Parsons/montane species keepers, share your dusting/supplement regime

jamest0o0

Chameleon Enthusiast
My cham has been eating a lot. Yesterday he had an adult discoid and a large orangehead nymph. Today he's already had an adult orangehead female.

He likes the large winged feeders the best, I mix in smaller stuff too, but they often run away too quickly or he ignores them. He took 1 silkworm the other day and hasn't touched them since. He turns down pretty much anything that isn't a roach.

So I dust plain calcium about every other feeding, vitamin A gel cap 1x a month(considering trying a small adult mouse, frozen and thawed), and I dust with random gutload ingredients like pollen/brewers yeast/kelp/spirulina/moringa and some other stuff. I got some repashy calc plus lod to add a little to the mix, which I tried today.

When I dust, I take my pinky and dip it into the powder, then wipe it across the wings or back of the roach/feeder of choice so that theres a light dusting on the back. Opinions on this being too much/too little? My cham is still growing so I want to make sure he's getting enough.

He seems healthy, but I like to get other's opinions/experiences to make sure I'm doing things optimally.
 
My cham has been eating a lot. Yesterday he had an adult discoid and a large orangehead nymph. Today he's already had an adult orangehead female.

He likes the large winged feeders the best, I mix in smaller stuff too, but they often run away too quickly or he ignores them. He took 1 silkworm the other day and hasn't touched them since. He turns down pretty much anything that isn't a roach.

So I dust plain calcium about every other feeding, vitamin A gel cap 1x a month(considering trying a small adult mouse, frozen and thawed), and I dust with random gutload ingredients like pollen/brewers yeast/kelp/spirulina/moringa and some other stuff. I got some repashy calc plus lod to add a little to the mix, which I tried today.

When I dust, I take my pinky and dip it into the powder, then wipe it across the wings or back of the roach/feeder of choice so that theres a light dusting on the back. Opinions on this being too much/too little? My cham is still growing so I want to make sure he's getting enough.

He seems healthy, but I like to get other's opinions/experiences to make sure I'm doing things optimally.

For my quad I use the repashy calcium plus LoD on Saturdays. Plain calcium/bee pollen mix Wednesdays. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday just feeders with no supplements. Sunday is a fasting day. He has been on this regime for about 3 months and seems to be doing great.
Currently alternating between banded crickets, and dubias with a few BSFL larvae. Hornworms every so often, and all of the random BSF that happen to come out of the container.
I am considering adding another roach species to the mix, and popping the occasional isopod in for variety once I get colonies established. Have 2 species right now, and one coming early next week sometime.
 
Way off topic but did you know snails contain 100 IU of Vitamin A. If you are feeding them regularly you may want to adjust your other vitamin A sources.
 
Let me amend that statement I got mixed up between different nutrition statements.
They contain 1% of the RDA for humans and 100 gm of snail contains 100 IU of vitamin A. I doubt even a Parsonii would eat that much at a sitting.
For comparison Repashy CA+ LoD contains Vitamin A min. 80,000 IU/lb but I have no idea what fraction of a LB you use per feeding to make that into a reasonable math problem.
80,000/16 oz = 5000 IU per ounce. How many dustings in an ounce? 500 or 1000???
Im out. I was told there would be no math.
 
Let me amend that statement I got mixed up between different nutrition statements.
They contain 1% of the RDA for humans and 100 gm of snail contains 100 IU of vitamin A. I doubt even a Parsonii would eat that much at a sitting.
For comparison Repashy CA+ LoD contains Vitamin A min. 80,000 IU/lb but I have no idea what fraction of a LB you use per feeding to make that into a reasonable math problem.
80,000/16 oz = 5000 IU per ounce. How many dustings in an ounce? 500 or 1000???
Im out. I was told there would be no math.

So what are your thoughts on the pinky finger dusting roaches back method. Does that sound like a similar amount that you would do for your chams?
 
I probably do more than that. If I'm feeling lazy I'll just put all the days feeders in a deli cup with a tiny pinch and just let them run around in the cup so they only get dust on the bottom side no shaking or swirling. If I'm doing things right I put half the days feeders in and dust them then everybody gets 1/2 dusted and 1/2 plain. I put my powders in dollar store salt shakers so I have better control of how much goes in to the cup. My calcium powder is diluted 1:1 with powdered bee pollen and that also makes it easier to give less.
 
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