how often for calcium?
- Thread starter niki
- Start date
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Calcium w/out Phospherous and w/out D3 can be utilized 4 times a week.
If the cham is indoors you should be dusting with the Cal with D3 about once a week to 10 days.
-Brad
If the cham is indoors you should be dusting with the Cal with D3 about once a week to 10 days.
-Brad
niki
New Member
okie dokey thanks alot brad, I will start tommorrow. So really a cham should be supplemented almost everyday of the week. That is good to know. So I can dust his worms instead of the crickets? I am just worried that the worms will sufficate because of the dust (they breathe through their skin don't they?)
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Many days with the "just Calcium" is good.
You can miss some days here and there as long as you feed a nutritious gutload to your feeders.
The things to not "overdo" on are herptivite (twice a month) and D3 (about the same to 3 times a month).
Preformed vitamin A is another supplement I give in VERY small doses once or twice a month. Search Vitamin A on the forums for more info and if you can't find enough ask about it.
(rather contraversial topic)
-Brad
You can miss some days here and there as long as you feed a nutritious gutload to your feeders.
The things to not "overdo" on are herptivite (twice a month) and D3 (about the same to 3 times a month).
Preformed vitamin A is another supplement I give in VERY small doses once or twice a month. Search Vitamin A on the forums for more info and if you can't find enough ask about it.
(rather contraversial topic)
-Brad
Will Hayward
New Member
Just a word of caution, not all chameleons should receive the same frequency or amounts of supplementation.
Because Fichers (and ssp.) are montane species, their response to supplementation is dangerously sensitive. I personally lack the required in depth knowledge to offer a suggested tried and tested routine, however there is probable raise for concern for dusting montane species, and there is potential for a good gutloading system to provide all the necessary nutrients without dusting.
Hopefully those that have done personal research and are directly working and studying montane species, specifically Fishers and Tavets will drop some more relevant information than I have just offered.
Because Fichers (and ssp.) are montane species, their response to supplementation is dangerously sensitive. I personally lack the required in depth knowledge to offer a suggested tried and tested routine, however there is probable raise for concern for dusting montane species, and there is potential for a good gutloading system to provide all the necessary nutrients without dusting.
Hopefully those that have done personal research and are directly working and studying montane species, specifically Fishers and Tavets will drop some more relevant information than I have just offered.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Will,
Again I learn from posting from my admittedly limited bank of information.
Of course these animals are all specific and I have no experience with any of the montane species.
-Brad
Again I learn from posting from my admittedly limited bank of information.
Of course these animals are all specific and I have no experience with any of the montane species.
-Brad
Will Hayward
New Member
Brad, there is nothing more important in chameleon keeping that the expansion of your knowledge, admitting our limited knowledge is what should help us to strive to complete it. Something I try to constantly remind myself.
I first read about this a few years ago, when it was actually first discovered. From what i understood from the article, before that, very little was known about how insects breath. They knew about the tracheae but not how air was exchanged. Neat eh?
So, it is very possible to dust with an amount that would make a cricket aspirate the dust and die. Maybe Lele can go into depth about how caterpillars (specifically silkworms & hornworms) breath for us. I'd like to know about that myself.
Crickets actually breath through the overlapping plates on their abdomen. "Tracheae" are tubules that connect to the overlapping plates on many insects abdomens, gases are pulled in and out by the pressure of sacs on the exterior of the body, kinda like pumps, and then also similar to pumps.
I first read about this a few years ago, when it was actually first discovered. From what i understood from the article, before that, very little was known about how insects breath. They knew about the tracheae but not how air was exchanged. Neat eh?
So, it is very possible to dust with an amount that would make a cricket aspirate the dust and die. Maybe Lele can go into depth about how caterpillars (specifically silkworms & hornworms) breath for us. I'd like to know about that myself.
