Maybe Marilyn? ?
As far as I know Flukers is a good product. I use the vitamins and the calcium, very light dusting, couple times a week, but my boy is 2.5 years old and eats well, a varied diet. I think I give him the little dusting just to make me feel better. ? Obviously a young and growing Dragon would need more.
-Dee
The vitamins only really need to be given 1-2 times per week, max.
As far as calcium with D3, I would also keep calcium without D3 on hand, too. I feel that
too much D3 can become toxic over time.
Which UVB do you use?
Here's an article from Reptiles Magazine (whom I generally consider to be a reputable source).
It explains the need for Herp multivitamins further down. There are several good products out there. This one is recommended by my breeder, which I use one meal/week.
AFAIK, that depends on the amount & quality of UVB they get, either naturally (sunlight) or synthetically from a UVB bulb, right?
To elucidate, since no bulb can compare with natural unimpeded (by glass or plexi) sunlight, dragons who don't get much/any direct sun need more D3 supplementation than those who can catch some rays--even once a week.
To elaborate on what Tracie said, I think she is mainly referring to supplemental D3 being toxic over time. It is noted that (at least with natural sunlight) once enough D3 has been synthesized via the skin, that the continuing rays actually destroy more D3 from being created. It is an assumption, but if you assume that the same process takes place with our artificial lighting, then it is possible that dietary D3 can lead to overdoses much easier than naturally synthesised D3. Pair that with "if" your dragon is meeting it's d3 requirements via lighting, then it's even easier to understand how supplemental D3 could lead to a problem.
All that being said, I still mainly use calcium with D3. But once i'm out of it I will most likely be switching to only calcium. Especially now that I have a solarmeter and can continue to monitor my UV levels.
In the past (before I got back into dragons) there were no t5's and I definitely didn't have a meter. Calcium + d3 was a good safety measure.
But.. I'm rambling like usual.
For the record, there's no conflict/disagreement in anything I said with anything you or Tracie said.
I never really looked at how much D3 is actually needed or how much is in the Reptical; I trust the breeder's advice/care sheet.
The amount of calcium dust he actually ingests is less than dusted, as I only dust his num-nums, and crawling through his salad, they rub a lot off. He doesn't like the taste anyway, so he doesn't eat the salad that's got calcium dust on it.
There's probably something to be said for annual checkup blood test results as well.
Also just a question but she has been shedding a lot... 2 weeks ago she shed starting with her tail ad worked up. Then her stomach started to shed along with her beard, now as of this morning her beard I starting to shed again and is moving down.Just wondering if it is normal.
ZaRDoZ sheds in sections. First his tail, then his arms & legs, then the rest of him, repeat. It makes him look kinda like a panda. :lol: I've never seen him all at once without some part or other shedding.