Supplement Schedule help

[ellenngracee]

I am soon to be a new chameleon owner! Very exciting!
I plan on getting a baby veiled male.

I have heard that supplements need to be used more often in babies? How more often because I know adults should only have certain ones only twice or once a month?

I plan on giving him gutloaded crickets with dinofuel raptor.
Calcium without D3 6 days a week
Calcium with D3 and herptivite 2 times a month.

Since I just found out that babies should be given more multivitamins, should this schedule change?

I plan to ue a 5.0 UVB bulb 12 hours of the day. Can I eliminate the use of D3 if I take my chameleon outdoors when the weather is right?

Sorry if this is a lot I just want to keep my little bugger healthy!

 

[camimom]

I am soon to be a new chameleon owner! Very exciting!
I plan on getting a baby veiled male.

I have heard that supplements need to be used more often in babies? How more often because I know adults should only have certain ones only twice or once a month?

I plan on giving him gutloaded crickets with dinofuel raptor.
Calcium without D3 6 days a week
Calcium with D3 and herptivite 2 times a month.

Since I just found out that babies should be given more multivitamins, should this schedule change?

I plan to ue a 5.0 UVB bulb 12 hours of the day. Can I eliminate the use of D3 if I take my chameleon outdoors when the weather is right?

Sorry if this is a lot I just want to keep my little bugger healthy!

Welcome!
Your supplmenet schedule is fine.
babies dont need more...
ANd you cannot eliminate d3, unless your cham is going to live out side 24/7 year round.

I saw what you posted in the other thread. Can i ask where you heard that babies need more supplements, and where you heard that d3 wasnt needed if they have a uvb bulb?

 

[ellenngracee]

Can i ask where you heard that babies need more supplements, and where you heard that d3 wasnt needed if they have a uvb bulb?

the babies thing: http://chamworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/veiled-and-panther-chameleon-care-101d.html

and I guess that i heard about the D3 when they were referring to outdoor kept chameleons or something.

Thank you for clearing things up, I am much more confident now!

 

[camimom]

While thats an interesting blog... and babies do need the proper supplmentation much more than adults, they dont need more of it.

Dust bugs lightly, do not ghost them. dust every bug.
If you have a male, let him eat as many as he can.
IF you want to make your life easier, you can use an all in one supplement.
I use repashy all in one calcium plus (for geckos). it has everything needed for your cham for a daily usage.

 

[kinyonga]

Here's some information I hope will help you ....
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.

 

[Adam Harrelson]

also

you need to use a multivitamin once a month

 

[sandrachameleon]

kinyonga has given you good info

I like to mention that gutloading properly and using a good variety of prey is very important also - supplements should be used only supplementary as needed to balance according to what bugs and gutload you use