Vitamin A: The Stigma Remains:

[jheitz]

I was reading the August 2009 issue of Reptiles magazine, and found a wonderful article on supplementation. The following is an excerpt from the article regarding vitamin A supplementation:

" More than a decade ago a big scare concerning vitamin A toxicity panicked chameleon keepers, and retinol-free supplements were developed. The scare was later proven to be invalid, but the stigma remains. There is simply no reason not to include pre-formed vitamin A in reptile supplementation."

It goes on to say that moderate levels of vitamin A in combination with carotenoids seems to be, at this point, the best way to assure reliable vitamin A delivery.

I found this very interesting. When dealing with Opti's eye infection, I gave him pre-formed vitamin A. I bought regular gel caps, and squeezed out enough to cover the head of a cricket. I believe this, as well as antibiotics, contributed to his recovery. I would like to investigate this further, as perhaps incorporating vitamin A in a routine supplement schedule.

I would love to get some feedback on this topic.

 

[xanthoman]

a while back, that kinyongia guy posted a link about vitamin A which seemed really informative at the time, but i cant really remember the gist of the content. it was an excerpt from chameleon news , i searched for it but was unable to find it , maybe he will see this post and post it again

 

[jheitz]

I did a quick search and did not find a thread. There were just to many post that hit the search query to browse.

Found the thread. Interesting stuff. I still see a veil of stigma attached to the idea, though I see it as being beneficial if done in small, spread out sessions: ie; once a month or once every two months. Chams are insectivorious, though some has shown tendencies to eat small mammals, small reptiles, and I have even heard stories of chams eating baby birds! All these animals have large amounts of vitamin A stored in their livers. When comparing the liver sizes of an anole and a cricket, it's like comparing a grain of sand to a pebble. I've used vitamin a with varanaids with great success, but they are strict carnivores. Has anyone else had success, or I hate to say, failure from providing vitamin A to there chams?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Quite a number of people swear by providing pre-formed vitamin A to their chameleons. Either directly or indirectly. I personally do not provide preformed vitamin A to my chameleons, but, I do provide a wider than normal variety of prey, and pay considerable attention to gutloading. I do tend to agree that providing a small amount of preformed vitamin A is more likely to benefit than to harm. One must be cautious, as too much can harm/kill the chameleon.

You may find these links on the topic of interest:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/food-thought-12472/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/chameleons-eye-doesnt-want-21534/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/seriously-worried-22697/index3.html#post199819
https://www.chameleonforums.com/carrots-vit-23572/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/other-sources-vitamin-22452/

 

[jheitz]

Good stuff Sandrachameleon!! Thanks!

 

[kinyonga]

xanthoman said..."a while back, that kinyongia guy posted a link about vitamin A which seemed really informative at the time, but i cant really remember the gist of the content. it was an excerpt from chameleon news , i searched for it but was unable to find it , maybe he will see this post and post it again"...if its me you're referring to, I've posted a lot about vitamin A...maybe this is the one you are looking for?
https://www.chameleonforums.com/vitamin-scares-me-12395/index6.html

BTW...I'm not a guy.