Posted by:
PHLdyPayne
at Tue Dec 20 14:34:57 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by PHLdyPayne ]
The reptilite sand is not digestiable at all, despite it's claims. It doesn't disolve very well if at all in stomach acid, in fact if too much is ingested with food, it will actually start to neutralize stomach acids, making it less effective to break down food. The grains just don't have enough surface area to break down or be absorbed by the bloodstream so what winds up happening is it can clump and block the intestinal tract. Somebody here, I can't remember had access to a lab and ran his own experiments with various kinds of calcium based sands. He put a measured amount into hydrochloric acid, stronger than what is normally found in bearded dragon stomachs and after a day or so, drained the acid and measured the amount of the calcium sand left. He found no noticeable decrease in weight and the acidity of the acid had also decreased. I can't remember who it was but that certainly shows how undigestable the calcium based sand is.
Thinking about the experiment myself I can see where it really indicates the truth. Calcium is a base. The calcium based sand is much larger than calcium powder. A grain of the sand compared to a particle of the dust really shows a huge difference in surface area. The dust is so fine, it can be absorbed as is, whereas the grains of calcium sand are so big, it would take a very long time before a single grain can be broken down to be absorbed and used by the body. Just compare the difference in time between a single snow flake and a regular ice cube takes to melt under the same temperature. The snowflake will melt almost instantly, the icecube will sit there for 10 or more minutes to melt completely.
Giving the cost of reptilite compared to say, washed children's playsand (about 8$ for a 1kg bag vs $5 for a 35kg bag), why use it when sand does have a less risk of causing impaction?
Substrate aside, sunlight is all a dragon needs to fullfuill it's UVB requirements. As long as he is exposed to about 6 hours of direct sunlight a week, a UVB producing light is not required. Housing the dragon outside where he has access to sunlight whenever he wants it (also access to cooler shaded areas to get out of the sun of course) is much better than any UVB producing bulb on the market, even the Mergury vapour bulbs. The only advantage of the bulbs is you can give UVB to the dragons every day which is great when you live in areas where it gets too cold to bring the dragon outside regularly. I certainly can't do it here, though when I had a dragon I did bring her out for natural sunlight during the summer.
Taking a stool sample to the vet would be a good thing to do now. Most fecals don't cost that much $25 or less, depending on your local vet. Most don't require to see the dragon to get a fecal, if the results show parasites, then they may want to see the dragon so they can weigh it and subscribe the correct dossage for treatments. Call your reptile vet and ask if you can bring a fecal in for testing from y our dragon. The fecal should be as new as possible, the same day you bring it in would be perfect. If you are not sure you can get a fresh sample from the same day you bring it it, you can refrigerate a sample the day before bringing it in. (do not freeze it, just refrigerate, as freezing can destroy evidence of parasites etc.)
Instead of offering pinkies, which are not all that great to feed dragons, being rather high in fat and could contain parasites, try superworms, silkworms, butterworms or hornworms. Other than superworms, all are soft bodied worms with high levels of protein, calcium, water content and other nutrients. Superworms are not as soft bodied but do have alot of protein, more so than an equivant weight of mealworms. They do tend to be a little fatty but as an occaisonal meal, they are fine. The other three worms are fine as a complete substitute for crickets but a variety of insects is always good.
One good thing, in those pictures, your male is obvious in shed. The fact it's shedding indicates it is growing, or at least getting rid of old skin. Adults still shed skin even if they are no longer growing, to replace the old skin with new skin, though alot less often than when growing up as babies.
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PHLdyPayne
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RE: Is my BD too skinny? - PHLdyPayne, Tue Dec 20 14:34:57 2005