Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Besides the 70/20/10 diet do you need the repti cal calcium or repti call calcium w/D3 i have both and not such which one I need. I been reading websites and some say calcium, some say calcium d3 and some say none at all. If you could provide solid reasons why they need which one I would appreciate it. Tired of digging through websites.

Thank you in advance

I have my green iguana now for 4 years i have not a single problem with him.... They are considered to be more fragile than the Cyclura genus. I used to supplement him with the regular Centrum the human multivitamin stuff and regular calcium, also for human, I get from Walmart, with no vitamin D3 and provide him with UVB lighting, the tube long tube type. I get my information from the link below....

However I find the Veggies Dust created by Allen Repashy also works really well. You are supposed to use it with every feeding which are safe because it's not exactly like the multivitamin and mineral supplements. It's all in one and the dosage is low and safe and effective. Made from all natural human grade stuff. This is what I supplement my iguana with now....
www.anapsid.org

He is getting very big! He jumped off his 6 foot perch onto the floor like he was Spider-man!

You can feed him Mazuri tortoise and iguana chows, too. I've known people who raised some of the fragile and sensitive tortoise species on the tortoise chows and great success--a hundred percent survival rate. This is tortoise chow not turtle. Tortoises are herbivores like iguanas, but turtles are omnivores that will eat animal protein. Make sure you moisten the tortoise and iguana chows first, so the gut doesn't pull the water out to try to digest it and cause the animal to become dehydrated.

Is this the stuff you are talking about:

http://reptilesonline.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/-/repashy-veggie-dust-705-ounces/

They have the bottles and then other ones that come in some silver container, I can't tell if them are different or not.

And if so, is this just for the multivitamin part or does it count as the calcium as well.

I use the Zoo-med with and without D3 on my other lizards. The beardies get the d3, tegus get the non d3 stuff so I was just going to use one of them. I get the rhino next week so just making proper changes before it gets here. I have the 70/30/10 feeding list so I am good in that area. My last two issues are the multivit/ calcium and the humidity. Winter is comming soon as the humidty around here drops to about 20-30% in my reptile room. I use a room humidifier but it does not really do to much. I use small foggers for my tegu's and moniters, which keeps it up in the 70s-85% range, would this be something to use for rhino as well?? Daily spray downs don't seem to do much either when its so dry out.

Also, I am not sure about iguanas but in the wintertime I use cod liver oil in lizards foods twice a week to help with keepin the easy sheds and keep the skin healthy and plush.

From what I have read rhinos are total different care routine than per say beardies and monitor/tegu's. Any more input would help. I will be bookmarking the websites you gave me as well.

Thanks

-Tim

The D3 will work fine for you cornuta. It such a small part of the husbandry that it really isnt a big deal. If your temps are correct and the diet is right which vitamin doesnt really matter. The diet is too high in fruit but it will get a new lizard eating. Cornuta rarely have that problem though. 20-30% humidity is too low, it should be around 50-70% and up. Look up Santo Domingo in the DR on your weather app and try to match that as far as temps and humidity.
You dont need cod liver oil either if the temps and humidity are correct.
Dont interact with the new lizard for a week, let it settle in. They are very long lived and you have plenty of time to interact. What other input are you looking for?
There is a cyclura forum if you are looking for cornuta info

jf

Well the reason I was asking about the D3 Or without is I was reading an artical that iguanas can't use the man made d3 so and it can be harmfull to them

then dont use it if you are concerned. Proper temps and diet, a good hide and enough
room and you dont even need it. That is the important stuff. Vitamins are a band-aid.

jf

The right amount of heat is far more important than anything...thanks
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

To answer your question, D3 is produced by the body when the animal is exposed to nature sun light, this vitamin is used in the body to help metabolize the calcium in the diet.
So if your animal is exposed to natural sunlight then you don’t use D3 doing so can damage the kidneys. However if you are indoors then use D3 otherwise the animal can not absorb the calcium in his diet.

Sam Pascucci