You said a lot of research and time was put into the diets, that's what we want to know, what was that research and the hard data results. Were blood panels done and levels checked?
People are not searching to blame someone and not accept responsibility for their own husbandry, the exact opposite, they are trying to find a reason why something is happening and correct it in their husbandry, no one enjoys having a healthy animals become very ill or die and some have gone to a great expense with vet bills, lab test on water, crickets, substrates, checking UV lights. Anything they can think of to rule out a source.
This is not something that came up yesterday, its been going on for about 3 months that I know of. And prior to starting this thread, myself and five others have searched online about ingredients involved and questioned in detail the history and husbandry of owners, compared that information and felt posting an inquiry to others was warranted, several of those owners come from this forum, but there are also others forums and list.
The same thing was done with other products when they were introduced, para-zap, acidolphiliz , Rep-Cal and those were looked at and results by owners using it compared, makers questioned about the ingredients. Those were answered and a lot of us use those products now.
With this one there are owners experiencing problems, but we also realize there can be many things going on, including the time of year it is, other diet foods, general husbandry. The water companies did not get insulted when it was suggested the water be tested and was, or the stores that the greens from were questioned about their misting, storage and origination of greens, or famers when we questioned the USDA.
I've checked the maker's site for information, but can find none except a testimonial about mixing it with dry cat food and even then she states they seem to have got bored with it sprinkled on the greens and veggies and makes a paste of the product and feds that to them directly.
Many owners and breeder have been asked about it, one in Brooksville that not only sells it, but uses it on their large colony and they endorse it and have no problem, yet there are others that have problems and state the only change was introduction of this to the diet and when they stopped using it the symptoms went away. Still owners lost animals and when we questioned them about history, some possible husbandry issued emerged there, but some as I said, ruled out other sources and those are negative.
In the meantime I think more tests need to be run to determine the cause and more evidence needs to be accumilated before it is blamed on the diet. I understand your concern for the health of the dragons, but in my opinion you should have had the research done and provided more concrete evidence before blaming a product.
As stated above, we or other owners are trying to collect more information and have done test to rule out other sources, this did not just come about overnight. I also stated we are not saying the product is the problem, but looking for more data from the makers, from other owners that are using it and their experience, since it is a factor with owners that have ill dragons or ones that died. Not all have a necropsy done and certainly not all have good husbandry, but there are enough that do and have ruled out other sources to make it worth questioning and ask input from others that may have more knowledge about the effects of the ingredients.
I also have firsthand knowledge from being in the trade so long that a lot of people tend to look for other places to lay the blame for problems they have with their animals instead of taking a look at their husbandry practices.
Yes, some do, but I do not think trying to rule out causes or correct a problem if they know what it is, is trying to put the blame on others, they seek out others, especially medical forums and answer in depth questions about their care, because the are taking a look at their own husbandry and trying to not only find answers but improve it.
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www.reptilerooms.com
h already, opposed to ones that get no UVB but just supplements to add the D3 they can not synthesiz on their own? OR one's fed a poorer diet of low ca