supplement question...

[Dawn]

My Russian is a great eater, so I give him a variety of salads and vegetables daily. My question is regarding his supplements. When I bought his calcium powder today, all they had was ReptoCal w\ D3. I usually buy him w\o D3. Is this a problem for him? I let him outside for 'playtime' 2-3 x a week and his enclosure gets natural sunlight through a window. Should I not use his UVB bulb since his powder is supplying his vit D? Or should I risk not using the powder until I can order a new bottle? (the only store here is Petco...which is horrible in stocking the tortoise supplies.)

Also, I bought a ZOOMED brand Grassland food and some T-REX dry food (multicolored balls I moisten on top of his salad 3 times a week). The grassland stuff I haven't tried before, but I thought he'd like it as a treat 1 or 2 times a week. Any advice with these products?

 

[cemmons12]

I will say that sunlight thru a window don't work, it filters out the uv rays. I give my sully the powder with the d3, and he seems to be thriving great. He is 8 months and 400 grams and 5 inchs long. Keep using the uvb bulb. In my opinion they need all they can get. Good luck!

 

[Madkins007]

First, UVB does not pass through common glass or plastics, and is partially blocked even by screens, so if the window is closed, it is not really helping- even less so if the light has to pass through the plastic or glass tank walls.

Next, Rep-Cal has about 400,000IUs of D in 5.2oz of calcium- about 2700 IUs per gram of calcium powder, or 2.7 per milligram. An 8oz tortoise would need about 36-60mg of calcium a day with about 50-500IUs of D. Let's say we offer about 36mg- the middle dosage. That gives the tort about 97 IUs of D- this would be close to the low end. In real life, we would probably not even offer that much calcium since we are good keepers and offer lots of calcium in the diets.

All of this is a round-about way of saying that if you are only using small amounts of Rep-cal, then the tort is not getting a lot of D. I would not worry about it unless it is being kept outside- then he just does not need the stuff. I think almost all indoor torts could benefit from a bit more D.

 

[Dawn]

First, UVB does not pass through common glass or plastics, and is partially blocked even by screens, so if the window is closed, it is not really helping- even less so if the light has to pass through the plastic or glass tank walls.

Next, Rep-Cal has about 400,000IUs of D in 5.2oz of calcium- about 2700 IUs per gram of calcium powder, or 2.7 per milligram. An 8oz tortoise would need about 36-60mg of calcium a day with about 50-500IUs of D. Let's say we offer about 36mg- the middle dosage. That gives the tort about 97 IUs of D- this would be close to the low end. In real life, we would probably not even offer that much calcium since we are good keepers and offer lots of calcium in the diets.

All of this is a round-about way of saying that if you are only using small amounts of Rep-cal, then the tort is not getting a lot of D. I would not worry about it unless it is being kept outside- then he just does not need the stuff. I think almost all indoor torts could benefit from a bit more D.

Thank you, I wouldn't want to do anything to injure him. Did you have any advice on the supplemental foods I bought? The TREX multicolored food balls he loves, but the ZOOMED grassland food I haven't tried before. Any experience with these? I plan to offer them as extras a couple times a week for variety.

 

[Madkins007]

Either should be fine, but I would not bother with both.

I really like a diet plan that uses about 1/2 fresh food, and 1/2 a good supplement (http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Prepared-Tortoise-Diets-yes-or-no#axzz1Ulookf4R)

I found some liquid vitamin D supplements (http://www.puritan.com/vitamin-d-326/liquid-vitamin-d-3-5000-iu-030405?NewPage=1). I can make a decent guess about how much D my guys are getting in the diet or light, and add some of this to balance it out. Being a liquid, it is more potent than a powder (although it will loose its potency), and it is easy to monitor and distribue fairly evenly on the food.

Oh, yeah- there is this article too... http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Vitamin-D-supplements-dosage-information#axzz1Ulookf4R