surefire423":f1306 said:
I have been feeding my sons two dragons crickets and worms with a calcium supp w/ D3 and a pinch of vitamins that have D3 everyday that they are hungry (not everyday) while using MVB lighting. What are the possible problems that might occur? Should I stop immediately? Note, they will not eat veggies or fruit in any form.
Thanks
As Jen pointed out, the stronger UVB output of the mercury vapor bulbs is such that the dragons will produce D3 on their own. It is neither necessary nor preferred to provide a D3 supplement for dragons under MVB lighting. You will definitely want to get some calcium withOUT D3 such as:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-health/105556/rep-cal-ultrafine-calcium-without-vitamin-d3.html. An overage or over-accumulation of supplemental D3 is not unlike any other vitamin overage; a dragon can become ill in any number of ways from low appetite, to digestive issues, sleepiness, etc.
It can be challenging to find the cal withOUT in store, so if you need to order it online, you can go ahead and use the Cal with D3 for that time, but in smaller amounts. Are the dragons babies or juveniles? If so, I'd go with 3 meals per week then. When you get the cal w/OUT, you will want to resume dusting 5 meals per week. Dust with multi-vitamins 1 - 2 meals per week (on the days you don't dust with cal).
*(If the dragons are beyond juvenile (1 - 1 1/2 years old), please let me know and I'll give you a slightly different regimen to follow).
If your son's dragons do happen to be babies or juveniles, keep in mind that babies and juveniles tend to be hard wired for large amounts of protein and rapid growth. They will often turn up their noses to veggies. It's normal.
Just keep offering and time usually takes care of it. Here is an excellent food resource list for dragons (can give you some ideas on things to try):
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html.
May I ask, what are the ages of the dragons, and are the dragons housed together?
Thanks,
Em