Supplement Help

[SamW]

Hey All,

As usual, I am here to post a quick post for quick answers. I see that supplementing the chams is controversial. Ive been using Repotcal, with calcium and D3. Is this all I need? If not, what else? If you could also provide dosage information (I know its just a "sprinkle" but anything specific would help. As a busy student, I don't have as much of my own time for research as I would like.

Thanks,

Sam

 

[Davonat]

Alot of people have switched to the Repashy Calcium Plus with great results. For a male panther or Veiled its all you need.

 

[Solid Snake]

Hey Sam,
Is this for your vieled chameleon?
While I am not familiar with that brand, calcium with D3 should generally be used only twice a month.
A multivitamin should also be used twice a month.
Plain calcium(without phos.) should be used at all other feedings.

Also,
Repashy makes a great product called Repashy Calcium Plus.
This is used everyday instead of those mentioned above.
As an all in one, it makes things a lot simpler.

 

[SamW]

Hey Sam,
Is this for your vieled chameleon?
While I am not familiar with that brand, calcium with D3 should generally be used only twice a month.
A multivitamin should also be used twice a month.
Plain calcium(without phos.) should be used at all other feedings.

Also,
Repashy makes a great product called Repashy Calcium Plus.
This is used everyday instead of those mentioned above.
As an all in one, it makes things a lot simpler.

What is your ultimate advice? I have a veiled chameleon. Tell me exactly what you would do if he was yours.

 

[Solid Snake]

I would give it Repashy Calcium Plus.
I use it on my panther, its great stuff.

 

[Davonat]

I would give it Repashy Calcium Plus.
I use it on my panther, its great stuff.

I second that!!!

 

[SamW]

I would give it Repashy Calcium Plus.
I use it on my panther, its great stuff.

How often?

Thank you so much, I appreciate it more than you'd think..terribly busy.

 

[kinyonga]

You said.."What is your ultimate advice? I have a veiled chameleon. Tell me exactly what you would do if he was yours"...I have been doing what is described below for gutloading and supplementing. I've never used the repashy only since what I have been using works well. I've been keeping chameleons and many other reptiles for over 20 years now. My veiled females generally live to be over 6, often over 7 and the males even longer (for example).

Here's some information I hope will help you understand supplementing, etc.....

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
Reply With Quote

 

[Solid Snake]

A LIGHT dusting on every feeder works for me.
When I say light I mean like the thinnest coat you can get on them.
Just put a few sprinkles in a jar and swirl the feeders around.

I would also listen to anything Kinyonga says

 

[ZombiesMorphs]

Alot of people have switched to the Repashy Calcium Plus with great results. For a male panther or Veiled its all you need.

Does the repashy have d3 in it? Or does that still need to be added 2xs a month?

 

[Solid Snake]

Does the repashy have d3 in it? Or does that still need to be added 2xs a month?

It has D3. It is an all-in-one.

 

[pbveiled]

Does the repashy have d3 in it? Or does that still need to be added 2xs a month?

No additional supplements are needed with it.

 

[TyggyToo]

Gee I wish it were as easy as 'do this and everything will be fine'.

Balancing a growing baby's calcium D3 A, light, heat, minerals, etc. turned out being a lot harder than I've imagined, starting with what appeared to be an oversupplementation of D leading to MBD. The key word here is metabolic.

My advise is to keep looking at the situation, including how good your feeders are being fed, how fresh your UVB bulb is, how current the information you're hunting is, etc. This isn't a science yet; its still and art.