Please help to choose calcium

[Radha]

Okay. So i found these three calcium brands on amazon. Can anyone help me to understand if it is suitable for my baby palm squirrel? Please!

[CritterMom]

Any calcium source that does not have other vitamins added to it (sometimes they add Vitamin D, sometimes they add magnesium, etc.) will work. In fact you can boil and then bake empty egg shells and grind them and you will have calcium powder. I cannot read the label on the first one because it is too blurred, but it looks like any of these would work. Buy the one that has the most calcium in it - the most concentrated. You don't want to have to give large amounts of powder to get to your required dose just because it will be a pain to get it all into him.

[Radha]

Any calcium source that does not have other vitamins added to it (sometimes they add Vitamin D, sometimes they add magnesium, etc.) will work. In fact you can boil and then bake empty egg shells and grind them and you will have calcium powder. I cannot read the label on the first one because it is too blurred, but it looks like any of these would work. Buy the one that has the most calcium in it - the most concentrated. You don't want to have to give large amounts of powder to get to your required dose just because it will be a pain to get it all into him.

Thanks a lot!!! Thats really helpful! I did find one natural source of calcium it is moringa Powder. Its a herb that is rich in calcium. It has more than milk or sesame seeds... its amazing! Do you think it would be good? The only thing is it has alot of vitamin C as well. Do you know if too much vitamin C can is safe for squirrel?

[CritterMom]

I would find a CALCIUM ONLY supplement. Your baby should also be eating fruit and vegetables which will provide plenty of Vitamin C. The problem with supplements with multiple ingredients is that the ratios of the supplements are calculated based on HUMAN requirements. While vitamin C is water soluble and you pee out what is not utilized by the body, that info, too, is based on humans, not little rodents. I wouldn't get too worried about trying for all organic, etc, because it will only apply to the things that are added to the calcium and is basically being done for marketing reasons to sell to people who automatically see the word organic and think it has to be better. Calcium carbonate is a NON-ORGANIC material. It is a mineral. A rock.

As I mentioned, you CAN make your own out of eggshells if you feel more comfortable having that level of control. If you Google "making eggshell calcium" you will find a ton of sites to tell you how. Basically, you rinse the empty shells, boil them for 10 minutes to ensure killing any organisms, then dry them in a warm over until the shells are bone dry, and then grind them, and now you have a pile of calcium carbonate powder and nothing else.