Calcium & vitamins

[littlevillage]

Back in the beginning of April my baby veiled was sick & was visited by the vet. He said that he had a vitamin A deficiency. He gave me a dusting schedule of every other day herptivite w/ beta carotene & on the opposite days calcium w/ d3. So 6 days a week he's getting dusted ( I don't dust on Sundays ), he gets 3 days a week of each. Since I've been doing this everything has been fine but I'm wondering how long I should keep dusting so much. He's 5-6 moths old now. Do you think he's getting too much d3? I've also read that they could get too much vitamin A. Some advice would be appreciated.

 

[dodolah]

there is no preformed vit a on herptivite.
There is a controversy that chameleon cannot convert vit A from beta carotene.

This is my schedule:
When they reach juvenile stage, I maintain the supplementation schedule but reduce the food intake (to 5/ 6 med crix a day).
Reducing the food will make sure that your chameleon will not become too chubby and grow too fast than his calcium intake.

By a year old, fed them 10 adult crix every other day. (with that, your cham will get supplementation every other day excluding sunday)

hope that helps,
for better details: http://chamworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/veiled-and-panther-chameleon-care-101d.html

 

[mika]

Does your vet think chameleons can convert beta carotene to Vit A?

Hypovitaminosis A
Clinically, chameleons may present with signs of hypovitaminosis A as described in other reptiles. 38, 39, 40 These chameleons typically have a history of low preformed vitamin A supplementation. Usually insects are being fed a poor diet and are only being dusted with a calcium/ vitamin D supplement or a multivitamin that has beta-carotene but no preformed vitamin A.

Clinical signs of hypovitaminosis A include eye problems, respiratory infections, neurological dysfunction, spinal kinking, dysecdysis, and increased formation of hemipenal plugs. Research in the panther chameleon fed a restricted vitamin A diet resulted in these same clinical signs. 41 Generally it is recommended to use a multivitamin (for dusting insects) with some pre-formed vitamin A weekly for juvenile (growing) chameleons and every other week in adult chameleons to avoid hypovitaminosis A. Additionally, feeding insects a beta-carotene rich diet, such as green- leafy vegetables, carrots and sweet potato, prior to feeding them to the chameleons, may be beneficial.

Treatment for hypovitaminosis A involves giving a parenteral vitamin A solution (vitamin A palmitate 100,000 IU/ml, vitamin D3 10,000 IU/ml and vitamin E 20 IU/ml). Give 2000 IU vit A/ 30 gm body weight by mouth every 7 days for 2 doses. The parenteral drug works well orally and may be safer when used in this manner.

Hypervitaminosis
Organ toxicity associated with the fat-soluble vitamins A and D is a common nutrition-related problem of chameleons. A relationship exists between these two vitamins and their dietary level of supplementation and the amount of ultraviolet exposure (UVB) in chameleons. 41

Vitamin A
Excess vitamin A supplementation may interfere with the metabolism of vitamin D3, resulting in metabolic bone disease. It may also lead to organ toxicity (renal, hepatic). Gular edema is a common clinical sign of organ dysfunction in chameleons.

Vitamin D3
Excess vitamin D3 supplementation -- especially in combination with calcium -- may result in organ toxicity. Metastatic calcification and gout are common results. Gular edema is a common clinical sign. Additionally, pseudo-gout has been noted in veiled chameleons fed a heavily-supplemented vitamin D3- and calcium-based diet in combination with restricted levels of vitamin A. 38 The pseudo-gout (calcium hydroxyapatite) deposits usually appear as irregular firm swellings over joints in the limbs and on ribs. These lesions are similar to those described by Frye in a chelonian. 4 These swellings must be differentiated from true gout, abcesses/osteomyelitis, and cellulitis. Fine-needle aspirate and cytology or biopsy can be used to reach a diagnosis. Radiology may be useful in screening for metastatic calcification and/or pseudo-gout. Bloodwork may indicate extremely elevated plasma calcium values in cases of hypervitaminosis D. Treatment for hypervitaminosis is difficult because the clinical disease is usually well advanced by the time the chameleon is presented (ex. gular edema with renal failure).

Ref: http://www.seavs.com/case_studies/lizards/index.asp

 

[mika]

And if the vet is suggesting Beta Carotene would fix a Vit A deficiency how sure is the vet that your cham has a vit A deficiency?