Feeding my panther a pinky

[Karma11]

I have known that a pinky is on the diet of panthers (not typical as crickets and superworms are) and I have seen videos of chams taking down pinkies. Anyone have any experience feeding a pinky to their chams. My vet advised I try it as a good source of Vitamin A. Im going to try it this week, just curious if anyone has before and what their success doing so or otherwise has been. Thanks!!!

 

[rande77]

Hi Karma
I've feed pinkies to my male veileds. I give them each 1 a month to many and they will develop gout.
Bob

 

[Karma11]

Yea I wasnt going to make feeding him pinkies a habit, it doesnt seem right that they eat any more than one a month. I honestly dont think my cham has it in him though..haha. He seems too nice and docile to take down a pinky, however Id love to see it.

Does it get messy?

 

[rande77]

I've had it get a little bloody at times
Bob
P.S.
I see your from NJ.... What part I'm down here in Manahawkin

 

[sandrachameleon]

however Id love to see it.

that's hardly the best reason.
Do a search on the word pinkie. you are going to find there has already been a lot of discussion on the merits, or LACK of merit in feeding pinkies. Pinkies are essentially little blobs of fat, not a particularily good choice of feeder, totally unnecessary.

 

[Karma11]

Yea, you think there is no good reason to feed him a pinky. I wasnt ever going to, like I said I dont think Waldo has it in him..ha. But I was going to try strictly because of the recommendation made by my vet; she said they are a good source of Vitamin A. Do you know of any other ways tro get him vital nutrients?

Thanks for looking out.

 

[ChamOh]

Just curious, why was your vet concerned your reptile friend wasn't getting enough Vit A?

 

[Karma11]

he has been sick lately. Started with the typical symptoms....one or both eyes shut at times, sleeping during the day, then eventually not eating reguarly. I took him into the vet, where he was given a round of antibiotic there, fluids and blood was taken. his phosphorus level was a bit higher than normal, and when the white cell count came back about a week later he was arond 1300, to which my vet informed me 800-900 is high-normal. He is now on a cycle of antibiotics i need to inject every three days.

He has something weird going on with his skin, ill post a pic if you want, but i know its not normal for him. My vet said she looked into skin abnormalities among panthers and that vitamin A could be the culprit, hence the recommendation to try a pinky, but im still unsure what to do.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Vitamin A can be provided in a vast number of ways. Including through animal meat such as a pinkie. Some vitamin supplement dusts contain it. Vets can provide an oral liquid, which contains a carefully controlled amount, according to the weight of the chameleon. Some feeders likely contain it. Some feeders can be fed foods containing preformed vitamin A (retinol, acetate) and then in turn can be fed to the chams. Lots of options. Just be careful not to overdo it - too much is TOXIC.

It doesnt sound like your vet really knows what the issue is, and is taking a "shot gun" approach. is there a second opinion vet in the area?

I personally never directly provide preformed vitamin A, and my chameleons are long-lived and healthy. But I also provide a wide range of feeders, not just a few prey choices, and use selected fresh fruits and veg etc for gutload. It is likely mine get whatever they need via the feeders, or through conversion of beta carotene (not known for sure if they can do this or not).

You might find the info on vitamin A within this blog entry useful (scroll down about half way):
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html