Calcium powder

[MariaOrrom]

Was looking at some lovely leopard geckos the other day and what I noticed was there is calcium dust (or something like that) which is recommended for snakes and geckos. Do snakes need that? I've never used it and have had snakes for 2 years now.
Maria :shrugs:

[Tracee]

If you mean as a substrate - sorry it wasn't quite clear - I too was told by a pet store that it was one of the best things to use. They said it was harmless if ingested and easy to clean, etc etc.

However I mentioned this on this site quite recently and was alarmed at the information I was then given. It's actually very dangerous indeed. Just done a search for you and if you are indeed thinking about it as a substrate, this link might change your mind:
http://www.pythons.com/calcium.html

[BeckyG]

I think she may have been talking about calcium dust that you give with their food as a supplement. Snakes don't really need it. They get all the calcium they need from the food they eat. I've heard of some people giving this supplement to their snakes periodically, but I don't think it is necessary. However, if your snake is still on pinkies, it couldn't hurt to give it to them, since pinkies don't have bones yet and don't supply a lot of calcium. I never did, though, and my snakes are big and healthy.

[Tracee]

Ohhh, supplement, my apologies I misunderstood your question (thanks BeckyG).

Righty-ho then please disregard my first post! I was like you, unsure whether to bother with it or not, and I decided to 'just in case'. I used to dip the back end of pinkies in the supplement, and stopped using it after moving up to fuzzies. I always thought it must taste awful! But it's easy enough to do and problem-free so it's your choice really!