Supplements for snakes??

[GeckoJosh]

Hey guys,

Lately I have heard of a few people give that vitamin and/or calcium supplements to their snakes.
I was curious to know if this is a common practice and if those who do could post how they go about administering the supplements, what brands, dosage etc

Cheers Josh

 

[KaotikJezta]

I used to do it when I first started keeping snakes but then heard/read it was unnecessary so I would be interested to hear what the consensus is as well

 

[GlenJordan]

good question?

 

[MrBredli]

Doubt it's common practice. They eat whole prey so shouldn't require supplementing unless the food items offered are below par. Easiest way to offer to snakes would be to inject into food items (down the food items throat) then offer the food to the snake. Liquid supplements could also be administered to snakes orally in the same way they are usually wormed.

 

[grannieannie]

I wondered the same thing when I got my snake 3 yrs ago, but my breeder said if you get good quality food, it's not necessary....

 

[GlenJordan]

but that didn't answer question. what brands? You should comment if your not going to answer the hole thing

but then wouldn't the breeder know what was good for the snake. but then again you what the best for you snake but my question is if breeders know best why don't they tell you everything like this (like vitamin and/or calcium supplements,brands) and were to find it? If breeders where to buy a reptile and what to know everything there is in the best way. Money not a opposition and think you what to give the best to your snake (or reptile). so breeders should tell the truth. Not do around and that's to all you breeders and shops. Answer questions

if it's not necessary way do they make it is this another saying crap again because we all heard it before

 

[abnrmal91]

Snakes feeding on larger/older food items don't require any form of supplements, all the nutrition, calcium and everything else they need is in their food. If a they can only eat small/young food items (pinkies) some recommend that a calcium supplement (every 2nd or 3rd feed) can be beneficial, as pinkies have very calcium or nutrients. This is why it's better to move to a more developed mice or rat if size allows.

 

[GeckoJosh]

The main reason I brought this up is BRB reptile did an experiment feeding I think it was Corn snakes different sized food items with and without supplements, he claims he got better growth when supplements were added, the subjects that ahd supplements he showed on his show were significantly bigger than the ones on the exact diet excluding the supplements

 

[Bluetongue1]

There are a few things I would want to know. Some snakes naturally grow faster than others, as can be seen in the variation amongst clutch mates kept under similar conditions. Given that, what method was used to ensure random allocation to the control and experimental group? Was the sample size significant i.e. sufficient to ensure random allocation would result in two approximately "equal" groups in terms of their inherit characteristics.

I would want to know what the basic food item was and if that was altered as they grew. How was the size of a meal determined? Exactly what supplements were fed, how and how often?

It sounds highly suspect to me. By the way, what does BRB stand for?

Blue

 

[saximus]

but that didn't answer question. what brands? You should comment if your not going to answer the hole thing

but then wouldn't the breeder know what was good for the snake. but then again you what the best for you snake but my question is if breeders know best why don't they tell you everything like this (like vitamin and/or calcium supplements,brands) and were to find it? If breeders where to buy a reptile and what to know everything there is in the best way. Money not a opposition and think you what to give the best to your snake (or reptile). so breeders should tell the truth. Not do around and that's to all you breeders and shops. Answer questions

if it's not necessary way do they make it is this another saying crap again because we all heard it before

Drugs are bad mmmkay.

By the way, what does BRB stand for?

Maybe this? BRB Reptiles

I look at supplements for animals the same way as I do for humans. Most of the time, if they are offered a diet similar to what they "should" be getting in the wild, there is no reason to need extra vitamins etc.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Supplements aren't necessary for snakes. Why pump an animal with more nutrition than it needs - if BRB does this and claims "improved" results, it seems to me like he's turning his reptiles into something similar to meat chickens. Saximus is on the money (with both comments lol!).

Jamie

 

[snakerelocation]

if you home grow your reptile food like we do (ie- mice, rats, quail) then it is more important to make sure that there diet is right, the better nutrients they get the better of your snakes will be, it goes the same for crickets, mealies, cockies. thats the way you make sure your reptiles stay healthy.
No need for supplements, like most things in the reptile world, the manufacturers try to make you think you need it, so they can make money.

 

[GeckoJosh]

I do not want to make any false claims as I don' know the details of the experiment.
This is the vid he mentioned it on Snake Bytes TV - Satan Snake vs Chewy? SnakeBytesTV - YouTube
I would like to see the experiment repeated with large feeds + supplements included

 

[Camo]

I have heard of some people using Zilla Calcium Supplement Reptile Food Spray for females.

 

[Fantazmic]

not meaning to hijack the thread but someone mentioned worming snakes...nobody has mentioned that to me before...should I be worming my snakes ? and if yes...how often ?

PS I do agree that of the food item is well fed and in good conditon then the snake will be in good condition....and logically you thereore shouldnt need supplements.

 

[GeckoJosh]

Worms are only a risk if you feed fresh prey items

If you are only feeding frozen food then you shouldn't have to ever do it.

If you are feeding freshly killed food then unless you know the source is parasite free its probably a good idea so worm your snake bi-annually imo.

I am not an expert on parasites, Im sure someone will come on here and shoot me down about creating treatment resistant parasites

 

[maddog-1979]

i was thinking of getting a scrubbie and loading it up on creatine , see if it can build up it's lats, yaknow

 

[GeckoJosh]

Supplements aren't necessary for snakes. Why pump an animal with more nutrition than it needs - if BRB does this and claims "improved" results, it seems to me like he's turning his reptiles into something similar to meat chickens. Saximus is on the money (with both comments lol!).

Jamie

I have always thought this as well but after seeing his vid I thought I would ask for other peoples opinions.


Most keepers do however supplement lizard diet as in the wild their prey varies greatly as does the preys food source, so its very hard to replicate that variety of nutrients in captivity without supplements, or so I have been led to believe..
I am wondering though with snake species that eat a high variation of prey animals are rodents supplying the same benefits?

 

[atothej09]

Maybe contact Swisse…

 

[ricky_91]

i know of people that give diamonds d3 supplements as babies injecting it into there food before feeding