Supplements Question

[UrbanChameleon]

Hey guys I was wondering if you could help me out with this. As of the past month I have been supplementing my little guy with calcium every day, calcium with D3 twice a month, and then multivitamin twice a month. I didn't realize it until yesterday but both of the multivitamins I own have D3 in them. I knew one of them did but I must have missed it the thousand times I read the other one. One is the Exo Terra Multivitamin with beta carotene, the other is Reptivite with Vitamin A.. both contain D3. Reptivite has 10,390 IU/lb, and Exo Terra has 9,979 IU/lb. The only reason I have two different ones is because of the Vitamin A. I'm curious... should I stop giving him his calcium w/D3 that contains 14,740 IU/lb and just give him plain calcium on those days? I'm thinking I could give him one of each multivitamin every other Sunday. I don't want it to be too much for him. I'm not sure what a Veiled Chameleons D3 dosage should really be. I am glad I caught this when I did. The print is so tiny and I must have missed it. I'm sure he's fine considering I've only had him for about a month and a half. I wanted to get some opinions. Should I cut out his calcium w/D3.. or should I hassle the pet store to order some for me? Either way is fine. I just want what's healthy for my little man. Thanks so much.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hi

Here's my suggestion, for what it's worth

Firstly you may not need to give the plain calicum (without D3) every day. You only need to dust feeders that have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, such as crickets and mealworms. Things like butterworms and terrestrial isopods need no calicum supplement at all.

How you supplement should take into consideration not just the type of prey, but also what you gutload with. Well gutloaded roaches need only a little supplement, if any, but poorly gutloaded roaches would be better if dusted.
If your gutload contains D3 or vitamin A etc you'd adjust your supplementation accordingly.

And whether or not the animal goes outside, or what type of UVB lighting you use and how often you replace the bulbs will be a factor as well.

All that said, the vitamin products you are using dont have an overwhelming amount of D3. I wouldnt be concerned that you have also been using the calcium +D3 product. I think if I were you, and I had those 3 items on hand, I would just alternate from one week to the next. Meaning, the first Sunday is Calcium +D3, the second Sunday is Reptivite, the third Sunday is Exo Terra, then back to the calicum with D3.

That's just an opinion. Supplementing is more of a feel and an art than a firm rules science. We just dont know exactly everything chameleons need.
You may find these links useful to you in determining what to do for your particular situation:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/174-whats-supplements-brand.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suppl...-mbd-1-a-2451/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suppl...chedule-14739/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suppl...e-issue-13515/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-su...dule-ok-16028/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/feedi...lements-15789/
http://www.uvma.org/chameleon/vitamind3.htm
https://www.chameleonforums.com/vitamin-d3-10858/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421082042/www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/confu...n-again-20728/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/tryin...vitamin-25003/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/can-s...07/#post292388

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Hi

Here's my suggestion, for what it's worth

Firstly you may not need to give the plain calicum (without D3) every day. You only need to dust feeders that have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, such as crickets and mealworms. Things like butterworms and terrestrial isopods need no calicum supplement at all.

How you supplement should take into consideration not just the type of prey, but also what you gutload with. Well gutloaded roaches need only a little supplement, if any, but poorly gutloaded roaches would be better if dusted.
If your gutload contains D3 or vitamin A etc you'd adjust your supplementation accordingly.

And whether or not the animal goes outside, or what type of UVB lighting you use and how often you replace the bulbs will be a factor as well.

All that said, the vitamin products you are using dont have an overwhelming amount of D3. I wouldnt be concerned that you have also been using the calcium +D3 product. I think if I were you, and I had those 3 items on hand, I would just alternate from one week to the next. Meaning, the first Sunday is Calcium +D3, the second Sunday is Reptivite, the third Sunday is Exo Terra, then back to the calicum with D3.

That's just an opinion. Supplementing is more of a feel and an art than a firm rules science. We just dont know exactly everything chameleons need.
You may find these links useful to you in determining what to do for your particular situation:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/174-whats-supplements-brand.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suppl...-mbd-1-a-2451/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suppl...chedule-14739/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suppl...e-issue-13515/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-su...dule-ok-16028/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/feedi...lements-15789/
http://www.uvma.org/chameleon/vitamind3.htm
https://www.chameleonforums.com/vitamin-d3-10858/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421082042/www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/confu...n-again-20728/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/tryin...vitamin-25003/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/can-s...07/#post292388

Thank you so much! Right now I'm gutloading with Cricket Crack and also a wet blend of about 11 different ingredients. He spends 99% of his time under the UVB bulb since it is his favorite plant. He doesn't go outside, at least not for now. He is only about 2-3 months old. I wish there was a class you could take on supplementing animals. I learn pretty easily but no one really knows exactly how much D3 a chameleon needs. Also the whole Vitamin A dispute. I appreciate you help.