vitamin A

[kasia]

A couple weeks ago I was forced to take my 3 year old chameleon to the vet because hes been acting really sick. Turns out he had vitamin A deficiency despite of me making sure he gets his vitamins. So, in order to try to prevent such things happening to you pets I want to let you guys know that although most of the talk is about calcium and D vitamin A is very important as well so make sure your chameleon's vitamins include vitamins A. Also my vet suggested that I don't feed my chameleon D more then twice a month because it can build up to a toxic level. Passing on the knowledge because I care for our scaly friends out there

 

[raphael14]

Thank you for the information.

 

[Hoj]

and to add to this beta carotene is not a good source of Vit A ( IMO ) as some chams seem not to be able to process the beta carotene into usealbe vit a, this is why i use reptivite, or repashy calcium plus, and not the rep-cal or other beta carotene vit supplements
again JMO
hoj

 

[Canny Chams]

A couple weeks ago I was forced to take my 3 year old chameleon to the vet because hes been acting really sick. Turns out he had vitamin A deficiency despite of me making sure he gets his vitamins. So, in order to try to prevent such things happening to you pets I want to let you guys know that although most of the talk is about calcium and D vitamin A is very important as well so make sure your chameleon's vitamins include vitamins A. Also my vet suggested that I don't feed my chameleon D more then twice a month because it can build up to a toxic level. Passing on the knowledge because I care for our scaly friends out there

vitamin A is quite a pain, ive dealed with 1 overdose, and 2 deficient of it. My guess with beta carotene, is some other vitamin that its consumed with may block its effect, much like for humans, calcium blocks vitamin c if comsumed in equal ammounts at the same time. My recomendation would be, use repashy vitamin plus on a daily basis, OR, use repcal vitamin supplement, and then use repashys pure vitamin A supplement dosed VERY CAREFULLY on a bi monthly basis.

 

[jannb]

You might be interested in this link to Dr. Ivan Alfonso's blog to see what he has to say about vitamin A. http://www.ivanalfonso.com/2011/07/vitamin-a-supplement/

 

[Canny Chams]

and to add to this beta carotene is not a good source of Vit A ( IMO ) as some chams seem not to be able to process the beta carotene into usealbe vit a, this is why i use reptivite, or repashy calcium plus, and not the rep-cal or other beta carotene vit supplements
again JMO
hoj

if a chameleon is able to process it properly, it is a good reliable source of vitamin a, but in some chameleons something must be blocking it.

 

[kinyonga]

What vitamins and other supplements do you use and how often for each?
What do you gutload/feed the insects with?
I'm assuming you use a UVB light on the cage and that there is no glass or plastic between it and the chameleon?
How did you know the chameleon was sick? How was he behaving to indicate it?

Here's some information I hope will help you ....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[Hoj]

if a chameleon is able to process it properly, it is a good reliable source of vitamin a, but in some chameleons something must be blocking it.

agrred either blocking it or some just dont have the ability to process it. but i have never seen a cham being givin vit a as opposed to beta have the issues.

panthers seen to be the most affected veiled next and i have never seem a issue with the montanes.
again this is just based on my experiences and reasearch.
i also know of breeders that use vit a on their females and if they do not the cluch seems to suffer. ie, babies being born predisposed to vit a issues. i have no experience or reasearch on this tho

 

[sandrachameleon]

we also do not know which insects or which chameleons are able to convert beta carotene into preformed vitamin A.
Crickets are believed to NOT convert. Many feel the common chameleons like panther and veileds do not (although my personal experience suggests otherwise)

If you are not providing a wide range of feeder insects, and only supplementing with Beta Carotene, and if your chameleon type is inefficient at converting carotene, you may find a deficiency situation develops.

I have not had to provide preformed vitamin A to my panther chameleons, but many people find that they do need to do so.

It is also important to understand that excess preformed vitamin A can interfere with D3's work, and cause other issues, indeed it can be over-dosed with / toxic. Inadequate amounts of A can result in calcium absorption issues, eye sight issues, etc.

Further reading on the subject:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/food-thought-12472
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/chame...nt-want-21534/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/serio...tml#post199819
https://www.chameleonforums.com/carrots-vit-23572
http://jgp.rupress.org/cgi/reprint/47/3/433.pdf
https://www.chameleonforums.com/vitamin-scares-me-12395/
http://www.peteducation.com/article....+1796&aid=3027
https://www.chameleonforums.com/insec...trients-37090/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/vitam...trients-62080/
http://www.mendeley.com/research/car...ifer-pardalis/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/vitam...os-blog-64145/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suppl...tml#post614980
http://www.uvma.org/chameleon/vitaminA.htm

 

[Canny Chams]

I'd say its all about careful dosage. I think we can all agree, that if properly supplemented, the proformed version is probably better, so many things can go wrong when the chameleon converts it itself. I talked with my exotics vet and figured out specific dosages, for each of my chameleons, and now i use a pure vitamin a source every 10 days.

 

[kasia]

thanks for all the advice

but I already got all the vitamins from the vet so I am going to switch to them.
My chameleon's previous vitamins didn't have vitamin A in them even though thats waht the reptile speciality store recomanded so I just wanted to share so people out there could check and make sure their chameleon is getting enough vitamin A( and not too much either).
My chameleon is being treated and given the vitamin A that he needs now. Hes feeling much better and doing well. Thank you for your advice its good to know that people out there really care From the looks of it he will be fine

 

[DavidKariya]

Precisely what is the purpose of necessary vitamin A?



Despite the fact that vitamin A is famous for it's important involvement in eye sight, this kind of vitamin at the same time takes part in physiologic functions connected with the body's defense mechanisms, care of epithelial and also mucous cells, development, reproduction, and also bones development. Inside meals, vitamin A often comes up as a body fat ingredient identified as retinyl palmitate. The human body transforms retinyl palmitate to 3 metabolically effective kinds of that necessary vitamin: retinal, retinol, and also retinoic acid.



Encourages Eye sight



Normally the person's retina includes 4 forms of photo-pigments which put away vitamin a deficiency. One such pigmentation, generally known as rhodopsin, can be found in the rod body cells of the retina. Rhodopsin enables the rod cells to recognize minor concentrations of illumination, as well as, as a result, performs a significant part in the adapting of the eyes to reduced light environments as well as night-time eye sight.

Retinal, which is the aldehyde kind of this necessary vitamin, participates in the make of rhodopsin, and then in the selection of compound side effects which causes vision excitation, that's activated with illumination hitting the rod cells. The actual other 3 pigments, with each other generally known as iodopsins, are normally found inside the cone cells of the retina and therefore are liable for daytime perspective.

 

[sandrachameleon]

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