Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i can't seem to find any pet stores in tallahassee that carry miner-all. does anybody know of one? or does anyone know a website where i can order it? for now, i've just been dusting with jurassi-cal. thanks.

Proexotics, Reptile Depot and LLLreptile carry it to name a few. Hope this helps.

Pam

should i buy mineral with or without vitamin d3? i have my tegus under a esu reptile slimline super uv light. i also take them out to get a little sun a few days a week (i'll do that more once they get bigger and easier to hold on to. are their other kinds of miner-all that i should know about? what specific kind of supplements does everyone here use? up until now, i have only been using jurassi-cal, but now that i got more money i want to get something more complete, like miner-all. thanks!

about miner-all...
my tegus are under a esu reptile slimline super u/v fixture, do they need miner-all with d-3 in it? i take them outside a few times a week for real sun. would buying miner-all with d-3 be too much (would that have adverse effects?)? keep in mind that they are still hatchlings and their nutrient needs are still very high. I would really appreciate an answer on this one. the sooner i find out what's best, the sooner i can order it and start giving to butch and sundance (right now they're just getting jurassi-cal). Thanks a ton, guys!!!

The reason we use vitamin supplimentation is very simple, we keep our Tegus often indoors. D3 is utilized by the Tegu as an agent to produce calcium after it is exposed to UVB sprectrum radiation, so vitamin D3 with sufficent artificial UVB lighting should produce the desired effect, D3 will be synthasized into calcium.
Of course if you simply feed your Tegu foods with sufficient quantities of D3 and calcium, and gave them a few hours of direct sunlight every week, there would be little need for any kind of suppliments or UVB lighting.
A friend of mine who used to breed Argentine Red Tegus used this approach and it did work fine, he got good results, breeding and longevity. He simply feed whole foods, in the form of rodents, fruits, and the occasional hard boiled egg. No vitamins, no UVB lighting, things like this at least for me make me question if we are going about this feeding and lighting issue the wrong way.
Another issue to consider is about Tegu behavior. These animals are fossorial, which means they spend much of their time underground in burrows or nests. Now tell me, why would an animal evolve this behavior if needed vast amounts of UVB radiation in order to synthasize calcium?
MDB is a condition brought about by captivity, and very likely as a result of poor diets.
All of the above is simply my own opinion based on some limited experience.

Hope it Provides Food for Thought:

-Kit

... that still doesn't really tell me whether or not i should have chosen the indoor (D3 added) or outdoor (no D3) formula. oh well, either way, they get whole prey items, a uv light, regular trips outdoors, and they'll be getting miner-all, indoor formula. why? because i keep them indoors. hopefully, this will be quite alright for them.

I'd say if you give good UV don't use D-3 dust every feeding. The calsium/D3 supplements should be mainly used for insects, fruit or turkey. Once he's feeding on larger mice/chicks with good bone structure you shouldn't need to dust those.
This is just what I've done with mine. I use mercury vapor UV/heat lights.

use the miner-all with D3 (yellow can) for indoor animals and the one without D3 (red can) for outdoor animals. The amount of UVB from anything short of a medical grade UV light is neglagable. Even if they lay directly on the light they dont get a lot compared to being outside. Scientific studies have proven this FACT. While some people insist on UVB lights for their indoor animals, I believe, as do many others that they are not worth the money! The reason for the UV light is to give them D3 to allow them to use the calcium you are suplimenting. with out the D3 they cannot absorb the calcium. Hence the D3 in the indoor calcium products. It has been argued by a few people that the D3 suppliment doesn't get absorbed and therefore doesn't do the job it is supposed to. If that is the case why do they offer the D3 version? I know several top breeders, reputable breeders that never use UVB lights at all. If anything they take the animal out for direct sun. Only 20 minutes to an hour a day is needed.

For more info try here:
http://uvheat.com/measure.html
http://www.reptilesdownunder.com/reptile/enclosure/uvlighting.php

Just my opinion...
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com