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Foolishfather Cold Blooded Kisser Foolishfather Cold Blooded Kisser Foolishfather Cold Blooded Kisser Cphill58 Foolishfather Cphill58 Dragon Lover Foolishfather |
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Foolishfather View Profile |
MVB lighting and calcium supplement
I just purchased two MVB bulbs... solar glo or sun glo (having a brain fart moment, at work) 125 watt, with a 10.0uvb (the box stated they were MVB). I am trying to understand the difference between and need for calcium and vitamins with and without D3. I keep reading in posts that calcium with D3 all the time is bad and to give pure calcium every day and D3 once a week while using a basking spot @105-115 degrees and uvb light of at least 8.0 or 10.0. I am also reading that using calcium and or vitamins with D3 in it while using a MVB is wrong and harmful. It all seems so confusing at times with everyone having there own opinions and experiences to share... IT IS ALL WELCOME, don’t get me wrong... just confusing at times. So if I could get a clear consensus on what the proper way to introduce these supplements to my babies diets I would be eternally grateful. I keep hearing that Edel and Nancy are the go to persons for the dragon community... not to disclude anyone elses suggestions as they all have their place, so if either of you are out there and can offer me advise I would appreciate it. However, I will take the knowledge of anyone with the right info. Would these same rules apply for my leopard gecko’s... pure calcium daily and D3 once a week, with no D3 in the multivitamin (I know it is a different forum, but needed to throw it in) Thanks Mike |
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| 10/27/09 06:12pm |
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Cold Blooded Kisser View Profile |
Message To: Foolishfather In reference to Message Id: 2089136 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
The MVB will help your beardies body produce the D3 that he/she needs. It wouldn’t be good to give your critter an additional supplement of D3. I personally give my beardie a Calcium supplement at least 4 times a week but you can give the Calcium to your beardie every day if you wanted. Your beardies body will either store the extra Calcium or get rid of it. They can not over dose on Calcium. Cp started a wonderful discussion about MVBs a while back. If you want to take a look at it here’s the Link. Now for Leopard Geckos. They need a small dish of pure Calcium left in their enclosures 24/7. They’re amazing critters that are able to maintain their Calcium levels. I personally sprinkle their feeders with Calcium a few times a week just to make sure they are getting what they need. Leos will store any extra Calcium in an area right in between their arm and their side. A young leo does need Calcium with D3 twice a week sprinkled on their feeders. An adult (12 months and older) will need vitamin D3 once a week. Just like beardies leos need the D3 in order to absorb and use the Calcium. Holly |
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| 10/27/09 06:52pm |
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Foolishfather View Profile |
Message To: Cold Blooded Kisser In reference to Message Id: 2089142 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
Thanks for that info. So if I am understanding you correctly... when I use the MVB light, just give them (B.D.) pure calcium, as the light will convert that into D3. If I am using the regular basking light set up and uvb bulb then Calcium with D3 is needed a few times a week. The multi vitamin does not need D3 at all. The younger leos need D3 early in life but just pure calcium as they get older (I have been placing a dish with calcium D3 in their tank daily... will change it to pure calcium... this is correct right?). Thaks again Mike |
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| 10/27/09 07:06pm |
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Cold Blooded Kisser View Profile |
Message To: Foolishfather In reference to Message Id: 2089146 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
You almost got it. 
Quote: If I am using the regular basking light set up and uvb bulb then Calcium with D3 is needed a few times a week. Depends on your beardies age. A young beardie should get Calcium with D3 twice a week and an adult (12 months and older) should get the D3 once a week.
Quote: The younger leos need D3 early in life but just pure calcium as they get older Leopard Geckos need D3 no matter how old they are. The D3 is what helps their body to use the Calcium which aids in having strong bones and proper muscle development. A young leo should get Calcium with D3 twice a week and an adult should get Calcium with D3 once a week.
Quote: I have been placing a dish with calcium D3 in their tank daily... will change it to pure calcium... this is correct right? Yeah. You need to change it. An overdose of D3 is just as bad as having no D3 at all. Place a small dish (like a container lid) of only Calcium in your leos enclosure. Your leo will lap up the Calcium as he/she needs it. I do suggest that you sprinkle the Calcium on the feeders a few times a week to make sure that your little critter is getting a good amount of this essential mineral.
