My veiled is having some shedding issues and I was told vitamin A would help. I thought the thread that I read said to use the 400 iu jelcaps and put a very small drop on one of his feeders. Is this correct on the size of gelcaps? I checked several drug stores and all I could find is 10,000 and 8,000 iu. I don't want to overdose him. Hope you can help. David
Vitamin A dosage?
- Thread starter dectr6
- Start date
Smitty
New Member
What kind of issues are you talking about? Chams don't shed all parts at once (but should shed everything within a day or so).
How old/big is the cham? If the cham is large and healthy enough you can also try giving him/her a shower. That should help to hydrate along with helping to moisten the skin and aid in shedding...
How old/big is the cham? If the cham is large and healthy enough you can also try giving him/her a shower. That should help to hydrate along with helping to moisten the skin and aid in shedding...
Justin Carl
Avid Member
from what i was told pure vitamin A is a bad way to go because the cham can't expel it, and it is retained in the body. i would go the Beta Caratine route because it is turned into vitamin A and the rest can be passed. as far as the shedding problem i would go the shower route.
These are spots on the top of his head that have retained the skin through 3 sheds. They are very tough and kind of rubbery. I need to get it off ASAP. Every shed just makes it worse. I've been wrapping him in a warm wet towel for the last few days for about ten minutes at a time to moisten them. After doing this I can rub it with a kind of rough wet rag and get some of it to start sluffing off. It is really stressful to him though and He is REALLY pissed off. I'm also putting mineral oil on it after his water treatments. What I'm doing will probably work, i'm just tired of the multiple bites I recieve. If I don't get it off soon, I'll have nothing but bloody nubs left for fingers. Any suggestions? Thanks David
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Hogwash.
The higher IU gel caps will work fine....just a very small drop and only once or twice a month.
Extremely beneficial with the condition of the skin among other things.
Beta Carotene is a source that very possibly, a cham cannot convert and is therefore considered by many to be pretty ineffectual.
Search the topic on this site...there is some great information.
Misting is also very important and does help with shedding.
-Brad
Forgot to include, He's 6 month's old, very healthy. About 6 inches nose to vent. He's had 3 sheds in 4 weeks. This was the veiled I rescued from a petsmart. He was in relatively good condition but his living conditions were crap. I've had him for the last 3 months. Have never had any of my other chams do this before. Thanks David
Thanks brad, That's what I thought about the Beta C. I will try the small drop of vitamin A. I still have my doubts about it getting the old skin off though. Like I said, this is 3 layers of shed in these spots. One on top of his head-between his eyes and one on his cheek about the size of a dime.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
With the Vitamin A, we are looking to improve his situation in the future.....you may still be scrubbing this old skin off.
The biggest concern would be an infection under the layers of old skin.
I would continue as you are with that....good luck!
-Brad
The biggest concern would be an infection under the layers of old skin.
I would continue as you are with that....good luck!
-Brad
Justin Carl
Avid Member
wow i didnt know i was wrong on this topic. and i am sorry for the information. a leading reptile guy in my area told me to say away from A as much as possible becaus in forms a lump in the throat of chams.
I'm no expert in Vitamin A, but I know you have to be very careful with it. The old thinking was to go with the beta c., but lately the thinking has been that this doesn't convert at all and that we should be using other methods. Like Brad said, if you do a search on this it will pull up a lot of good info. Thanks for your reply to the thread though. David
Justin Carl
Avid Member
ok im just goin with what i was told, but i guess ideas change. sorry again and thanks.
