vitamin supplement powder help needed

[WarmGreenandSlimey]

hi i've had mixed anwsers on this topic as to feeding how many crickets and how many times a week i should give his the powder which is my main question. Ok, feeding, i purchased by chameleon from a breeder as a 2 month old baby panther and the breeder said give him about 10 crickets a day, a person at the pet store said that might be too much so how much should i feed him? Ok, secondly, i have been giving him the rep-cal phosphorus free calcium with d3, again my breeder said about once a week so i have been giving him 5 crickets with that on them every saturday during his feeding time, about 2 days before i got him i went to a pet store and they said if you got that one give it to him once a month or else he will overdose and die, then i got him and the breeder said that i should give it to him once a week, and then i went to a pet store near me and then they said it should be on every cricket because it is extremely hard to overdose. ok so my question is how much should i give him and how often with the powder and how many crickets should i give him a day

thank you and sorry for the length

 

[Kate]

hi i've had mixed anwsers on this topic as to feeding how many crickets and how many times a week i should give his the powder which is my main question. Ok, feeding, i purchased by chameleon from a breeder as a 2 month old baby panther and the breeder said give him about 10 crickets a day, a person at the pet store said that might be too much so how much should i feed him? Ok, secondly, i have been giving him the rep-cal phosphorus free calcium with d3, again my breeder said about once a week so i have been giving him 5 crickets with that on them every saturday during his feeding time, about 2 days before i got him i went to a pet store and they said if you got that one give it to him once a month or else he will overdose and die, then i got him and the breeder said that i should give it to him once a week, and then i went to a pet store near me and then they said it should be on every cricket because it is extremely hard to overdose. ok so my question is how much should i give him and how often with the powder and how many crickets should i give him a day

thank you and sorry for the length

Hi there. 10 crickets a day seems about right.mthey are doing lots of growing at that age. He may even take more. As far as supplements go I am not an expert and it depends on many factors so I will let someone more experienced advise you.

 

[AngieL]

Kate is right about the feeding. When they are young you should feed then as many appropriately sized and well gutloaded feeders as they will eat in one sitting. The feeders should be no bigger than the gap between his eyes.

As for supplements, plain calcium lightly dusted on most feeders at most feedings. It all depends on which feeders and which gutloads you are using. I personally don't dust silk or butter worms but roaches and crickets are always dusted. Calcium d3 should be used twice a month and so should a multivitamin. Again this is situation dependant. If he gets a lot of outside time he won't need as much d3 and if you use a high vitamin gutload or he gets a lot of vits from fresh veg then you can use a little less multivitamin.

Then there's repashy all in one which is designed to be used at most feedings. It contains small amounts of d3 and multivitamin and a lot of folks here use it (I'm not one of them yet) but the same factors apply about outside time and gutloads.

It's can be tricky and has been debated quite a bit in here lately! The main thing is to make sure he gets enough of everything and put a good bit of effort into gutloading correctly

 

[kinyonga]

How big are the crickets?

Regarding supplementing...
Since most of the insects we use to feed them have a poor ratio of calcium to phos its important to dust them with phos - free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for it.

It's important to gutload the insects well too. You can feed crickets, superworms, locusts, roaches a wide variety of greens such as dandelions, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet potato, squash, zucchini, etc.

Dusting twice a month with the vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without overdosing it and leaving the owner to decide whether to use the prEformed vitamin A or not. PrOformed sources (beta carotene ) won't build up in the system like prEformed vitamin A will.

Dusting twice a month with phos - free calcium / D3 powder will ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues. As long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB it shouldn't produce too much D3 from its exposure to that.


Temperature also plays a part since appropriate temperatures will aid in digestion and thus play a part in nutrient absorption.

Bone health and other functions in the system depend on a proper balance of the calcium, phos, D3 and vitamin A.

Hope this his helps!