Supplement confusion

[lysinlight87]

Hi,

I have 2 supplements for my chameleon. 1 that is just calcium-no D3. And 1 that is a multi-vit with D3,

The plain calcium I use at every feed, and the D3 multivit I'm going to use once fortnightly. Is this correct?

Thanks

 

[reptilover]

Elaborate on this fortnight u speak of... I've heard it but cant remember the exact duration it translates to. Every two scores should be multivit and or d3, what brand do are using? On both accounts

Edit: also wat kind of cham gender age? Before I go advising

 

[lysinlight87]

He's coming up for 4 months old now. I give him calci-dust with his daily feed. Then I went to the petshop for a multivit & they recommended nutrobal, which I was going to use at 1 feed every 2 weeks.

 

[lysinlight87]

sorry, I forget this is a multi-national forum & slip into my english farm-girl speak lol

 

[Kate]

When Popeye was a juvenile I used Komodo cricket dust ( plain calcium ) daily and nutrabol once a week. Now he is fully grown I use cricket dust every second day and nutrabol once a week. He rarely gets to sun himself outside due to our climate. I to would like reassurance that I am doing this right.

 

[reptilover]

What kind of cham?

 

[Kate]

Sorry. Panther. 16months

 

[Zen Reptiles]

It depends on the UVB light you use, or if you use one at all.

If he has a 5.0 or better UVB bulb and it is replaced at least once a year and he can get within 6 inches of the actual bulb, then d3 can be used once every 2 weeks. Some people use it once a month.

The new trend, and it seems to be one that will stick, is to use Repashy Calcium PLUS which has very low dose vitamin D3 so you can use it at nearly every feeding and not worry about 'Hrrmmm did I dust with d3 last week or 2 weeks ago?'

It is hard to keep track of unless you're ticking it off on a calendar.

Multivitamin, at that age, should be used every 2 weeks as well. When he is an adult, males only need a multivitamin once a month, or on ONE feeder just once a week.

I prefer to do the 'one feeder once a week' to keep things in balance. Going an entire month without any multivitamins, and then over-dosing them for one day out of the month seems a little unbalanced IMO.

Another thing you will want to do is Vitamin A on ONE feeder ONCE a MONTH. Get a Retinyl palmitate & Halibut Liver Oil gel capsule, pierce the capsule, and put ONE drop onto a cricket and make sure he eats it. This really helps with skin, eye, and tongue health. Never do all this stuff on the same day, as Vitamin a, d, and e can compete for absorption in the gut and will cancel each other out.

 

[reptilover]

It depends on the UVB light you use, or if you use one at all.

If he has a 5.0 or better UVB bulb and it is replaced at least once a year and he can get within 6 inches of the actual bulb, then d3 can be used once every 2 weeks. Some people use it once a month.

The new trend, and it seems to be one that will stick, is to use Repashy Calcium PLUS which has very low dose vitamin D3 so you can use it at nearly every feeding and not worry about 'Hrrmmm did I dust with d3 last week or 2 weeks ago?'

It is hard to keep track of unless you're ticking it off on a calendar.

Multivitamin, at that age, should be used every 2 weeks as well. When he is an adult, males only need a multivitamin once a month, or on ONE feeder just once a week.

I prefer to do the 'one feeder once a week' to keep things in balance. Going an entire month without any multivitamins, and then over-dosing them for one day out of the month seems a little unbalanced IMO.

Another thing you will want to do is Vitamin A on ONE feeder ONCE a MONTH. Get a Retinyl palmitate & Halibut Liver Oil gel capsule, pierce the capsule, and put ONE drop onto a cricket and make sure he eats it. This really helps with skin, eye, and tongue health. Never do all this stuff on the same day, as Vitamin a, d, and e can compete for absorption in the gut and will cancel each other out.

Took the words right out of my mouth

 

[hamley88]

im from the uk and im using the same stuff as you, plain calcium every feed and nutrobal twice a month. ive got a year old veiled cham and shes doing very well.

 

[Stoneleon]

It depends on the UVB light you use, or if you use one at all.

If he has a 5.0 or better UVB bulb and it is replaced at least once a year and he can get within 6 inches of the actual bulb, then d3 can be used once every 2 weeks. Some people use it once a month.

The new trend, and it seems to be one that will stick, is to use Repashy Calcium PLUS which has very low dose vitamin D3 so you can use it at nearly every feeding and not worry about 'Hrrmmm did I dust with d3 last week or 2 weeks ago?'

It is hard to keep track of unless you're ticking it off on a calendar.

Multivitamin, at that age, should be used every 2 weeks as well. When he is an adult, males only need a multivitamin once a month, or on ONE feeder just once a week.

I prefer to do the 'one feeder once a week' to keep things in balance. Going an entire month without any multivitamins, and then over-dosing them for one day out of the month seems a little unbalanced IMO.

