seem to be that much research done yet though. Looks to me though like D3 overdosing through oversupplementing would be a larger risk than through UV-B metabolism. I use Repahsy Calcium Plus for all of my frogs and bearded dragons.

I definitely agree though that it would be interesting to find out how the calcium to phosphorous ration in fruit flies relates to crickets. I can't find a whole lot though on the nutritional values for fruit flies. Plenty for crickets, locusts, meal worms, morio worms etc. There's not much more out there for grain weevils either, which is the other main insect I feed with.

Anyway, I've been relying on the anecdotal evidence to date Colin, which is born out by my own experience. My frogs all LOOK (I'm no vet) healthy, well coloured etc, and it's way easier to use than nutrabol or the Komodo stuff (which I binned).

Oh and some of my frogs have UV-B exposure, some don't. All get the Repashy Calcium Plus. 

Ade


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## Allen Repashy (Oct 19, 2009)

colinm said:


> Thanks Allen.I have a further couple of questions allied to Ades does the fact that we feed fruitflies mainly to our frogs affect this as it was developed for crickets?Secondly many keepers over here supply ultraviolet light to their frogs.Is there any chance that the frogs can overdose with D3 as lizards can with artificial supplementation?


Hi Colin, using Drosophila vs. crickets doesn't really change the equation, so you should be good. You can see from this chart, that the levels of calcium and phosphorous are very similar. 

As far as UV goes, Calcium Plus should work fine even with species kept in full natural sun. 

An animal requires a certain level of 25OHD3 in the blood (that comes from either UVB, or dietary sources of D3 or 25OHD3. 

If we look at it like a cup of liquid...... the cup can be filled with liquid from either source until it is topped off. 

UVB will stop filling the cup when it gets to the top through internal regulation. 

Dietary Sources will fill the cup, but have the ability to over fill the cup because there is nothing to regulate it. (though there is some argument that UVB allows for this control even with dietary sources.)

So if we are using both dietary sources AND UVB to fill the cup, we have a scenario like this.....

3/4 of the cup is filled by dietary sources, and then it is topped up with UVB sources.... 

So as long as our dietary source isn't more than fills the cup to the top, the UVB source always is there to just top up the cup... 

The only real risk is if there is too much dietary source, but this doesn't make any difference if UVB is there or not.

So UVB will always help to keep blood 25OHD3 at optimal levels.. 

This optimal level is really a range and not an exact level... Let's say..... 80% -100% full.... 

So staying within this range with only dietary sources is a challenge because we risk overfilling the cup a lot more than if we provide say 60%-80% from dietary sources and then provide ample UVB to make sure we get within the target range...

I hope this makes sense to you. It isn't easy to explain.

Bottom line is that a combination of Dietary D and UVB is only an issue if there is enough dietary D to be toxic... (overfill the cup) but this would be an issue with, or without UVB.

I believe that providing both at moderate levels is the best recipe for success.

There ARE supplements out there that contain 10X as much dietary D3 out there and I do consider these levels way to high for daily use with frogs.

Also important is the balance between the dietary D and other vitamins/minerals, and the reason I combine them all together is to remove this margin for error.


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## morg (Jul 20, 2007)

After reading this thread I decided to try repashy calcium plus.
My first pouch arrived this morning, and I dusted fruit flies, and hatchling crickets to feed to my golden mantella, and 3 dartfrog species.
I am very happy about the way the powder sticks to the insects, and I have had no problems with the frogs not accepting the new flavour of the insects[I usualy use nitrobal]
Tommorow is newt feeding day so I will be trying repashy out on my terrestrial species, up to now though my first impressions are :2thumb:

morg


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

May try this.


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## FrogNick (Jul 2, 2009)

I have used calcium plus this year and i have had a 100% success rate with my tads, so every egg that was laid has turned into a froglet now, which compared to last year is was about 70% success rate with the same parents and similar conditions.


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## morg (Jul 20, 2007)

Now tried on my newts and toads and none refused food items dusted in repashy.
Marbled newt, alpine newt, red salamander[one that was on land shelf, the other red sals are 100 percent aquatic] california newt,Taricha granulosa and Bufo americanus all eagerly fed on the dusted items.:2thumb:
The rest of my amphibs are presently aquatic so obviously I cannot use repashy for those.:whistling2:


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## Cornish-J (Sep 4, 2011)

Once opened, how should you store superfly and calcium plus?

fridge?


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## Lilly Exotics (Oct 10, 2008)

Certainly for Calcium Plus, refrigeration will extend the life of the product.

Thanks
Nick


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## xxbeckybabesxx (Sep 13, 2009)

Are the t-Rex repashy the same or difference calcium plus x


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## Allen Repashy (Oct 19, 2009)

xxbeckybabesxx said:


> Are the t-Rex repashy the same or difference calcium plus x


The T-Rex stuff is based on my original formula that is more than ten years old now. There is little relation to my current products.

Cheers, Allen


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