Supplement necessary or not ?

[GarterGuy17]

I was wondering if a supplement was needed if you were going to feed mostly fish fillet and occasional pinkys , but no worms if so how would I use it ?

[guidofatherof5]

Fish fillet lacks calcium and other minerals. You will need to add supplements.
As balanced a diet is best. Worms can be an important part of that diet.

[GarterGuy17]

I was thinking the same its just I'm not available to any worms where I live. I would have to travel pretty far to get some live bait , but then again I wouldn't know if they were safe or not.

[guidofatherof5]

I think it was mentioned in a different thread but don't you have a Walmart near by. As far as I know they all carry night crawlers in their sporting goods section.
Those worms are from DMF Bait Co. I purchase bulk worms from them and have never had a problem.

[GarterGuy17]

Then Ill be sure to order some from there when I get the chance. Thanks for the heads up.

[EasternGirl]

Steve...John and I were discussing this and I told him to start this thread to get input from other members as I do not know a lot about the supplements. If you could tell him more about the supplements just so he can use them until he can get worms...that would be a great help. I gave him a link for the supplements that you told me about. I was wondering if you can put them in water if the snake refuses to eat them on food...if so how much do you put in water? How often should you supplement the water?

[chris-uk]

I have these supplements :
3634

I'm not too obsessive about when I use them for the Cuitzeos, they both have a good diet with a mix of whole pinkies and fish every week. I think with a good balanced diet the only thing to watch for is to supplement the calcium, I use the calcium powder on their fish every other week.

The Checkereds and Blacknecks don't eat as reliably so I alternate the liquid supplements on alternate water changes (so, plain water, water plus calcium, plain water, water plus vitamin). So they may not be eating, but as long as they drink most days they will get some vitamin and calcium from drinking.

If I was feeding worms and fish I'd be more fussy about adding supplements because neither contains a lot of calcium. With pinkies there's a skeleton, organs and the brain containing all sorts of good stuff.

If you get a calcium supplement make sure it has vitamin D3, they can't absorb calcium without D3.

[GarterGuy17]

So your saying that if they don't eat you put it in their water or you put it in their water and not on the food ?

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...when you put it in their water...exactly how do you do that? I would like to know as well because my snakes seem to smell the supplement and then refuse the food if I sprinkle it on the food.

[chris-uk]

On the leftwing my pic there's a liquid calcium (plus D3)., then a liquid multivitamin, then a powder calcium (plus D3), then last on the right is a powder multivitamin. I obviously use the liquid ones in the water, the powder gets sprinkled on solid food.
As the fussy eaters tend not to eat anything which has been powdered I just use the liquid supplements for them. The ones which will eat anything get the powder on the food, but also the supplement in water because they all get water from the same bottle when I do a water change.

[GarterGuy17]

So what we would need is both a liquid vitamin and a powdered one.

[guidofatherof5]

So what we would need is both a liquid vitamin and a powdered one.

I wouldn't do both but that's just my opinion. Too much of a good thing isn't good either.
Providing a balanced diet is the best situation.

[ConcinusMan]

Bottom line is if you're feeding a varied diet with plenty of whole fish and rodents, supplements aren't necessary. If you're heavily reliant on fish fillet, a light dusting of supplement on a bite of fish, once a month should be plenty. Tilapia fillet is not completely void of minerals. It does have significant calcium and iron. Worm castings, or the contents of worm's bowels also has significant calcium, contrary to popular belief that worms lack calcium. If you use a supplement, be careful to use one that is formulated specifically for reptiles, and go easy on it. It's easy to overdose them. Over use of supplements can cause the problems you're trying to prevent. For example, too much phosphorous can cause calcium deficiency by blocking it's absorption.

Personally, I go for a varied diet and avoid using supplements. Whole fish, whole rodents, and worms will eliminate the need for supplements altogether.

[GarterGuy17]

I think it was mentioned in a different thread but don't you have a Walmart near by. As far as I know they all carry night crawlers in their sporting goods section.
Those worms are from DMF Bait Co. I purchase bulk worms from them and have never had a problem.


So I was wondering do you order your worms online of by phone ?

[EasternGirl]

I think he gets them because he has a business license...because I wanted to order them bulk too. Okay...so then...John's question was if he can't get worms will his snake be okay living on a diet of fish and pinkies or should he add a supplement? I already gave him a link for the supplement.

[ConcinusMan]

IMO if the snake is eating whole fish and whole pinkies, a supplement is not necessary. I've raised them from newborn to old age without ever using a supplement. They grew fine, and were healthy.

[GarterGuy17]

Well Fish fillet i'm actually kind of iffy with using whole live fish.

[ConcinusMan]

I don't use live fish either. They carry worms that can infect your snake. When feeding whole fish, I use f/t silversides.

If their diet is mostly fillet, then go ahead and use a reptile supplement every few feedings.(a well rounded complete one, not just reptical/calcium)

[GarterGuy17]

So a multi-vitamin supplement. Also I will be feeding him occasional pinkys to if they have at my petco. The fish fillet I will give her is probably tilapia which I know they have in my family's market.

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...even with the pinkies in the diet Richard? If so...which supplement would you recommend? I just have reptical.

[ConcinusMan]

Depends on how often you're feeding them pinkies. If its very infrequently, and they're getting mostly fillet, then yeah, go ahead and use a supplement. A very light dusting on one bite of food once a month or so is enough.

I think Steve can recommend a multi supplement. Like I said, I don't even use them. Even baby snakes get whole pinkies from me. Even if I have to chop them up and mix with fish.

[GarterGuy17]

Well Ill feed her pinks once every 2 feedings or so would I still need it ?

[ConcinusMan]

Probably not

[EasternGirl]

I need a multivitamin that I can put in the water because my male eastern has not been eating and I want to give him a supplement until he starts eating again...when he does eat he doesn't eat pinkies that often. Plus, if I try to put vitamin powder on his food when he does eat, he refuses to eat the food. My male albino and my female eastern eat pinkies all the time.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Vitamins you put into the water do nothing but sour in the water quickly and largely go to waste. Might as well not even use one! Also the taste may stop the snake from drinking... Have seen it before! The trick is to put a tiny amount of powder onto the back end of the food and offer it to the snake by the front end so they don't even know its there! Or wait til they are already eating and sneak a sprinkle onto the food then. I recommend repcal's herptivite for a vitamin supplement and their ultra fine powder for calcium. Use it sparingly, and make sure you check the expiration date and throw it away when it expires as vitamins break down after a while. I don't use much in the way of supplements because I feed a whole prey diet that is very varied. But if you need one, those are what I'd go with. I typically avoid anything diet-wise made by Four Paws, exo terra or Tetra. Their junk science annoys me and they use a lot of uneccesary things, like food coloring and corn and wheat in their turtle and iguana "complete diet"... Which to me is just as bad as calling purina dog chow a complete diet!

[EasternGirl]

Okay...thanks Shannon!