Holly |
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| 10/28/09 05:07pm |
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Foolishfather View Profile |
Message To: Cold Blooded Kisser In reference to Message Id: 2089415 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
Thank you again for the great info. So For all the herps, I have... it would be best to give them pure calcium at most feedings and to only give D3 twice a week for youngsters and once a week for older. What aboutthe vitamins, should they have D3 in it at all... I only give it once or twice a week anyway or should I change to regular vitamins... no D3? I will pick up some pure calcium tomorrow morning and start using it regularily. What about the 125 watt MVB bulb from sunglo... do I need to use D3 once a week as well or just regular pure calcium? Mike |
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| 10/28/09 08:26pm |
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Cold Blooded Kisser View Profile |
Message To: Foolishfather In reference to Message Id: 2089496 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
No D3 at all with the MVB. The light helps your beardies body produce the D3 on its own. Are you sure the multivitamin has D3 in it? If it does then it would be best if you switch to a multi vitamin that contained no D3 for your beardie that has the MVB. You will only need to give your beardie the pure Calcium. Now if the multivitamin does have D3 you can give it to the leopard gecko. Once a week for an adult and twice a week for a young (under 12 months) leo. Holly |
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| 10/29/09 03:18pm |
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Cphill58 View Profile |
Message To: Cold Blooded Kisser In reference to Message Id: 2089738 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
I wanted to share from my asking others and shopping....most Vitamin supplements will have D-3 as far as I know, Not much ...but some...so, when I give my vitamin supplement 1x per week I know I have actually given the trace amount of D-3 also. With the more powerful MVB bulbs the 1x in the vitamins is of no consequence. Mike, Try to follow this reasoning...D-3 is a natural process that lizards synthesis from calcium intake and sunlight...or more specifically UVB wave lengths of sunlight. (290-320 nanometers) on the UV scale. Above 320nm is UVA...and above 400nm is humanly visible light..it’s all out there if you want to google it. Back to the calcium thing...man invented the UVB artificial light and D-3 supplements..so it is fallible...and studies have proven that the theory of using D-3 only instead of UVB lighting are failing miserably...and further study shows that no man made D-3 is capable of producing the benefits of calcium and UVB combined. So we use it sparingly ...if any at all. More importantly we use the best UVB we can afford and or acquire, ergo the reports and studies of the major players...and small independent manufactures. When ever you provide UVB (no matter the source) the need for D-3 is diminished almost completely..except in the case of young rapidly developing hatchlings which are at their most crucial development. Since I have all adults primarily ...I only feel the need to use the vitamins 1x per week which also contains D-3. When I first started on this site I owned a water dragon ..and these sites helped me to understand calcium and D-3 and other information .... it has become quite apparent that all these diurnal sun basking reptiles require much the same as far as UVB / calcium / and D-3 are concerned. It is also quite a surprise to see that diets are much the same too. Any plant matter that is high in calcium and recommended for beardies and iguanas can be crossed over to many other herbivores and omnivores. With the proper diet of calcium rich plant matter you will have little trouble...the real danger lies in over dosing the D-3...man made supplement...use it sparingly ... Here are some links to book mark and read when time affords. Melissa Kaplan Tricias web site And of course one of my favorite portals to UV lighting is the Mega Ray home page ...and then the links they offer to the UV guide...so much to read and learn ...Google Bob Mac caggar (check spelling) and see his reports about D-3 and even the benificial affects of lo level UVB (2.0) for geckos...amazing info. Mega Ray If you make a habit of visiting the links from the Mega Ray site you will learn more on lighting and the production of natural D-3 I hope you enjoy Cp |
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| 10/31/09 02:28pm |
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Foolishfather View Profile |
Message To: Cphill58 In reference to Message Id: 2090337 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
Thanks for the input. Sorry for the late reply, but I was not on the computer for a couple days. I got it No D3 in the calcium. Find a vitamin with No D3, but if it has it not a big deal... just give it once a week for juveniles and adults and twice a week for babies (juveniles are considered from what age?) With the gecko’s no D3 calcium, but the vitamins wit D3 are ok once a week to help them absorb the calcium. I will get it all straight eventually Thanks again Mike |
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| 10/31/09 10:00pm |
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Cphill58 View Profile |
Message To: Foolishfather In reference to Message Id: 2090444 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
Cp |
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| 11/01/09 06:25am |
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Dragon Lover View Profile |
Message To: Cphill58 In reference to Message Id: 2090497 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
5 to 12 months = juvie 12 to 18 months = subadult 18 months on = adult |
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| 11/01/09 10:19am |
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Foolishfather View Profile |
Message To: Dragon Lover In reference to Message Id: 2090540 MVB lighting and calcium supplement
Thanks for that update on ages. I guess I still have hatchlings at 3 months. I started them on 3/4in crix a week ago and they started eating less of them because they are bigger. They were eating about 60 - 100 each of the pinheads, then around the same for the 1/2 inch... now they are only eating about 10 -15 0f the 3/4 inch, so I might go back to the 1/2 inch crix for a while. They eat a couple silkworms each, after two maybe three they do not seem interested anymore. They both went through a shed yesterday and today so they are growing. Again thanks for the advise... as always it is valuable information we get from the good people on these sites. Mike |
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| 11/01/09 07:56pm |
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