Formic acid is very close in composition to acetic acid, and this is what I used when making "acidified water" per Montanucci's information on the subject of gastrointeritis.

Being originally from Texas and working around livestock before I know the agricultural product is used by ranchers to treat feed and hay against mold, bacteria etc. and has the same beneficial effects in the GI tract of livestock as in Horned Lizards. It is usually diluted and sprayed onto hay, or as a grain additive to feed. There are other ingredients as well.
But as formic acid is also used in metal etching and the concentration of such products, not originally intended as direct supplements for reptiles, may be unknown or extremely high, I think anyone would be crazy to use it on insect feeders. I'm sure there are other constituients in the spray mix that may be safe on hay for cattle, etc. but not so for reptiles. I've never considered whether crickets could be feed a mix containing the dry feed additive...but how much of that would be passed on to the lizard? Sounds like an experiment.
Ranchers use Ivermec all the time too, but we know it is deadly to many herps.

I tend against "supplements" that by-pass the natural process for either producing or metabolizing something, if there is a more natural way. Anytime you "by-pass" something, it is usually in response to an immediate problem as a temporary fix, and often times causes new problems anyway.

Yup, same question at least once per year on every HL forum.
-----
"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]