Gnc vitamin A ok for cham

[freddyf385]

Just wondering if this vitamin A brand from gnc was ok to give some to my cham. With correct dosage. It is for skin and eyes, it has 10000 IU's,conatins stated below.


Other Ingredients: Soybean Oil, Gelatin, Glycerin

No sugar, no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no preservatives, sodium free, no wheat, no gluten, no corn, no dairy, yeast free.

 

[sharp229]

See post #6 in the thread below for information about vitamin A:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/cham-keeps-closing-one-his-eyes-66576/

Does your cham have symptoms of vitamin A deficiency? You should only give vitamin A in this way if there is a known issue. It is very toxic and giving too high a dose can be fatal.

 

[freddyf385]

I took my cham couple months agoto the vet. I thought he was having an eye issue. So I took my guy a.s.a.p. And my vet told me he was perfectly fine and that no matter was building up or anything. He also wasnt closing his eyes or anything of that nature, Nor has he ever since. My vet told me that sometimes eye glands are more noticeble than others. He even showed me the proper way to check if matter builds up and how to flush it out. Ever since then ive been gutloading and makeing sure he gets the right amount of vitamin a. And supplementation. But, I Was just curious as to know about another way to give vitamin a. Something a little more direct.

 

[freddyf385]

Reason why i took him in the first place was his eye was looking swollen. But on the lower part of his eye.

 

[sharp229]

There is controversy over whether chameleons can convert beta carotene into preformed vitamin A or whether they need preformed vitamin A as part of their diet. I usually trade off between the two types types of vitamin A. Repashy Calcium Plus is an example of a supplement that contains preformed vitamin A, and Rep-Cal Herptivite is one that contains beta carotene.

Unless there is a clearly identified problem I would only use standard supplements like the ones I mentioned. Vitamin A deficiency usually first shows up with closing of one eye and no other signs of problems or infections. If your vet said there is a not a problem and he is not closing his eye, I would not worry about vitamin A deficiency if you are using proper supplements and gutloading.

If at some point there is a problem, that brand of vitamin A looks good, but you would want to carefully follow the instructions in the thread I linked. My veiled had the symptoms of vitamin A deficiency and they went away about a week after following those instructions.

 

[fluxlizard]

Unless there is a clearly identified problem I would only use standard supplements like the ones I mentioned.

+1 on that

Straight vit a from a capsule I consider only for treating a problem. Regular use of a supplement like reptivite (not herptivite) or the rhapeshy should provide enough. Also, you need to consider the balance of vit a vs vit d3 as their balance in relation to each other has an effect on your lizard. For this reason, the rhepashy may be better than the reptivite as it has a more recent formulation reflective of more current nutritional understanding and thinking (i guess anyway- maybe reptivite has been updated over the years- it is what I have been using for 25 years- so not a bad choice, but I'm thinking of making the switch). The point is- if you only use a seperate source every once in a while, it is unlikely you will be taking into account the balance with any d3 you are providing. Of course, if you aren't providing dietary d3 in any form, then the situation is different as well.