Supplmentation for UVB just below 3.0

jcarlsen

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hey all! It's been a WHILE since I've been on here. I'm going to be receiving a little Nosy Be boy from Kammerflage sometime next month and I've been setting up my enclosure closely following Bill Strand's guide over at Chameleon Academy. The one thing that seems a bit off is the amount of UVB at my basking site. I've got a quad T5 fixture with a 12% arcadia bulb, raised off the screen with the legs and my solar meter is clocking in maybe...2.4-2.6 if I'm guestimating the height of the back of the little guy.

My question is...the supplementation plan on Chameleon Academy calls for Calcium (no D3) every feed and then 2x a month with a multi-D3 supplement. Given that this is based on a 3.0 reading and I'm a bit below that, should I be doing the D3 once a week or so or maybe 3x a month? Any thoughts?

Here's the enclosure so far:
1626956231552.png


Thanks!
 
For decades 0.5 UVI and medium D3 twice a month in a 2ft cube cage, was the standard, and we had happy healthy chams

At 3.0 Do not supplement more than twice a month. Thats literally the upper limit they can tolerate(above that and you start getting edema), and the time will come when the supplement becomes even lower, to maybe a few feeders dusted twice a month "just in case". But the new 3.0 standard is going hand in hand with the "little to no d3 supplement" standard.

PS cage setup looks excellent other than one thing. The bottom half of the cage is useless. While its nice to have a clean bottom so feeders cant hide (and easy to clean poop) i would fill out the bottom some what so the cham has a zero UVB and low temp zone to hide in. Mine hang out at the bottom alot during the summer when air temps are above 80 in the room. Yes in the winter they are camped on at the top (some times even on the aluminum T5 hood :p ) when room temps are in the lower 60's.
 
For decades 0.5 UVI and medium D3 twice a month in a 2ft cube cage, was the standard, and we had happy healthy chams

At 3.0 Do not supplement more than twice a month. Thats literally the upper limit they can tolerate(above that and you start getting edema), and the time will come when the supplement becomes even lower, to maybe a few feeders dusted twice a month "just in case". But the new 3.0 standard is going hand in hand with the "little to no d3 supplement" standard.

PS cage setup looks excellent other than one thing. The bottom half of the cage is useless. While its nice to have a clean bottom so feeders cant hide (and easy to clean poop) i would fill out the bottom some what so the cham has a zero UVB and low temp zone to hide in. Mine hang out at the bottom alot during the summer when air temps are above 80 in the room. Yes in the winter they are camped on at the top (some times even on the aluminum T5 hood :p ) when room temps are in the lower 60's.
So it sounds like even though I'm not specifically AT 3.0, I should stick to 2x a month for the multi/d3? Will definitely look into adding more to the bottom of the cage as time goes on, and yeah you're right, I do like me a clean cage bottom that's easily removed and cleaned. If anything can be hanged from the sides or the branches it will be lol
 
So it sounds like even though I'm not specifically AT 3.0, I should stick to 2x a month for the multi/d3? Will definitely look into adding more to the bottom of the cage as time goes on, and yeah you're right, I do like me a clean cage bottom that's easily removed and cleaned. If anything can be hanged from the sides or the branches it will be lol

Yes the AT is the upper limit, like if you are AT 4.0 you need to raise the hood. I personally run at 1.5 and use an ultra low dose d3 (sticky indoor) every feeding.

Here is a dosage chart of the popular formulas:

RepCal D3+ 400,000 IU/kg
Flukers Reptacalcium 100,000 IU/lb
Exoterra 14,740 IU/lb
ZooMed ReptiCalcium 22,907 IU/kg
Mineral -indoor 2000ui per kg
Repashy calcium plus LoD 8,000 IU/lb

I dont have the time right now to convert kg to lbs, but just pretend that the 8,000 IU/lb is 20,000 ui/kg

I think arcadia also runs at 20,000 IU/kg
 
My question is...the supplementation plan on Chameleon Academy calls for Calcium (no D3) every feed and then 2x a month with a multi-D3 supplement. Given that this is based on a 3.0 reading and I'm a bit below that, should I be doing the D3 once a week or so or maybe 3x a month? Any thoughts?
+1 to sticking with the semi-monthly schedule.

Since D3 supplementation is intended to compensate for deficiencies in UVB synthesis of D3, there's no reason to increase it for deficiencies in UVB.
 
My idea has always been to use the D3 from supplements twice a month lightly and leave the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 the chameleon needs from its exposure to the UVB light. Supplements that are fat soluble can build up in the system and lead to health issues. As long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB at will, the UVB would not build up....so it's safer not to give more D3 from supplements.
 
Hey all! It's been a WHILE since I've been on here. I'm going to be receiving a little Nosy Be boy from Kammerflage sometime next month and I've been setting up my enclosure closely following Bill Strand's guide over at Chameleon Academy. The one thing that seems a bit off is the amount of UVB at my basking site. I've got a quad T5 fixture with a 12% arcadia bulb, raised off the screen with the legs and my solar meter is clocking in maybe...2.4-2.6 if I'm guestimating the height of the back of the little guy.

My question is...the supplementation plan on Chameleon Academy calls for Calcium (no D3) every feed and then 2x a month with a multi-D3 supplement. Given that this is based on a 3.0 reading and I'm a bit below that, should I be doing the D3 once a week or so or maybe 3x a month? Any thoughts?

Here's the enclosure so far: View attachment 306079
I think a UVI of 2.4 - 2.6 is just fine. I have UVI 3 all over the place because that is the level that we have conclusively tested. I think UVI 2 would work as well. But I can't say that until I test it. I think 2.4-2.6 is close enough to the tested UVI 3. I would not be worried if I made those measurements for my chameleons.

As for supplementation, with proper UVB like you have there is no need for D3 even bi-weekly. All of the tests were done with zero vitamin D3. I keep the biweekly D3 in the care summaries mostly for D3 to accompany vitamin A. They have a "antagonistic" relationship we are working on understanding, but it seems they should go together. I won't even pretend I understand it at this point. It is my goal to figure out details by the end of 2021 (anyone else have end of year academic goals?). Having the D3 there as a backup for the UVB light is what we have all said for many years, but how much a bi-weekly dose of 8k IU/LB (Repashy Calcium Plus LoD) will really do if the UVB light goes out I don't know. I am not confident in it as an effective backup so I have stopped speaking of it as such. It really makes more sense for it to be there to balance the vitamin A. Sorry if this just confused the situation. Bottom line: I think you are fine with the levels you have!
 
I think a UVI of 2.4 - 2.6 is just fine. I have UVI 3 all over the place because that is the level that we have conclusively tested. I think UVI 2 would work as well. But I can't say that until I test it. I think 2.4-2.6 is close enough to the tested UVI 3. I would not be worried if I made those measurements for my chameleons.

As for supplementation, with proper UVB like you have there is no need for D3 even bi-weekly. All of the tests were done with zero vitamin D3. I keep the biweekly D3 in the care summaries mostly for D3 to accompany vitamin A. They have a "antagonistic" relationship we are working on understanding, but it seems they should go together. I won't even pretend I understand it at this point. It is my goal to figure out details by the end of 2021 (anyone else have end of year academic goals?). Having the D3 there as a backup for the UVB light is what we have all said for many years, but how much a bi-weekly dose of 8k IU/LB (Repashy Calcium Plus LoD) will really do if the UVB light goes out I don't know. I am not confident in it as an effective backup so I have stopped speaking of it as such. It really makes more sense for it to be there to balance the vitamin A. Sorry if this just confused the situation. Bottom line: I think you are fine with the levels you have!
Thank you so much!
 
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