Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby painted that will eat bits of earthworm, but wont touch them if they are dusted with Calcium/D3. My question is, is supplementation really necessary If I have UVA/UVB light source? and how can I get him to eat dusted worms?

Thanks,
Zach
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AIM sn: z10silver

I have the UV/B fluorescent lighting, I feed my painted a very wide variety of foods including gut loaded roaches, crickets, worms, live whole fish. I really feed the feeders well before he gets them so I can be sure they're are packed full of nutrition.
I lean toward thinking that if they get enough variety of healthy foods, you don't need the supplements.
Several years ago I saw that his eyelids were beginning to look a little thick so I bought a liquid vitamin high in beta-carotene & supplemented him once a week for a while with that. Of course now that supplement is off the market, I haven't tried any of the newer ones. His eyes looked normal again within a couple of weeks, I widened his variety in foods, no problems since. He's only 11 years old but I'm hoping he'll be around for another 20-30 at least. <g>
PHRatz