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Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 12:00 pm
by katie
Hi everyone, I've had my first BTS for about a month and now that it's too cool to take him outside I'm going to start him on Calcium + D3 supplements for the fall/winter (he does not have UVB). I have Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3 that I use for my geckos, it says to use half a teaspoon weekly for every 142 grams of body weight. Gru weighs 646 grams so it equals out to about 2.25 tablespoons and it just seems like a lot to be giving him..? Is this really how much he needs?
Should I be giving it to him all at once or should I measure it out and just gradually give it to him all week?
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 12:35 pm
by Linnea
Hello!
always supplement, not just when its winter or even if you had an uvb bulb. a short visit outdoors is not enough in comparison to the quite amazing uv index over certain parts of australia.
i add a thin layer of calcium+D3 powder on every other feeding ( i feed 1-2 times a week now). however, i know that there is some D3 added to the dogfood i give, so i take care not to overfeed. This may not be the case with the dogfood you feed, since the uv here is particularily bad most parts of the year so all types of food is extra supplemented, even for humans.
as for the exact measurement, someone else will have to answer that for you. 2.3 tablespoons sounds like a lot to me. sometimes a little spoon is added to the supplement can, that would be more accurate.
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:11 pm
by katie
Oh really? I read somewhere that about an hour in the sun is equal to a week's worth of vitamin D, is that not correct? I usually had him out for about 20 minutes a day when it was warmer.Thank you for the tip!
I'm probably going to start feeding him only once a week, I was feeding him twice weekly but he would never finish his food. He's seven though so I guess his metabolism is slower.
I give him Wellness 95% most of the time, I didn't see anything about added vitamin D on the label.
I just realized that I did the math incorrectly! It would only be slightly more than one tablespoon, oops.
I didn't get a spoon with this, though it may have made things easier haha.
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:34 pm
by Dakota
Over supplementing can cause as much problem as under supplementing.. just ration it out.. I only sprinkle it on every other feeding (Every other week). I'm a weekly feeder. 1 tablespoon still sounds extremely excessive for only 1 skink.
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:48 pm
by Toria Dawn
The link below is a thread in the FAQ section that explains supplementing very well if you're looking for any additional info.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=23736
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:50 pm
by Scincoides
Dang Toria, beat me to it!
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:54 pm
by Toria Dawn
I have a day off work finally so I'm basically going to spend all day watching my new babes and catching up on this site. Roy is currently in a "completely bury myself wheeeeee!" mood, hopefully he will come out to play soon though!
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:55 pm
by Lea
Thanks for linking that thread, Toria!
Sprinkling a little over each or every other meal is enough. Supplements often allow for deficiencies to be present with the labelling, so a healthy skink, eating a good, nutritious diet, should not need the hefty doses often stated on the packaging. You want to maintain a good level of calcium and vitamin D3, not necessarily increase the blood chemistry.
For a new skink, or one that has previously been kept without supplements or UVB light, more may need to be given to bring a level to a healthy range, before cutting back to just sprinkling over the meals.
I also think you are muddling teaspoons and tablespoons I think the correct dosage would be approximately two TEASPOONS and a little more, but these would be LEVEL teaspoons, not heaped, so actually, it's not quite as much as it seems if you spread it over a few meals.
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:03 am
by katie
Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the replies!
Yeah I did do the math wrong haha. I figured it out in my second post, turns out it's only one tablespoon, oops
He didn't have UVB with his last owner and I can almost guarantee he didn't get any supplements - he was only being fed cat food, crickets and superworms -.-
I'll definitely only be giving him a sprinkle when he's fed on Saturday, makes a lot more sense than a whole tablespoon.
Thanks again!!
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:40 am
by katie
Lea, I just finished reading your post about supplements and mine has the inactive form of D3 - cholecalciferol, is there a brand you recommend that has the active form?
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 10:31 pm
by Lea
I believe Rep-cal and Reptical are both brands with the active form of vitamin D3, that are found widely across the USA. They are also available via online suppliers, such as Amazon and most pet shop supply stores.
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:38 pm
by katie
Great I'll order some now, thanks again!
Re: Help with D3 supplementing?
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:10 pm
by Jeff
Lea wrote:I believe Rep-cal and Reptical are both brands with the active form of vitamin D3, that are found widely across the USA. They are also available via online suppliers, such as Amazon and most pet shop supply stores.
They are both available at most pet stores including Petsmart and Petco. Not hard to come by at all.