Calcium water dish

[Jace]

I came across a large water dish in the pet store that slowly releases calcium into the water. Would this type of dish be beneficial to my Pyxies or is it more for reptiles? Would it hurt my frogs if I put it in their set-up as its size is the perfect upgrade for my male frog??

[chumpy100]

it sounds to me like it wouldnt work, but someone else might know more. Anyway, wouldnt calcium build up on the sides since it will be released into water?

[Jace]

That was my thought too, but since I would have to remove it everyday to clean it and put fresh water into it, I could probably keep the buildup down. I mostly just want it for the size, not for the calcium stuff.

[SludgeMunkey]

Sounds like a gimmick to me. I'll research this one and report back.

Just taking a guess, it may be designed with turtles in mind.

Personally, I feel that this sort of item is unneeded for amphibian care if a proper balanced diet is provided.

[Jace]

Sounds like a gimmick to me. I'll research this one and report back.

Just taking a guess, it may be designed with turtles in mind.

Personally, I feel that this sort of item is unneeded for amphibian care if a proper balanced diet is provided.

Thanks Johnny! Appreciate it. I think it's a gimmick too. However, at the rate Kadesh is growing, I'm going to have to stick an ice cream pail in there for him to have enough water to soak! The size of the dish is appealing, but not the function. I think I will try and find/make something else.

[SludgeMunkey]

I am a big advocate of DIY. I find the obscene pricing for things like water dishes to be offensive. For what you spend on one small water dish, you could make three that have five times the volume!


I have been playing around with 4mm Plexiglas and a heat gun lately...you can make some amazing water dishes that way!

I also make them out of white floral foam, covered with a layering of acrylic media concrete (sometimes called tapecrete). You just carve the foam to look however you want, brush on a few coats of the acrylic concrete, and let it cure a week or two in the sun. Paint it as you like, then give it a few coats of clear urethane. Let it dry another week, and then it is ready for critter use!

Turns out these calcium dishes are made with land crabs and tortoises in mind. I would not use them with amphibians, myself.

[into]

I also make them out of white floral foam, covered with a layering of acrylic media concrete (sometimes called tapecrete)

Where can you buy that stuff? craft stores? One of the things I'm having fun with is trying to build new stuff instead of buying. I finished a homemade water fountain and a new modular 20gal terrarium (biuld out of two cheap $12 10 gal tanks) a couple days ago.

[chumpy100]

DIY is fun, paying 20$ for a water bowl is insane, and chris nice cut out of dumper, can you teach me how to do that? ive tried and failed

[Jace]

I am a big advocate of DIY. I find the obscene pricing for things like water dishes to be offensive. For what you spend on one small water dish, you could make three that have five times the volume!


I have been playing around with 4mm Plexiglas and a heat gun lately...you can make some amazing water dishes that way!

I also make them out of white floral foam, covered with a layering of acrylic media concrete (sometimes called tapecrete). You just carve the foam to look however you want, brush on a few coats of the acrylic concrete, and let it cure a week or two in the sun. Paint it as you like, then give it a few coats of clear urethane. Let it dry another week, and then it is ready for critter use!

Turns out these calcium dishes are made with land crabs and tortoises in mind. I would not use them with amphibians, myself.

I like that idea. I just might have to try that, thanks! I am a medium crafty person, but I think I can make something more cost effective and suitable for my frogs. It may not be pretty, but it's not like the frog will care .

[into]

and chris nice cut out of dumper, can you teach me how to do that? ive tried and failed

It's part of my day job... do you have photoshop?

[chumpy100]

no, but i have 2 other programs that are like it

[SludgeMunkey]

Where can you buy that stuff? craft stores? One of the things I'm having fun with is trying to build new stuff instead of buying. I finished a homemade water fountain and a new modular 20gal terrarium (biuld out of two cheap $12 10 gal tanks) a couple days ago.

Actual Tapecrete brand acrylic concrete is very expensive and hard to get here in the USA, however I did some research on it a few months back and found this alternative.

It is readily available at Home Depot and other DIY stores:

Quikrete Acrylic Fortifier

Use this stuff instead of water when mixing up your batch, then apply it with a paintbrush or sponge.

I mix it with this:

Quikrete Quick-setting Cement

You can also use it with tile grout and plaster of paris. I do not suggest using plaster for wet type set ups.

This stuff is a bit strange to work with at first. You want to mix the concrete with the acrylic using no water. It needs to be the consistency of pancake batter. Then brush it on your form that you carved out of white floral foam. It is better to use many thin layers rather than one or two thick ones. Mix up only what you can use in ten minutes. It dries fast but wait at least 24-48 hours between coats.

Here is a picture from one of my in process projects using this stuff:

[Iceni]

Back onto calcium.

Calcium is actually a metal that reacts with other things in the environment to make calcium salts. Much like the sodium salts we use on the dinner table and in cooking.


Some calcium will never be absorbed from it's salt compounds. Calcium fluoride for example as too tight a bond to the fluoride for an animal to break the calcium out of the compound. Calcium fluoride - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Calcium chloride on the other hand is a common salt that most organisms can break down and is commonly found in dusting kits. Calcium chloride - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


As a company i can make a bowl out of 100% calcium fluoride or a mixture with this material in it. Trading standards could not pull me up for it because in effect it would be releasing calcium into the water. However your body cannot use this calcium at all and it servers no purpose in your body.


If i made a bowl with the useful salts they would simply start to dissolve into the water and after a few months there would be no benefit left from that bowl. In fact if i made the bowl from nothing but this material it would be the same as making the bowl out of table salt... Eventually it would disappear. I also could not control the salt been released.



The lack of control over these chemicals is also an issue, If your water is left too long it will become saturated with salts. If you change the water every day the water will vary in salt content at the start and end of the day!




Personally i would avoid these bowls for small animals.