I see people post they their dragons seemed to have slowed down using the Trex supps. My situation is the same and I have additional things that have happened which seem to point to the Trex supps.
My oldest beardie used to be on regular veggies with herptivite multvitamin supps and calcium supps. During this time he loved to dig in his wheat bran box. Was fairly active and liked to drink a lot of water.
I decided to start using the Trex VGF on his salads. A week or so into it his activity level began to decline. He stopped digging all together. There were times when he was the most colorful I've seen him but just sat there and didn't move much at all. He also didn't drink near as much water as usual. Also, he seemed to have areas towards his vent, where I think his kidneys are, that seemed to have a more swollen feel to them. He also seemed to strain somewhat when he pood and his urates seemed rock hard and sometimes discolored. I decided I would take him off the supps.
Within a week of taking him off the supps. his activity level increased somewhat and his urates and exertion when pooing seemed to be back to normal. I continued with just regular salad for a couple of weeks except I would supplement the Trex a day or two towards the end of that time. Everything seemed to be going well with him so I decided I'd switch to the Trex supps again but this time I'd use the VMF since I saw his growth had slowed down tremendously, which was normal for his age.
I had been using them for a couple of months now and decided I'd continue to use them and have some bloodwork done in August to see how all the levels were. I decided about 3 weeks ago I couldn't keep using the Trex supps because my beardie began to have other problems like bad sheds and a fungus seemed to begin to appear on his bellie. He didn't drink hardly any water either and he basically sat around 99% of the time. I thought the laziness and lack of thirst was probably normal due to his age.
Well he has been off the Trex for 3-4 weeks now and the changes have been very noticeable. As soon as I took him off the Trex supps I treated him with Acidipholiz and bathed him in Nolvosan. The bad skin has shed off and his activity level has skyrocketed. He used to sit and watch my other beardie bob his head at him without hardly moving but now he bobs right back and runs around the tank quite a bit. He drinks ten times as much water compared to when on the supps and frankly seems to be happier and more healthy overall.
I'll say it again that it may not be the same for all beardies but my experience tells me the Trex supps are a bad thing for my beardie. I've been through it twice now and both trials produced basically the same results. The only difference is the first time on the supps he didn't get any skin problems but I think it's possible he just wasn't on the supps long enough.
I also have read other people saying things don't seem right while their beardies are on the supps. Taking everything into consideration I think there are some beardies who should just not use the Trex supps. I also think if you do use them watch very closely for any changes in behavior or health because myself and others here have noticed negative effects when using them.
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Rob Talkington
