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This is something I did for work, so I thought I'd share it on here. It may interest you or may not. If you feed a lot of insects, you might check it out.

The recommended amount of calcium that an omnivorous reptile should have is 1.0 - 1.5 % of the total diet by dry matter (weight of everything minus water content). That's from the Merck Veterinary Manual.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/management_and_nutrition/nutrition_exotic_and_zoo_animals/nutrition_in_reptiles.html

So now we have two calcium related requirements,
1) in relation to phosphorus (2:1 ratio)
2) a total amount (1.0-1.5 % of diet DM).

So the question is, if we get these crickets to a 2:1 ratio using a calcium supplement to offset the phosphorus and satisfy requirement 1, what percentage of the diet is that amount of calcium? Or in other words, can we satisfy both requirements at the same time?

For any given amount of crickets when calcium is at a 2:1 ratio with phosphorus, the calcium is around 4% of the total diet. So that ends up being a bit high, actually over double what is recommended in Merck. So you cannot satisfy both requirements using crickets alone, they would have to be paired with other foods that have a lower calcium percentage than 1.0-1.5%. Fortunately that is pretty much what everyone does, but it just shows that a diet of crickets alone would not be suitable.

What about other feeder inverts?

superworms:
Ca is 2% when at 2:1. Better. The only thing is you'll never get enough calcium to stick to them to get to 2:1. Superworms should be paired with something that is higher in calcium than 1.0-1.5% I haven't actually checked how much calcium carbonate will stick to them like I have with crickets but it never seems like much.

dubia roaches:
Ca is 0.54% when at 2:1. Low, but you could add more calcium carbonate to get it to 1.0-1.5%. But then you've upset the 2:1 ratio in favor of calcium. This can again be overcome by pairing with other foods, these would be neutral in calcium amount and higher in phosphorus than calcium.

hissing roaches:
Ca is 0.38 when at 2:1. A bit lower than dubias but same fix.

(The reason that the roaches are much lower than crickets and superworms in calcium content at 2:1 is because they are both much lower in phosphorus and so require less calcium carbonate to bring them to 2:1. They are naturally comparable to crickets and kingworms in calcium content.)

This would be more important to us if tegus were strict insectivores, fortunately we have loads of food options.

<blockquote data-quote="dpjm" data-source="post: 158526" data-attributes="member: 549">This is something I did for work, so I thought I'd share it on here.&nbsp; It may interest you or may not.&nbsp; If you feed a lot of insects, you might check it out.The recommended amount of calcium that an omnivorous reptile should have is 1.0 - 1.5 % of the total diet by dry matter (weight of everything minus water content).&nbsp; That's from the Merck Veterinary Manual.<a href="http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/management_and_nutrition/nutrition_exotic_and_zoo_animals/nutrition_in_reptiles.html" target="_blank">http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/management_and_nutrition/nutrition_exotic_and_zoo_animals/nutrition_in_reptiles.html</a>So now we have two calcium related requirements,1) in relation to phosphorus (2:1 ratio)2) a total amount (1.0-1.5 % of diet DM). So the question is, if we get these crickets to a 2:1 ratio using a calcium supplement to offset the phosphorus and satisfy requirement 1, what percentage of the diet is that amount of calcium?&nbsp; Or in other words, can we satisfy both requirements at the same time?For any given amount of crickets when calcium is at a 2:1 ratio with phosphorus, the calcium is around 4% of the total diet.&nbsp; So that ends up being a bit high, actually over double what is recommended in Merck.&nbsp; So you cannot satisfy both requirements using crickets alone, they would have to be paired with other foods that have a lower calcium percentage than 1.0-1.5%.&nbsp; Fortunately that is pretty much what everyone does, but it just shows that a diet of crickets alone would not be suitable.What about other feeder inverts?superworms:Ca is 2% when at 2:1.&nbsp; Better.&nbsp; The only thing is you'll never get enough calcium to stick to them to get to 2:1.&nbsp; Superworms should be paired with something that is higher in calcium than 1.0-1.5%&nbsp; I haven't actually checked how much calcium carbonate will stick to them like I have with crickets but it never seems like much.dubia roaches:Ca is 0.54% when at 2:1.&nbsp; Low, but you could add more calcium carbonate to get it to 1.0-1.5%.&nbsp; But then you've upset the 2:1 ratio in favor of calcium.&nbsp; This can again be overcome by pairing with other foods, these would be neutral in calcium amount and higher in phosphorus than calcium.hissing roaches:Ca is 0.38 when at 2:1.&nbsp; A bit lower than dubias but same fix.(The reason that the roaches are much lower than crickets and superworms in calcium content at 2:1 is because they are both much lower in phosphorus and so require less calcium carbonate to bring them to 2:1. They are naturally comparable to crickets and kingworms in calcium content.)This would be more important to us if tegus were strict insectivores, fortunately we have loads of food options.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="dpjm, post: 158526, member: 549"] This is something I did for work, so I thought I'd share it on here. It may interest you or may not. If you feed a lot of insects, you might check it out. The recommended amount of calcium that an omnivorous reptile should have is 1.0 - 1.5 % of the total diet by dry matter (weight of everything minus water content). That's from the Merck Veterinary Manual. [url]http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/management_and_nutrition/nutrition_exotic_and_zoo_animals/nutrition_in_reptiles.html[/url] So now we have two calcium related requirements, 1) in relation to phosphorus (2:1 ratio) 2) a total amount (1.0-1.5 % of diet DM). So the question is, if we get these crickets to a 2:1 ratio using a calcium supplement to offset the phosphorus and satisfy requirement 1, what percentage of the diet is that amount of calcium? Or in other words, can we satisfy both requirements at the same time? For any given amount of crickets when calcium is at a 2:1 ratio with phosphorus, the calcium is around 4% of the total diet. So that ends up being a bit high, actually over double what is recommended in Merck. So you cannot satisfy both requirements using crickets alone, they would have to be paired with other foods that have a lower calcium percentage than 1.0-1.5%. Fortunately that is pretty much what everyone does, but it just shows that a diet of crickets alone would not be suitable. What about other feeder inverts? superworms: Ca is 2% when at 2:1. Better. The only thing is you'll never get enough calcium to stick to them to get to 2:1. Superworms should be paired with something that is higher in calcium than 1.0-1.5% I haven't actually checked how much calcium carbonate will stick to them like I have with crickets but it never seems like much. dubia roaches: Ca is 0.54% when at 2:1. Low, but you could add more calcium carbonate to get it to 1.0-1.5%. But then you've upset the 2:1 ratio in favor of calcium. This can again be overcome by pairing with other foods, these would be neutral in calcium amount and higher in phosphorus than calcium. hissing roaches: Ca is 0.38 when at 2:1. A bit lower than dubias but same fix. (The reason that the roaches are much lower than crickets and superworms in calcium content at 2:1 is because they are both much lower in phosphorus and so require less calcium carbonate to bring them to 2:1. They are naturally comparable to crickets and kingworms in calcium content.) This would be more important to us if tegus were strict insectivores, fortunately we have loads of food options. [/QUOTE]

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