Vitamin supplements

[Amanda1801]

Hiya,

I have a 6 month old male vieled, and need a vitamin powder for him....

He is currently eating crickets, mealworms and wax worms (any other suitable foods, please let me know!) and I'm gut loading them with a variety of fresh veg and also a feeder insect supplement containing vits A, C, D3, E and some calcium. I'm also dusting his feed with calcium powder.

My local reptile place had a load of different vitamin powders, all for specific species, and seemingly containing different ingredients/proportions of various things.

Can anyone recommend a brand (I'm in england but there's always the internet) or certain things to look out for in a vitamin powder?

Many thanks,

Amanda & Colin

 

[carol5208]

You should pm(private message) Miss Lilly. She lives in England and should be able to help you out with what is available over there.

 

[sandrachameleon]

As for feeder choices: silkworms, butterworms, stick bugs, locust, cockroaches, moths, flies, crickets, ....
waxworms should be avoided - just little blobs of fat. More about feeder choices: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

as for supplements, nutrobol is popular in the UK. I personally like and use Rep-Cal Herptivite.


for more choices: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/174-whats-supplements-brand.html

for more info: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

 

[Amanda1801]

As for feeder choices: silkworms, butterworms, stick bugs, locust, cockroaches, moths, flies, crickets, ....
waxworms should be avoided - just little blobs of fat. More about feeder choices: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

as for supplements, nutrobol is popular in the UK. I personally like and use Rep-Cal Herptivite.


for more choices: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/174-whats-supplements-brand.html

for more info: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

That's fantastic info - thanks!

 

[xanthoman]

just a heads up

i dont like to get too specific with supplement recomendations, especially if it involves something other than jacksons, and possibly supplement brands that i am not familiar with. no matter what regimen is given, there will always be those that disagree, so i will leave any specific vitamin recomendations to the to the more veiled oriented people. your post does not indicate the brands, qty, or frequency of the supplements you are giving, but it implies that you are using a multiple vitamin on a frequent (maybe even daily?) basis. but just to be clear, as a general rule, multi vitamins are only to be given occasionally. most reptile vitamins that contain vitamins other than d3 (especially vitaminA) are considered multivitamins, if you are giving reptile multivitamins at daily or even weekly intervals then you are likely on the fast track to oversupplementation issues. imo, the only vitamin they should have on a weekly basis is d3 (even that is debatable and depends on a #of variables like the type size and age of your cham, your various husbandry practices and the types of supplements you are using etc). multi vitamins containing vitaminA and vitamins other than d3 as a general rule are only given on a monthly basis(roughly speaking) and also dependent on a # of variables. it would probably be in your best interest to repost using the help form so you can get some input from some veiled knowledgeable people on your current regimen and it would probably be in your best interest to study the supplementation sticky so as to learn the basics of supplementation and be better informed to make your own vitamin choices from the info you are given. if you have been giving vitamins other than d3 on a weekly or even daily basis, i would temporarily stop all supplementation (other than plain calcium) until you have some input from some veiled knowledgeable keepers and your own better understanding of the issues. jmo

 

[Amanda1801]

i dont like to get too specific with supplement recomendations, especially if it involves something other than jacksons, and possibly supplement brands that i am not familiar with. no matter what regimen is given, there will always be those that disagree, so i will leave any specific vitamin recomendations to the to the more veiled oriented people. your post does not indicate the brands, qty, or frequency of the supplements you are giving, but it implies that you are using a multiple vitamin on a frequent (maybe even daily?) basis. but just to be clear, as a general rule, multi vitamins are only to be given occasionally. most reptile vitamins that contain vitamins other than d3 (especially vitaminA) are considered multivitamins, if you are giving reptile multivitamins at daily or even weekly intervals then you are likely on the fast track to oversupplementation issues. imo, the only vitamin they should have on a weekly basis is d3 (even that is debatable and depends on a #of variables like the type size and age of your cham, your various husbandry practices and the types of supplements you are using etc). multi vitamins containing vitaminA and vitamins other than d3 as a general rule are only given on a monthly basis(roughly speaking) and also dependent on a # of variables. it would probably be in your best interest to repost using the help form so you can get some input from some veiled knowledgeable people on your current regimen and it would probably be in your best interest to study the supplementation sticky so as to learn the basics of supplementation and be better informed to make your own vitamin choices from the info you are given. if you have been giving vitamins other than d3 on a weekly or even daily basis, i would temporarily stop all supplementation (other than plain calcium) until you have some input from some veiled knowledgeable keepers and your own better understanding of the issues. jmo

Thanks for that

I've had colin for 2 days, and he was given no supplements prior to me having him! The supplement I'm giving at the moment is to supplement the gut loading of the insects - it's sprinkled on their food, and so far I've only given it to him via his crickets once. - How often would this be recommended?

 

[carol5208]

Have you discussed with your vet about how much calcium your cham should be getting due to the MBD issues he has? Just wondering?! Is your vet going to treat him in any manner on top of the supplementation?

 

[Amanda1801]

Have you discussed with your vet about how much calcium your cham should be getting due to the MBD issues he has? Just wondering?! Is your vet going to treat him in any manner on top of the supplementation?

We've just got back, the vet has calculated how much calcium and vit A he is going to need - his x-rays werent good - his organs were more visible than his bones - he also has old fractures and such, but he thinks that calcium injections shouldnt be necessary now he's getting the right care. Think i'll take him back in 3 months or so and re-x-ray, see how he's going

 

[sandrachameleon]

If this chameleon has MBD, and the bones are poorly calcified according to the xray, simply bringing its supplementation to the right maintenance levels wont be sufficient. You may need to provide liquid calcium, and then once blood levels are sufficient an injection that helps draw that calcium into the bones. A vet should be able to clarify this.

 

[kinyonga]

Amanda1801...did the vet tell you the amount of calcium that was needed to correct the problem?
Why vitamin A?

 

[Amanda1801]

He's having 0.05ml liquid calcium (cant remember what its called - I'll look at work tomorrow) a day on top of his food being dusted with calcium. He also said its important that in a vitamin supplement, that, for his size and weight, he has 50-100iu of vit A a week.

 

[jonodrama]

I've started using Pro-rep's pro vit its 100% natural, used it for all my lizards and is a good alternative to Nutrubol.

http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/pro-reptile-pro-vit-100g.html

This is a great site for all equipment/supplies, seems to be cheapest in UK

 

[kinyonga]

Please be aware that excess prEformed vitamin A may prevent the D3 from doing its job and can push the chameleon towards MBD. Hopefully your vet is aware of this.

 

[herriotfan]

I'm in England too. I use Nutrobol for my reptiles.

 

[Amanda1801]

Please be aware that excess prEformed vitamin A may prevent the D3 from doing its job and can push the chameleon towards MBD. Hopefully your vet is aware of this.

yeah, thats why he's worked out how much he needs with his age/weight/MBD etc. etc. etc. all taken into consideration - my vet will do anything he can for reptiles, he gets so excited treating them, i swear he wets himself with excitement at times!