I have been wondering if Calcium could also be a possible cause of Dyskinetic syndrome. Many cricket breeders give the crickets all kinds of food to eat from such as dog food and the like. Many of these products have a lot of calcium included in them. Tarantulas whom get too much calcium have lost limbs for example, as I understand it. In humans if too little calcium is in the body the symptoms could include twitching among other things. Calcium overdose also bring about an overdose in Vit D and Iron absorption is also hampered. Calcium play a role in the cell's biology, it binds to a wide range of proteins and it alters their biological activity. So Calsium is important in nerve impulse transmission and the contraction of muscles but tarantulas do not have bones so what could Calsium help them with in any way. To absorb calcium one needs the sun i.e. light, and as far as I know tarantulas do not really need light. So could it mean too much might have a similar effect.That there is an overdose of certain elements and a reduction of others due to the overdose of Calcium. How does Calcium affect hydration levels for example? Because of the fact that tarantulas move via blood pressure in the legs (like hydrolics ?) and not with bone and muscles.
Any thoughts ???

You know what I think you might be onto something here. A day or 2 ago when I fed my T's I noticed that that batch of crickets had a lot of calcium powder in the tub. I did ponder the thought that it might be harmful to my T's so I gave them a nice bath first... they don't run to well when they are wet hehehe.

Here is the problem no one knows what causes DKS, it could be genetic, pesticides seems to be the more popular explanation. But think you might have a point here. I do agree with you that this might be one of the causes. Making me think twice about buying crickets again but with that said I have fed my T's pet shop crickets for years and have never had a DKS problem.

I know this is going to sound bad but I will get 2 curly slings and feed one washed crickets and the other crickets with calcium powder. This would give me a controlled test to see if this might be a problem. I think the results could be valuable to all if it does turn out that calcium could be dangerous fir our T's.

I mean how many of us wash our crickets before feeding?... I bet no one

i look very forward to your results Onyx!!!

Would take a long time before there would be any results if there even are any. Been giving it some thought I would have to give the T a big dose of the calcium to see what happens. The levels of calcium that come with your average tub of crickets just wont cut it, or we all would have had DKS T's. This might be a completely harmless test but I still think its worth checking out.

I will have a chat with Uncle Stan about this too and see what he thinks.

Thank you for your input onyx, I really appreciate it. I see most crickets are being Vitamin enriched and that bothers me a bit. We are recently being warned of the dangers of overdosing on Vitamins. Vitamin A for instance is Toxic in high doses, most of us give the crickets carrot, high in Vitamin A. Too much Vit A could cause: Nausea and vomiting, Diarrhea, Problems with muscle coordination, Spinning sensation, Dizziness, Delirium, etc.
Calcium related problems causes stargazing in birds (drunken bird look) and probably snakes. Couple that with a high vitamin A and Vitamin D (included in various Calcium products) diet and you might have a problem.
Calcium in humans help to protect the myelin that sheaths axons in the brain and ensures smooth and speedy impulses. If one looks at the movie of "Lorenzo's oil" where the child's myelin was severely degenerated. Multiple Sclerosis is also a myelin related disease. So I know it is a shot in the dark but it might be worth looking at.
It seems too much or too little calcium depending on certain factors, could cause circling behaviour, erratic movement, locomotor problems, and so on.
If anyone else has a theory or something to add please do so.

I am as far from a scientist as Ceratogyrus is from popular, BUT, I don't think Calcium causes nothing but a bad molt, if that. I have fed no dust covered crickets to spiders and still had a DKS spider or three years ago. Calsium might harden the exuvium to such an extent that the spider struggles to "break it open" and get out, but DKS ??? Don't fink so...

DKS is caused by a virus that infects/attacks the nervous system, is what I hear. The virus lives wherever it lives, but is likely to be present when crickets eat their fallen comrades. (Calm down Julius - "Comrades" has different meanings). When a spider ingests a cricket that has eaten vrot meat that possibly carries the virus, it MIGHT carry the virus into, and infect the spider, causing it to walk and act funny and die.

This is all hearsay and speculation, someone might lock/delete/moderate/edit/ban the thread because I might be construed as being sarcastic... :blush: