Calcium with d3 question?

[Emmamendichameleon]

Quick question:
I recently took my veiled chameleon to the exotic vet for a checkup(he’s doing great), I have always gone to this vet for all of my past pets and I trust the doctor fully, he’s a wonderful vet. He asked me about how I dust my cham’s food, and when I told him all the details he said it was wonderful with the exception of one thing: the use of calcium with vitamin d3. He told me that due to the fact that my cham uses uvb lights, that I don’t need to use calcium with d3 at all and should only use the calcium without d3. However, forums on here say otherwise and this is the first time I’ve personally heard this take. Do you think he may have been mistaken? Any thoughts?

 

[Sonny13]

Hi,
In general we say calcium without d3 every feeding and once per 2 weeks calcium with d3 alternated by a multivitamin, meaning i.e. the second Sunday of the month calcium with d3 and the last Sunday of the month the multivitamin.

 

[jannb]

I don’t use D3 but in the warm months my guys go outside. I have heard about not using it with certain UV lights. @Beman @MissSkittles can you shed any info on this?

Also, if you don’t mind, please share your vet with us incase anyone else in your area ever needs a good vet.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. I use Reptivite with D3 one feeding every other week. My uvb lights are all T5’s with Arcadia 6% and since it stresses them all out too much, I rarely take any of my chameleons outside.
It’s my understanding that we really don’t know the exact amount of D3 needed by our chameleons as they are kept inside, so we do give them some additional supplement to ensure that they are getting enough. I’ve no idea who or how it was determined to use D3 at the schedule we use, but it works well so I don’t question it.

 

[Beman]

So with a D3 supplement they can not be overdosed with the UVB lighting.... This does not happen. We use oral D3 supplementation to ensure they are getting what they need. Even with the correct UVB lighting and UVI level at basking you can supplement with D3 2 times a month. Some that have solarmeters and know their levels perfectly will choose not to supplement because they know what UVI level they are getting consistently from the UVB lighting. I do not recommend this unless you have a solarmeter and can check your UVI output on bulbs multiple times a week to ensure proper UVI level. However I still choose to supplement 2 times a week as an insurance policy.

The only way to overdose with D3... Is to simply give the supplement too much. This is why it is only recommended for every other week at 1 feeding totaling 2 times a month.

 

[jannb]

So with a D3 supplement they can not be overdosed with the UVB lighting.... This does not happen. We use oral D3 supplementation to ensure they are getting what they need. Even with the correct UVB lighting and UVI level at basking you can supplement with D3 2 times a month. Some that have solarmeters and know their levels perfectly will choose not to supplement because they know what UVI level they are getting consistently from the UVB lighting. I do not recommend this unless you have a solarmeter and can check your UVI output on bulbs multiple times a week to ensure proper UVI level. However I still choose to supplement 2 times a week as an insurance policy.

The only way to overdose with D3... Is to simply give the supplement too much. This is why it is only recommended for every other week at 1 feeding totaling 2 times a month.

Thank you for responding Becca! The last sentence in the first paragraph, did you mean twice a month?

 

[Beman]

Thank you for responding Becca! The last sentence in the first paragraph, did you need twice a month?

Uggg Yeah... And it wont let me edit it.....


Supplement Calcium WITH D3, ONLY Two times a month say the 1st and the 15th....

 

[kinyonga]

"high doses of UVB, given a light source with similar spectral power distribution (SPD) to sunlight, do not cause excess vitamin D 3 and the associated toxic effects, because biologically inert photoproducts are produced in the skin with higher UVB exposures [Webb et al., 1989;Holick, 2004]. Optimum levels of UVB or Vitamin D are largely unknown for most species [but see Ferguson et al., 2002]"...
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ther_Chameleon_Furcifer_pardalis_in_Captivity