Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I noticed below you mentioned something about T-Rex being under fire recently. I currently use almost exclusively T-Rex products and was wondering what they were under fire about, for obvious reasons. Any light you could shed on this would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

there are sveral people here that I know of and more that I have heard about second hand that have reported dehydration problems with the T-rex VGF. I have used the product for about half a year (I use all of them, tort, iguana, gecko, icb...) with no apparent side effects. If anything, I have several BDs that thrived on it when nothing else worked. But yesterday I noticed one female about 1.5 years old who seemed stiff and lethargic. 2 symptoms that others reported with T-rex VGF. considering the number of BDs here and this problem cropped up now it is quaestionable as to the cause. but the t-rex is in the back of my mind. but better safe than sorry. Funny that it happened now after meeting the manufacturer in Daytona and telling them I would give them a testimonial. There are lots of variables so I am not jumping to any conclutions just letting folks know to watch for symptomology consistant with others findings.
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

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Signature edited for TOS violation.

Edited on August 22, 2004 at 23:31:58 by phwyvern.

Some symptoms in addition to dehydration, lethargy, and stiffness are constipation, loss of appetite, rock hard urates, and a few others that are still questionable.

Not every case has every symptom, but most have at least 2 or more of them.

There have been no controlled tests on the exact cause, but supplements have been a common factor, and in each case when the supplements were changed the problems started to go away. There are still no conclusions as to why some dragons in the same conditions have these problems and others don't, and we don't want to point any fingers because other than comparing the common factors, there is no exact proof. We just want people to be aware if they notice any of these symptoms in conjunction with a change of supplements, it is recommended to change back to regular calcium and multivitamin supplements.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
1.0 pictus gecko (Nicodemus)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
0.0.1 tarantula (Calcifer)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Thanks for the heads up you two. I'll be paying close attention to this, and i'll post if I notice any symptoms myself.

Always good to be informed...

Ray

Ever since I started using T-Rex VGF Pogo has experienced the "ROCK HARD" urates which was to me a sign of dehydration but I was feeding one of Pogo's feedings per day by dropper cuz I was able to put together all the good stuff and liquify it so he would be hydrated...Most noticeably I noticed he has been a little lethargic lately...He still is eating okay and his temps are fine...I don't let him poo in his cage no more and his coccidia is gone so he should be fine...HMMMMM...I gues I will have to rethink using this for a while to see if the side effects subside!
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**KILL 'EM WITH KINDNESS**

Not a bad idea to take him off them for a while. Give him a few weeks on regular supps and let us know how it goes!
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
1.0 pictus gecko (Nicodemus)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
0.0.1 tarantula (Calcifer)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Both Gollum and Smeagol were on the VGF until about 3 weeks ago. They were experiencing loss of appetite, lethargy, and one was getting dehydrated. Like Bennett mentioned it could have been for reasons other than the VGF since one has recently gone through a third round of coccidia treatment after taking them both to the vet when I noticed the symptoms, but just to be sure I switched back to more traditional supplements. Good news is both of them are more active and feeding better.

"it could have been for reasons other than the VGF since one has recently gone through a third round of coccidia treatment after taking them both to the vet when I noticed the symptoms, but just to be sure I switched back to more traditional supplements. "

That's pretty much exactly what happened to me the first time I tried the Dragon Dusts. One of my dragons also happened to be fighting coccidia and giardia while showing those symptoms, but even after extensive treatment he still wasn't improving much. I took him off the Dust and he got better. I figured it was probably a coincidence so I waited a few months until he was completely better and tried again. Same symptoms came up.

So in my case, I managed to single out the problem. I hope you get good results too, either way.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
1.0 pictus gecko (Nicodemus)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
0.0.1 tarantula (Calcifer)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

In the few weeks since I took them off they have been improving and I most likely will not be going back to the VGF just to be safe. Along with yourself i've also heard the same thing from a few other people so I don't think I will be going back since the other supplements are tried and true.