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Would anyone recommend adding milkbone dog treats for additional calcium to a rodents diet?

I'm wondering if pregnant female rodents would also benefit from this extra suppliment?

any comments...

>>Would anyone recommend adding milkbone dog treats for additional calcium to a rodents diet?
>>
>>I'm wondering if pregnant female rodents would also benefit from this extra suppliment?
>>
>>any comments...

Milkbone has no more or less calcium than other foods out there. And I really suspect that diet isn't your issue with your eggs unless you have been feeding unborn fetuses or really sickly undernourished rodents.
How old were the snakes? Were they WC or CB? Is their husbandry perfect? Temps, humidity....lighting, vit D or available sunlight if these are not snakes. Do they have any other signs of MBD?
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

How old were the snakes? Were they WC or CB? Is their husbandry perfect? Temps, humidity....lighting, vit D or available sunlight if these are not snakes. Do they have any other signs of MBD?

Thanks for the reply Sonya,

I had two western hognose become egg bound. One 4 yr old and one 3 yr old. In both instances the first half of the clutches were calcified and the second half didn't come out until later, when they were finally out they seemed to be fertile however had no calcification.

They were both captive bred, no signs of illness, perfect sheds, eating fine. Reason I suspect lack of calcium is because I have fed my hognose all spring with thawed fuzzy mice. So I'm not sure they had sufficient calcium reserves to lay completely viable clutches.

comments or suggestions?

Sounds like diets need upgrading. Calcium deficency in the clutch is usually due to how much Calcium the female snakes' Skeletal System has reserved for egg developement.

First is rodent diet/Feeder Calcium to Phosporus Ratio by consumption. Feeding rats & mice Lab block is an inadequite diet for them. Lab Block is the main course along with mixed seeds, then added fresh greens/fruits/vegetables complete the diet. Don't even mention Dog Food users as it is a cheap cost substiute for rodent diet/snake feeder regiems of health.

Here is an example of Ca ratios,
Green beans 2:6
Brocolli leaves 3:9
Cabbage outer leaves 6:0
fresh raspberries 1:18

proper diet Mice ratios,
1 -2 day old pinkie mice 1:0 - 1:2 (not including Cartilage)
fuzzy mice 0.9 - 1.1

Try feeding several pinkies and/or fuzzies fresh killed/fresh frozen - thawed to female snake after brumation/before breeding. The goal is to increase the Calcium in her Skeletal System before developing eggs and not to depleat her either. Rats & Mice will benefit greatly from fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet 3 days a week.

I have bred Rats & Harland strains of Mice for years and produce over 400 Harland strains a month. I have never lost a clutch of eggs from any reptile species. You can also "dip the feeders rump in powder Calcium such as Bone Aid" which adds extra supplement.

How is the body weight of the snakes before Brumation? and how are the weight gains during pre-breeding conditioning? This will tell you alot. Record keeping is a must to problem solving as there are no quick fixes.