Calcium plays a crucial role in bone metabolism and eggshell formation in reptiles. It is also an important neurotransmitter that, among other things, transmits nerve impulses to muscles. Partial loss of neurotransmitters can lead to paralysis.

Calcium deficiency leads to diseases such as rickets (bone enlargement), deformities, shell softening in turtles and general growth disorders. Animals that are severely calcium deficient often show incoordination in movement (often described as tremor spasms) as well as skeletal changes due to increasing demineralization of the bones.

Especially pregnant females, as well as young and growing animals have a particularly high need for calcium. In order for calcium to be used by the body, reptiles need vitamin D. There is no need to provide supplemental vitamin D in the diet if the animal is provided the right amount and quality of UVB radiation. With sufficient UVB irradiation of healthy animals, there is usually no vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin precursors ingested with food (these are found primarily in the muscle and fat tissue of feed animals and plants) are converted under the influence of sunlight (or UVB radiation) and heat in the skin into a precursor of vitamin D3 and finally in the kidney tissue into the active form of vitamin D3. The required amount of UVB radiation (intensity, lighting duration) depends on the animal species. The use of high-quality light sources specially developed for terraristics is a basic requirement for keeping reptiles healthy and breeding them.

The calcium content in the feed is usually very low. The food insects in particular lead to a calcium deficiency if they are not added. If there is a lack of calcium, the animals often try to compensate for the calcium deficiency by ingesting substrate, which ultimately leads to severe blockages. For this reason, the calcium must not be in the substrate. Both calcium sand and bird sand are unsuitable for the terrarium.

Since the animals also absorb additional calcium in the wild, this must also be offered in the terrarium.

NEKTON products to prevent and compensate for calcium deficiency and its complications:

• NEKTON-Rep Calcium-Pur – pure calcium without vitamin D3. Specially developed for animals that are sufficiently supplied with UVB light or free-living animals with sufficient sun exposure (approx. 10 hours). Pure calcium (calcium carbonate) without additional vitamins cannot be overdosed either.
• NEKTON-Rep-Calcium-Pur+ - is a highly effective calcium supplement with minerals and trace elements without vitamin D3.
• NEKTON-Rep-Calcium+D3 – is a calcium preparation with vitamin D3. Especially for reptiles that get too little UVB light/sun and therefore don't have enough endogenous vitamin D

When using NEKTON-Rep-Calcium-Pur+ and NEKTON-Rep-Calcium+D3, you have to pay attention to the dosage.