Another thing you will want to do is Vitamin A on ONE feeder ONCE a MONTH. Get a Retinyl palmitate & Halibut Liver Oil gel capsule, pierce the capsule, and put ONE drop onto a cricket and make sure he eats it. This really helps with skin, eye, and tongue health. Never do all this stuff on the same day, as Vitamin a, d, and e can compete for absorption in the gut and will cancel each other out.

thank you this is awesome information

 

[lysinlight87]

Get a Retinyl palmitate & Halibut Liver Oil gel capsule, pierce the capsule, and put ONE drop onto a cricket and make sure he eats it. This really helps with skin, eye, and tongue health.

That's one I hadn't heard of, I'll give it a go. Guess I'll have to get Neelix used to hand-feeding.

Thanks guys

 

[sandrachameleon]

That's one I hadn't heard of, I'll give it a go. Guess I'll have to get Neelix used to hand-feeding.

Thanks guys

Nutrobol already has preformed Vitamin A in it. I would NOT go adding it additionally. Too much can be toxic.
You also have to think about the type of feeders being used, and what you gutload with. There is no one schedule that fits all situations.

More info on supplementing:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

 

[hamley88]

Nutrobol already has preformed Vitamin A in it. I would NOT go adding it additionally. Too much can be toxic.
You also have to think about the type of feeders being used, and what you gutload with. There is no one schedule that fits all situations.

More info on supplementing:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

now thats what you call awesome information lol. is there anything this woman dosent know

 

[Zen Reptiles]

There are no regulations for many health products, let alone our pet products.

Shelf-life is reason enough to gutload for vitamins instead. A LOT of the vitamins in a multivitamin powder are exposed to a lot of oxidation while the jar is opened frequently, and thus becomes less-effective more quickly. Which is a big reason I add vitA additionally and is a personal choice. Yes there is VitA in the powders, but what quality is it and what is its rate of decay?

I have read a bit about it and some of the individual vitamins in a mix can be ineffective within two weeks to a month of being opened and exposed to air, particularly vitamin A and D....which are the most important. There are so many variables when it comes to how it was packaged, the quality of ingredients, etc.

Since we use powders instead of capsules, the rate of deterioration is many times higher than human-grade vitamins and supplements. The capsule not only makes it easy for us to swallow, but makes the ingredients potent for a maximum duration while in the bottle.

If you keep your supplements near your cham cage and they are exposed to the heat and humidity at any degree at all, it will make the deterioration more rapid.

Gutloading ensures you are getting natural, pre-digested, absorbable vitamins and nutrients and this is the best option by far. I definitely do not trust anything in a package and so take a few VERY SMALL extra measures to ensure my pets are getting what they require. Over-doing it is just as bad or worse than under-doing it.

A good UVB light & sunshine is much more important than vitamin D3 supplementation, and gutloading is much more important than dusting with multi-vitamins.

I use the Repashy PLUS, gutload with all my kitchen scraps, use the Sun, have a UVB meter for the lights, and once evert 4-7 weeks give some extra vitamin A.

 

[sandrachameleon]

There are no regulations for many health products, let alone our pet products.

Shelf-life is reason enough to gutload for vitamins instead. A LOT of the vitamins in a multivitamin powder are exposed to a lot of oxidation while the jar is opened frequently, and [...]Since we use powders instead of capsules, the rate of deterioration is many times higher than human-grade vitamins and supplements. The capsule not only makes it easy for us to swallow, but makes the ingredients potent for a maximum duration while in the bottle.

If you keep your supplements near your cham cage and they are exposed to the heat and humidity at any degree at all, it will make the deterioration more rapid.

Gutloading ensures you are getting natural, pre-digested, absorbable vitamins and nutrients and this is the best option by far. I definitely do not trust anything in a package and so take a few VERY SMALL extra measures to ensure my pets are getting what they require. Over-doing it is just as bad or worse than under-doing it.

A good UVB light & sunshine is much more important than vitamin D3 supplementation, and gutloading is much more important than dusting with multi-vitamins.

all very good points

 

[Kate]

Great info. Some things that i have never read before,
I use t5 uv and because of sandrachaneleons blogs have been using recomended fruit and veg to gutload. He is fed mostly locusts with occasional crickets.

 

[lysinlight87]

Ok, I'm happy that what I'm doing is ok for the moment, I wouldn't want to experiment with anything else whilst I'm still a novice.

Thanks guys

 

[pssh]

I was looking over an interview with Gary Ferguson the other day and it appeared that when given 50 IUs of preformed vit A once a week panthers did not develop vit A deficiency (where as when not given preformed vit A some animals would develop a deficiency.) I'm not entirely sure how to calculate how much you would be giving with the nutrobal, so I won't recommend how often to give it but I figured it would be worth sharing.