Repashy Superfoods Product Change LOG

[Allen Repashy]

Hey Everyone,

Just a heads up on some changes coming down the pipe with crested gecko diet. It has been one year since I have sat down at the formulation bench, and I am now making some fine tuning changes in the CGD formula that will start shipping to Distributors next week.

The total change will be .8%. (.008 )

After some customer feedback, and some help from Matt at Pangea, I have decided to add a mold inhibitor to the diet. In some situations, I have had reports that mold has begun to grow in 12-24 hours when the diet is left in the cups.
I will be adding a very small amount of Potassium Sorbate as a mold inhibitor. Tests made by Matt and myself show that by adding this to the formula, mold growth is retarded for two or three days! This should be a welcomed change for everyone.

Next, I have increased in a very small amount, the amount of Xanthan Gum in the product. This effects the thickness, or Gel factor of the diet once it is mixed. I have still had feedback that the diet is separating when people want to mix it really thin, so this should help solve the problem..

And finally, One of my ingredients has been discontinued by the manufacturer, and there is no exact replacement available. The "Naturose" which is the Algae I include for its Carotenoid levels of Astaxanthan, is no longer avalable. I have replaced it with a Pfaffa yeast extract product that a similar and actually contains a more bio available source of Astaxanthan.. It is called ECOTONE.. but it isn't quite as concentrated.. so I have switched the products and increased the level by .5%.....

I hope you all enjoy the changes if you even notice anything at all when it rolls through inventory turnover and gets to end customers. I am always trying to make the products better, so please don't stop with the feedback. It has been ten years now and I am still tweaking here and there to fine tune my products.....

Allen

[Debbie]

Okay we are about to order it again, so we can test it pretty soon :-)

[all4x]

sweet! Sounds good, I have to use the bottles I have now but I'm sure you'll never run out. Thank you again for the heads up!

[SarahW]

Mold has been a problem for my hatchlings/juveniles kept in smaller cages. In order to keep proper humidity for their shedding and to ensure that they are well-hydrated, I need to mist more often than with the adults. Within 8 hours I'll start to see mold... Within 16 hours, there will be a white fuzzy mold forest almost a fourth of an inch tall This mold inhibitor sounds fantastic. It will give the geckos a much higher chance at getting "seconds", as much of my collection tends to do.

Thanks a lot for the update!

[Chicubswally]

Well Allen, you've address the two small items I've noticed with the diet.
As times, I do mix with more water and have seen the settling and separation a bit.
Also, once in a while, I will see the cultures of 'who knows what' growing on top of the leftover diet in an enclosure I've misted a bit too much.

Thanks for making the changes!

[dcarter]

I have had the separating with the diet and just ordered 4lbs. last week..err. Guess I will reap the benefits next year. When I mix it thicker while I do not get mold I do get a souffle (sp) by morning and have always fed new diet everyday to avoid this. I can't wait to be able to feed only every third day- sounds awesome!

[M.Yatesomaha]

Man..... I just ordered 10lbs about a month ago....
I had noticed an exceptional amount of mold occurances from that particular batch.I'm glad this is being corrected.I also like the idea of being able to mix it thinner.Both are great changes that I believe will be well recived in the Rhac community.Speaking for myself (and I'm sure everyone else) The hard work and fine tuning is appriciated!!
Thanks Allen

[Silly-atus]

I guess I'm in the "I just ordered 6 pounds of it last month" club. On the bright side, by the time we need to order more, we know we'll be getting the new formula

I'm curious, is there anything way to order some of the mold inhibitor so we could add it to our current truckload supply that we've got stashed at home? It would be great to be able to get mold-free food sooner. But on the other hand, the correct measurements would be a pain to do for the amounts we have so it might not be worthwhile?

[Zara]

If only you had posted this about two days ago! Arrrrg. I went to a show this weekend, and while there was only one Crested dealer, he said he fed baby food instead of the diet because it molded too quickly. (He also didn't offer a water bowl and told me my geckos were abnormal for drinking out of one, I think it's more ADAPTIVE but whatever, jerk >:| ) Had you posted this I could have alerted him of the changes,

[Allen Repashy]

Originally Posted by Silly-atus

I'm curious, is there anything way to order some of the mold inhibitor so we could add it to our current truckload supply that we've got stashed at home?

If you REALLY wanted to you could get some.. home brew suppliers like this:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/produ...px?ProdID=4376
http://homebrew-supplies.homebrewmar...t=products.asp

The inclusion ratio is .002 or .2%, which rounds out to one gram per pound... you would have to mix it REALLY good to get even dispersal.... I doubt it is worth it, but for those that like to tinker, you could give it a try. The shipping will cost you more than the product if you can't find it locally.

You guys haven't complained about mold much, but now that I mention it, it seems it is an epidemic! LOL