supplimentation

[richpass6]

hey i am just curious as to what d3 can do to ones cham if used in excess? many people seem to stay away from it and only use it twice a week. i on the other hand, was told to use it every other day and multivitamin every 2 weeks for my juvenile. why is this?

 

[sandrachameleon]

what brand are you using?
what type of chameleon is it?
does it have access to the outdoors?
what type of UVB lighting do you use? How frequently is it changed? does it pass throught anything, like plastic or screen?
what do you gutload with?

D3 is necessary for formation of bones. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and cause damage (Excess Vitamin D actually causes ABSORPTION of bone, and causes mineralization of organs). Vitamin A also figures into this because vitamin A and D3 are antagonistic to each other.
Rep-Cal has 400,000 IU/kg of D3 whereas Miner-All (I) has 4,400 IU/kg of D3 and I think 150IU D3 in Nutribol (which also has Vit A so be wary of using this very often). That's a considerable difference in D3 strength.

Using Rep-cal twice a month is usually sufficient for a chameleon raised in doord under acceptable UVB lighting. Using it twice a week wouldnt be a good idea, in my opinion.
Whereas Miner-all (I) could be used every week, even twice a week, for this same chameleon. Twice a month may be insufficient.

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

 

[bimac6]

hey i am just curious as to what d3 can do to ones cham if used in excess? many people seem to stay away from it and only use it twice a week. i on the other hand, was told to use it every other day and multivitamin every 2 weeks for my juvenile. why is this?

They probably meant to supplement with calcium without d3 every other day.
I was told the same thing, until I came here.
My schedule for my baby is
every feeding I have 'no d3' dusting
twice a month I have 'd3' dusting
and once a month I do the 'vitamin' dust.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."i am just curious as to what d3 can do to ones cham if used in excess?"...D3 from supplements is ready to go and not converted by the body as needed.

"Excessive vitamin D3 supplementation can result in organ toxicity (gular edema)metastatic calcification, gout, and pseudo-gout (calcium-like deposit)."...
http://www.seavs.com/case_studies/lizards/chameleons.asp

Here are some good articles that might help...
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421.../index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html

 

[richpass6]

thank you everyone. its just that i was told by a breeder and given the supplements to do so. he said every other day calcium w/ D3 and multivitamin every 2 weeks for a juvenile. i was never given the reptical w/o D3. i just find it so weird that in the manual it told me the opposite....

 

[sandrachameleon]

Perhaps the breeder was unaware of how much D3 was needed (or not needed). Perhaps the breeder didnt think you'd use the appropriate lighting?

 

[richpass6]

well i bought the kit from him aswell. its screameleons; they have a site. i met the owners at a reptile expo... anyways i wa sjsut on another forum and someone said it is nessecary for young chameleons to use calcium w/ D# for their first year to help develop better.