Calcium powder on its own or with D3 ?

[Arron]

Recently, one of my younger bearded dragons was a bit wobbly on his back legs, not a lot, but i noticed he was a bit off balanced.
I was worried so did some research on here and other places and found out that it could be vitamin d3 poisoning.!
I was using powdered calcium with added d3 everyday and it seems you only dust the food twice a week at the most. It was what i was recommended.
So, is it better to just dust with calcium on its own, say once a week. ?
I have stopped the calcium with d3 now and apparently he should get better, as his only 9 months old?
Any advice ect welcomed, thanks.

 

[CooperDragon]

With the T8 I would keep dusting with calcium + D3 supplement because it's a lower output bulb. The T5 and MVB/metal halide bulbs are higher output (closer to natural sunlight) so I use plain calcium with those lights. The higher UVB levels allow them to synthesize D3 on their own. This just my thinking though and it's a bit of a gray area.

 

[Arron]

Thanks. It does seem a grey area alright. :?

 

[Arron]

Just wondered, how many times a week should i give the calcium with D3 to a adult bearded dragon, everyday, or just once a week ? thanks.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Rex , now nearly 4 years old , get's her Ca several days a week on her crickets (who I enrich with calcium by feeding them calcium rich greens).

 

[Arron]

Thanks. Does that include calcium with D3 ? Or just the calcium on its own?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks. Does that include calcium with D3 ? Or just the calcium on its own?

The current lot , without.

I'm about 1/2 the way through an 8oz bottle of repticalcium (w/Vit D3) but now well past it's D3 UBD by about 8 months.
I didn't specifically buy the Ca powder because it has D3 added, I was using Repti-Calcium (Aristopet) for years before and I don't think it has added D3 .

If your beardie gets some natural sunlight, added D3 is not necessary at all. It's optional if you have a MVB , or 10% or higher UVB rating T5 or T8 or compact (ie UVB200) and sufficient hours for the beardie to bask (I run 15 hours lights 15 hours per day and it can get nice and close to it's UVA and UVB source (in my case within 6" of their 26W UVB200 globes which are in reflector hoods (which will concentrate the UV where you need it - ie at the basking spot).

 

[Arron]

Thanks. I have a Arcadia T8 10% + uvb strip light beside his basking light. On the box of the uvb light it says D3 output included, so hopefully this will do. I also, as its summer here now, have him out in the sun during the day for a half hour to an hour. In the future, i will be upgrading to a T5 12%, so that should do the trick even better, as its on top of a mesh screen.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks. I have a Arcadia T8 10% + uvb strip light beside his basking light. On the box of the uvb light it says D3 output included, so hopefully this will do. I also, as its summer here now, have him out in the sun during the day for a half hour to an hour. In the future, i will be upgrading to a T5 12%, so that should do the trick even better, as its on top of a mesh screen.

screen tops on lizard enclosures seem very popular over there, you will never see a beardie keeper here who has that kind of lid on his enclosures, they are all solid tops here.

problems with meh tops :

--- if the uv light is mounted on top , the mesh blocks over 25% of the uv
--- not cat proof
--- very hard to set up a proper stable microclimate and temperature gradient under a mesh top BECAUSE HOT AIR IS VERY BUOYANT and rises through the mesh with no chance to circulate inside the enclosure.

I recommend you :
get rid of the mesh top , replace with some 1/2 inch plywood or mdf
mount the uv tube and basking globe UNDER the top

 

[Arron]

Ok, thanks, I am in Ireland by the way.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Ok, thanks, I am in Ireland by the way.

I'm in Australia, so like you I'm in a very small minority of the members here.

You're in a fairly high northern latitude so I'd say he'll need maybe 60mins per session in the sun on those warm Ireish summer days.

Just wondering what's a warm Ireish summer day like (temperature wise), we get up over 35oC here in Newcastle on the coast of NSW in summer and regularly up see days up round 38-40oC.

 

[Arron]

Our summers, are like your winters...
At the moment, its 20'c here...but that is rare and its meant to be 26-28 tomorrow...but that would last about a week at the most and then back to the rain and back down to 15'c..lol
I am going to get this below soon, meant to be very good, even on mesh tops ect, very strong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBdb2PuBWMA

 

[Taterbug]

That's an excellent lamp, it will make for a nice upgrade both output and illumination wise.

How is your dragon doing by the way?
Depending on the supplement you were using and how thick the coating on the insects D3 overdose is probably unlikely. Some supplements have a lot of D3 in them others are more balanced.

If you only dust once a week, you will be ensuring calcium deficiency. Insects should supplemented the majority of the time to balance them to an adequte calcium level. Having good lights takes the guess work out o D3 supplements but I wouldn't skimp on calcium esp with a growing dragon.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree. That's an excellent lamp and it's what I use. I use calcium without D3 due to the high output of the lamp. I would use D3 with a lower output lamp (T8, coil, etc) although a high quality all in one should be fine either way. I also dust bugs at every feeding to ensure they are well balanced. In addition I try to offer a variety of bugs and veges to try and cover as much as I can in the overall diet.

 

[Arron]

Thanks folks.
Taterbug, i had 2 dragons, i have one that is 5, he was an unwanted pet and is doing very well and i did have, until last week, a 9 month old dragon, that i rescued, as he was not looked after too well, unfortunately, his back legs started to go and he seemed to loose his balance, i looked it up on here and from passed reading, put it down to d3 poisoning, but when i asked about it on this thread, it seems it was not. I am sad to say, the younger dragon died the other day, i woke up to find him curled up and not moving, he died in his sleep.. ! Before that, a vet i was talking to, mentioned parasites and that if their weak in anyway, they take over and kill them eventually.
My older dragon is doing well though and the light i am getting for him soon, is the one i put up in the link. He has a arcadia T8 10.0+ at the moment and his about 8 inches under it when basking, but like i said, it sits on top of a wire mesh.