Multivitamin? Should I?

I tell you, as an ultra-fine powder that is so finely ground that it appears greyish due to the amount of light it absorbs from sheer surface area, I will never go back to using anything course again. But I'm having very hard difficulty finding a decent calcium powder without anything else in it. Is it safe to offer this as the first feed of the day for a 6 month old, each day of the week? And on that note, should I also offer a multivitamin and if so, how often?

I gut-load any insects I buy with carrot and sometimes endive (as well), usually feeding medium sized crickets. I did order a batch of woodies though for the next lot of live insects. In the vivarium, he has a Exo-Terra Solar-Glo MVB for the basking spot and a Repti Sun 10.0 T5 HO UVB to light up the terrarium some more, whilst providing some more simulated sunlight as well.

You should definitely offer multivitamins. Usually dust their bugs on weekends or two times a week for the multivitamins and with calcium five times a week. I actually have rep-cal calcium without d3 and then zoomeds calcium with d3 along with rep-cals multivitamins. What i do is that ill give the multivitamins two times a week, the calcium without d3 three times a week and then calcium with d3 two times a week.

VenusAndSaturn":34oidby2 said:

You should definitely offer multivitamins. Usually dust their bugs on weekends or two times a week for the multivitamins and with calcium five times a week. I actually have rep-cal calcium without d3 and then zoomeds calcium with d3 along with rep-cals multivitamins. What i do is that ill give the multivitamins two times a week, the calcium without d3 three times a week and then calcium with d3 two times a week.

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Thank you! I didn't know it was possible to get Rep-Cal Calcium without Vitamin D3, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for it. I've seen the Rep-Cal Multivitamin and will probably get that one then. Does anyone have a different dosing schedule to this and if so, why?

With the high output lights they can probably synthesize their own D3 so using a plain calcium is best. I use Repashy SuperCal NoD which seems to work well. If you can get them to eat salad that will allow you to provide a lot of vitamin variety so the multivitamin may not be needed. For the little guys who eat mostly bugs it's probably beneficial to offer it once or twice per week (I have Repashy Supervite). I dust the bugs at every feeding with one or the other.

CooperDragon":2gpf1j8g said:

With the high output lights they can probably synthesize their own D3 so using a plain calcium is best. I use Repashy SuperCal NoD which seems to work well. If you can get them to eat salad that will allow you to provide a lot of vitamin variety so the multivitamin may not be needed. For the little guys who eat mostly bugs it's probably beneficial to offer it once or twice per week (I have Repashy Supervite). I dust the bugs at every feeding with one or the other.

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Awesome! On that note, can they overdose on Vitamin D3 or does any excess pass naturally through their normal excretions, sort of like beta-carotene? I stopped feeding Iggy salad for three days so I could get his protein ratios back into proper alignment after I was told he was eating far too many veggies for a juvenile [ 1 ], but today I'm back to feeding him his favourite things like carrot, endive, corn, peas and squash. I do dust the bugs at every feeding but sometimes I do dust them a little too much by accident; they end up looking like powdered donuts, as some have mentioned not to do here.

[ 1 ] - https://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=237742

Overdose can happen but I don't think it's common. I don't see much mentioned about it happening on here. If he likes veges, I'd let him have it. Keep offering bugs on a regular schedule but if he's into his salad I'd consider that a bonus (as kingofnobbys mentioned in the other thread). I don't think it would be harmful especially if that's what he's craving. Provide variety and let him take what he wants, especially at his age.

As far as dusting goes, a little extra won't hurt now and then. I've found it easiest to put some bugs in a small cup, then add a bit of powder and just gently shake them till they have a nice light even coat. Then offer them up a little at a time. Shaking them a bit makes sure they are well coated and gets rid of excess.

CooperDragon":25l44fbt said:

Overdose can happen but I don't think it's common. I don't see much mentioned about it happening on here. If he likes veges, I'd let him have it. Keep offering bugs on a regular schedule but if he's into his salad I'd consider that a bonus (as kingofnobbys mentioned in the other thread). I don't think it would be harmful especially if that's what he's craving. Provide variety and let him take what he wants, especially at his age.

As far as dusting goes, a little extra won't hurt now and then. I've found it easiest to put some bugs in a small cup, then add a bit of powder and just gently shake them till they have a nice light even coat. Then offer them up a little at a time. Shaking them a bit makes sure they are well coated and gets rid of excess.

