Shelf life of vitamins and calcium?

[TheBeard9789]

Hey guys I give my beardies repti-calcium and herptivite was wondering what the shelf life is like? I bought them almost a year and a half ago.

Should that be fine or is it safer to buy a new one every year I just wanna make sure they are not too old and my beardies get the full benefits of vitamins and calcium.

I tried to find a expiration date on them but I'm not able to find it I generally buy new ones if I run out this time around though I got a bigger container so I haven't had to buy a new one.

Note: My beardies brumate so they don't exactly eat during the winter this post is about me wanting to give them the full benefits even if I gotta buy a new container every 6-12 months

 

[KarrieRee]

Hey guys I give my beardies repti-calcium and herptivite was wondering what the shelf life is like? I bought them almost a year and a half ago.

Should that be fine or is it safer to buy a new one every year I just wanna make sure they are not too old and my beardies get the full benefits of vitamins and calcium.

I tried to find a expiration date on them but I'm not able to find it I generally buy new ones if I run out this time around though I got a bigger container so I haven't had to buy a new one.

Note: My beardies brumate so they don't exactly eat during the winter this post is about me wanting to give them the full benefits even if I gotta buy a new container every 6-12 months

@Drache613

 

[Chris.]

Mine give an expiration date that is probably around a year after I bought them. My guess would be they are usable way longer than that if stored dry and dark though.

 

[ChileanTaco]

Usually expiration date is the date until something starts to change in some way, so not necessarily the time until which it goes bad. "Change" would also be a powder starting clumping together when stored under average conditions. This is also the reason why table salt has an expiration date, despite it can't go bad.

My guess would be they are usable way longer than that if stored dry and dark though.

That's also what I think.
I would be more careful with vitamins than with calcium. The calcium shouldn't change (other than clumping together), the vitamins should.

 

[TheBeard9789]

Usually expiration date is the date until something starts to change in some way, so not necessarily the time until which it goes bad. "Change" would also be a powder starting clumping together when stored under average conditions. This is also the reason why table salt has an expiration date, despite it can't go bad.


That's also what I think.
I would be more careful with vitamins than with calcium. The calcium shouldn't change (other than clumping together), the vitamins should.

The calcium isn't exactly clumpy but is powdery even the smallest itty bitty pinch will coat bugs white and lets out a powdery dust when eaten.

Same with the vitamins though it doesn't coat them very well like the calcium does I think I'll just be safe and buy a new one of each but buy a smaller container so it's not going to waste.

Just to be safe and make sure they are getting as much calcium and vitamins as efficiently as possible

 

[TheBeard9789]

Mine give an expiration date that is probably around a year after I bought them. My guess would be they are usable way longer than that if stored dry and dark though.

I wasn't able to find mine no idea why and to be fair the calcium did sit around till I finished the first one (think it was a double pack deal).

I keep them (calcium/vitamins) with the crickets/dubias/worms etc in the winter I don't use it very often sometimes I go a month or more between feeding my beardies but spring/summer/fall I use the vitamins and calcium on everything but BSFL

 

[Chris.]

I wasn't able to find mine no idea why and to be fair the calcium did sit around till I finished the first one (think it was a double pack deal).

I keep them (calcium/vitamins) with the crickets/dubias/worms etc in the winter I don't use it very often sometimes I go a month or more between feeding my beardies but spring/summer/fall I use the vitamins and calcium on everything but BSFL

The vitamins I use also do not show an expiration date.
You don't have to trash them, your roaches will still be happy to help you get rid of it and this way it helps you with gut loading

 

[TheBeard9789]

The vitamins I use also do not show an expiration date.
You don't have to trash them, your roaches will still be happy to help you get rid of it and this way it helps you with gut loading

Very true though calcium and vitamin powder only goes so far I gotta give them a ton of food to gut load too.

 

[CooperDragon]

I haven't found a difinitive way to tell if the supplements are still good or not. I don't think they'd become harmful for a long time, but may be less potent over time after being unsealed. That's just as guess though based on experience with things like spices and other foods. Since they don't tend to be very expensive, I typically replace any unused opened supplements after a year or so.

 

[DorgEndo]

OK I got an opinion on this. Plain calcium supplements I don't consider any expiration date. Plain calcium is usually CaCO3 and has been in the ground for millions of years from various limestone or chalk depending on the source. It's more than stable (my opinion!)

Vitamins are the ones to be wary for an experiration date. Including Vitamin D is you have a calcium + D container. The D will not be effective at some point, but the calcium itself will still be good

For vitamins the usual numbers I've read are 6 months to 2 years. Different brands have different times on their websites. Maybe once a year is a good compromise to keep the vitamins at peak

 

[ChileanTaco]

@DorgEndo
I agree on that (also from my scientist's point of view). The same as for us humans, I don't consider any expiration date on table salt or a magnesium supplement, but of course on e.g. herbs or aspirin.