Egg shell dust for calcium supplement?

[Ancline]

I've been wondering if finely ground eggshell dust would be an adequate calcium supplement. I know eggshells are full of calcium carbonate, the digestible variety of calcium so for the last year I've been saving all my eggshells and grinding them with a ceramic coffee grinder and using it as calcium supplement for myself. When I got the bearded dragon I just figured using it to dust her dubias would work just as well as any overpriced calcium dust I can buy in a perstore. As it is I have a full mason jar of the stuff because I guess I use more eggs than I need calcium (I bake a lot and make my own bread). I read somewhere that this is okay if the UVB provided is a MVB and not okay if UVB is solely provided by a linear fluorescent because the flourecents don't provide enough UVB to encourage the dragon to produce it's own D3 so I would need calcium + D3.

So since I use megaray (MVB), is homemade eggshell powder adequite for calcium needs? or is there something I'm not considering and should switch to store brand supplements?

 

[Taterbug]

Might work? I've not read anything about it's use long term. One thing to consider (and if your feeling savvy you can do some math) is that the grind fineness of calcium powder is taken into account when "dosing" it so to speak. http://www.store.repashy.com/calcium-and-d-3.html

 

[CooperDragon]

If your megaray is at an adequate distance, you shouldn't need D3 supplement so plain calcium should be fine. This is the case for T5 tubes as well. I'm not sure about the calcium content of the egg shells. I haven't heard of that being used before so I can say about that either way. The consistency of my calcium powder is quite fine, like talc or cornstarch so if you do wind up using the egg shell dust I'd make sure it is ground to a similar consistency.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I've been wondering if finely ground eggshell dust would be an adequate calcium supplement. I know eggshells are full of calcium carbonate, the digestible variety of calcium so for the last year I've been saving all my eggshells and grinding them with a ceramic coffee grinder and using it as calcium supplement for myself. When I got the bearded dragon I just figured using it to dust her dubias would work just as well as any overpriced calcium dust I can buy in a perstore. As it is I have a full mason jar of the stuff because I guess I use more eggs than I need calcium (I bake a lot and make my own bread). I read somewhere that this is okay if the UVB provided is a MVB and not okay if UVB is solely provided by a linear fluorescent because the flourecents don't provide enough UVB to encourage the dragon to produce it's own D3 so I would need calcium + D3.

So since I use megaray (MVB), is homemade eggshell powder adequite for calcium needs? or is there something I'm not considering and should switch to store brand supplements?

As with raw poultry products and because egg shell to be porous *to permit gas transfer in and out of the egg) the risk is the pulverised eggshells will be contaminated with bacteria and viruses especially salmonella. Is it worth the risk ?

Best staying with pulverised oyster shell , which most calcium suppliments are made from.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Might work? I've not read anything about it's use long term. One thing to consider (and if your feeling savvy you can do some math) is that the grind fineness of calcium powder is taken into account when "dosing" it so to speak. http://www.store.repashy.com/calcium-and-d-3.html

Yep the finess of the calcium power is critical , I gave up on Aristopet Repti-calcium because a few years ago they changed their process and started allowing shell fragments larger than - 0.25 micrometer through , some as large as 2 - 4 mm long and razer sharp .... I found when I screened the last few bottles of their product I rejecting up to 30% of the product.

If the powder wont pass easily through a fine flour sieve , it's not fine enough.

 

[Taterbug]

As with raw poultry products and because egg shell to be porous *to permit gas transfer in and out of the egg) the risk is the pulverised eggshells will be contaminated with bacteria and viruses especially salmonella. Is it worth the risk ?

Best staying with pulverised oyster shell , which most calcium suppliments are made from.

Not sure about OPs technique but I think most people boil or bake the shells before grinding and consuming to kill pathogens.

 

[Ancline]

I bake the egg shells at 350 for about 20 minutes to kill any harmful bacteria that may be in the raw shells. Baking it alao helps to make it brittle and found it grinds to a finer dust than if I boil them. I'm making sure to grind up the dust really fine as I don't like crunchy bits of egg shell in my morning coffee which is how I supplement my own daily need of calcium. I read in a health nutrition book when I was taking health in college that 1/2 teaspoon of eggshell dust is equivalent to 800-900mg of calcium or roughly 90% of human daily need of calcium. Obviously a bearded dragon wouldn't need nearly that much. The link taterbug gave me was really informative, thank you.