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I got my food processor yesterday which I picked up relatively cheap given that some can go for thousands of dollars x_x So I'm hoping he likes his salad a bit finer/mushier from now on, as the processor will be so much easier on my rheumatoid arthritis. It's also good for emergency situations, as I'm now able to make bug smoothies for him But yeah, I'm providing many, many different things in terms of veggies, fruits and insects and just seeing what he likes most along the way.

I have some plastic containers that I put the bugs in, apply what I assume to be a few hundred milligrams of Calcium powder with Vitamin D3, then give them a gentle shaking and tipping around until all evenly coated. So thank you for the tip anyway ^ ^ It seems to make the insects disoriented too, which is good given that my Iggy is now lazier than ever with how he hunts these days. Damn, spoilt, Beardies :<

Some folks on here like to blend up the veges in the food processor and then put it in ice cube trays. That gives a serving of veges whenever you need it. I haven't tried it, but it might be worth a shot.

CooperDragon":snod3ye1 said:

Some folks on here like to blend up the veges in the food processor and then put it in ice cube trays. That gives a serving of veges whenever you need it. I haven't tried it, but it might be worth a shot.

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I tend to have the time during the day to spend the needed, extra effort on things like serving up fresh salads instead of frozen due to being a pensioner in my country (not of the aged sort, mind you). If I'm short on time then I'll just use a snap-frozen veggie mix (peas, corn, and carrot), chuck it in the microwave for a short period, let it cool briefly, then give it to my Iggy. He LOVES that stuff, thankfully.

That's how I usually go too. I build salads as part of my morning routine now, shredding greens and chopping squash into little worm shapes, chopping up bell peppers and green beans... These guys don't know how good they have it =).

CooperDragon":jrb1uf4o said:

That's how I usually go too. I build salads as part of my morning routine now, shredding greens and chopping squash into little worm shapes, chopping up bell peppers and green beans... These guys don't know how good they have it =).

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Hah! They're more spoiled than most felines given the amount of effort, thought and funds dedicated to them, seriously I never thought of cutting some of his food into worm shapes though, that's an awesome idea.

Darwin gets the best food in the house. His roach colony gets the second best food in the house. I eat the scraps =).

Yeah if you take a summer squash (or any squash I guess) and cut a slice/circle of it, then cut that in half you can chop a bunch of inch long worms out of it. Makes a great topper to a salad and the shape makes it easy to hand feed.

CooperDragon":3k0nxxxy said:

Darwin gets the best food in the house. His roach colony gets the second best food in the house. I eat the scraps =).

Yeah if you take a summer squash (or any squash I guess) and cut a slice/circle of it, then cut that in half you can chop a bunch of inch long worms out of it. Makes a great topper to a salad and the shape makes it easy to hand feed.

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*chuckles* I know what you mean. When I was eating a salad last night for dinner that a house-mate had prepared (both house-mates are very close friends), I was thinking to myself how Iggy eats as good or even better than that sometimes X) I need to ask though, what do you feed your roach colony? All I have gut-loaded my insects with thus far are carrot and endive. Is that enough or does more need to be done?

So are the 'worms' sort of wiggly in shape, or just rectangular? Either would be an improvement over what I do now though with the likes of squash, as I cut it into cubes currently.

I feed the roaches leftover salads from Darwin. Kitchen scraps (veg). They really like squash. They've eaten all of the pumpkin guts from carving for halloween. Sometimes I give them a banana or some bread slices or slices of orange. I try to vary it a bit but generally they get leftover salads from Darwin. They're pretty good little composters.

The squash worms are just straight but you could cut them to any shape I suppose. This is how I usually cut them up.

CooperDragon":33oxniel said:

I feed the roaches leftover salads from Darwin. Kitchen scraps (veg). They really like squash. They've eaten all of the pumpkin guts from carving for halloween. Sometimes I give them a banana or some bread slices or slices of orange. I try to vary it a bit but generally they get leftover salads from Darwin. They're pretty good little composters.

The squash worms are just straight but you could cut them to any shape I suppose. This is how I usually cut them up.

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Thank you

The roaches are happy with foods that are even mouldy, right? Given that you said they are composters. I bet that would smell pretty potent... I already hate the smell of crickets after three or more days within the one container. Hmm, where do you keep the roaches then?

How good are Beardies at chewing their food, if at all?

EDIT: Sorry for all the questions, you just have me really intrigued with all this. I hope I'm not being a bother.