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Most of us are familiar with what a calcium phosphorus ratio is and what is the ideal ratio for a tegu's diet, which is around 1.5-2 Ca : 1 P.
But what most people don't quite understand is that most of these ratios are given in terms of weight, so the weight of calcium relative to the weight of the phosphorus. There is a bit of an issue with this, however. Your body does not "care" about the weight of each mineral, but about the number of individual particles of each mineral, called ions. So the more functional way to look at a calcium phosphorus ratio is in terms of ions, not weight.
Calcium is a larger, heavier ion than phosphorus, so ratios given in terms of weight that you see are actually overestimates, meaning that the amount of calcium relative to phosphorus is lower than the given ratio would suggest.
I'll use a ratio I found for a certain product available online as an example. In 100 g of product, there is 1.88 g of calcium and 1.07 g of phosphorus, so the company listed the ratio as 1.76 Ca : 1 P. This is a weight-based ratio. An ion-based ratio would take into account the weight difference between Ca and P and would be more like 1.45 Ca : 1 P.
To convert a weight-based ratio to an ion-based ratio, multiply the ratio by 0.77.
This is mostly for interests sake, it probably won't change your husbandry methods much.
Any thoughts?
But what most people don't quite understand is that most of these ratios are given in terms of weight, so the weight of calcium relative to the weight of the phosphorus. There is a bit of an issue with this, however. Your body does not "care" about the weight of each mineral, but about the number of individual particles of each mineral, called ions. So the more functional way to look at a calcium phosphorus ratio is in terms of ions, not weight.
Calcium is a larger, heavier ion than phosphorus, so ratios given in terms of weight that you see are actually overestimates, meaning that the amount of calcium relative to phosphorus is lower than the given ratio would suggest.
I'll use a ratio I found for a certain product available online as an example. In 100 g of product, there is 1.88 g of calcium and 1.07 g of phosphorus, so the company listed the ratio as 1.76 Ca : 1 P. This is a weight-based ratio. An ion-based ratio would take into account the weight difference between Ca and P and would be more like 1.45 Ca : 1 P.
To convert a weight-based ratio to an ion-based ratio, multiply the ratio by 0.77.
This is mostly for interests sake, it probably won't change your husbandry methods much.
Any thoughts?
