multi vitamins?

[eldarado]

is here another way to supply multi vitamins to your chameleon other then the store bought powder like repti cal.. if so I would like to no how you guys do it..
can you crush up a one a day pill or multi vitamin pill and sprinkle the crickets with that? I'm just curious.. my freind use to do it with his other lizards and iguana..

 

[AFH]

I probably wouldn't do it. The reptical and such are formulated for reptiles. I would think that human vitamin supplements would be way too much. I mean, you're talking about supplements for a 180lb human as opposed to a lizard you weigh in grams or ounces.

 

[eldarado]

I was just curious.. i would never do it..but can they get there vitamins from giving the crickets vegetables?

 

[AFH]

What you feed the crickets is what goes into your cham.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I see the multi-vitamin supplement as an insurance policy.
Hopefully it will fill some of the gaps in nutrition that we are not meeting with well gut loaded insects, calcium and vitamin A supplementation.
I only use it twice a month.
I would not deviate from a supplement designed for reptiles, ie: herptivite.

-Brad

 

[Yso]

Indeed, composition and concentration are different for humans, needs are different too, and frequency of administration is also different. furthermore, vitamins are partly eliminated by kidneys. a human dose of vitamins would probably cause hypervitaminosis AND renal disorder or failure, even if doses are adjusted to the weight of the animal, as vitamin ratios are different.
I recommend avoiding any human medicine for animals, the one exception would be disinfectants proven to be harmless to chams for outer use only, and there again in urgent cases.

 

[Nicodemayo]

You cant go wrong with a proper gut load with your crickets. Although i usually dust younger chams crickets everyday i still gutload all my crickets. Most grocery stores carry giant bundles of collared greens and they only cost 99 cents and will last you for about about a month. I usually put a few leaves of those plus mixed vegetables(bags of various mixed veggies will cost 99cents for a fair size bag but DO NOT use tomatoes to feed your crickets. Peas and carrots work best) plus the occasional partially rotten apple that grocery stores will typically give you for free. Every couple of days ill put a cup of veggies in plus collard greens plus the occasional apple and crickets will have devoured almost all of it in 2 nights. Crickets eat the most at night especially if they're warm. I buy orders of 1500 crickets and i place a heating pad(like one would use on their back) under their bin and they gather around the warm spots. Put the food under the egg crates and the food will magically disappear in a couple of days and your cham will reek the benefits of everything the cricket ate. Dont allow crickets to be the staple diet though, mealworms, waxworms, pheonix worms are some other good things to toss in with the daily cricket feeding. If you decide to use those worms, use mealworms that have just shed and go easy on the wax worms.