Dusters

KarmaChameleon1337

Avid Member
I know you all are going to be mad but I haven't been able to use any dusters for the entire seven months I've had my cham... there are NONE at ANY of the pet stores near me. Can you help me find a site?
 
Wow no supps for 7 months? Are there any health problems with your chams? Your gutload must be really great and they must be getting a lot of sunlight. Yes lllreptile is great for all reptile supplies.
 
why did you wait 7 months to ask us now??? I think everyone knows that things can be ordered online if stores in our areas do not carry what we are looking for.
 
I went back to my pet stores and apparently one was so ticked at me coming so often asking for this that they ordered it.. I got some Flukers calcium with vitamin D3, is this the right one? Phosporous free.
 
you need calcium w.o d3 for every feeding
calcium with d3 for 2x a month
and a multivitamin for 2x a month
 
More specifically, you need:
1 phosphorous-free calcium, with NO vitamin D3
1 phosphorous-free calcium, with vitamin D3
1 multivitamin

Make sure the calcium is phosphorous free. Crickets have a high ratio of phos:calcium so you need to dust with something that has more calcium to better that ratio.

Now, don't freak out and overdose your chameleon when you get your supplements. Too much too soon will probably be a shock to the system. Remember to dust lightly (don't make the insects into ghosts) and get on the schedule and everything will be better. If you want, order in some butterworms that have high calcium and add those to the diet. It'll provide more natural calcium.
 
Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it. At that size you only need to feed it every two or three days. Feed it enough that it doesn't get fat (and, of course, doesn't get thin either).

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
 
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