Calcium...a good idea or not???

[Maize411]

I went to the "Pet Company" in the mall I work at to check on the ball python I've had my eyes on even before I got Maize (I was going to get the ball at first but when I found Maize I couldn't say no)...Anyway...It has been over a month now...(maybe about a month and a half?) that I've had Maize..the day I got Maize was the day after the store had received the ball python..He was very small at the time..no where near as small as Maize is and still is but still he was pretty small...anyway..I went to the store yesterday and he has grown GINORMOUS! in a matter of that time...He must be about double his arriving size maybe even a little more..I asked the pet store owner if that was even the same python and he said yes..I asked him how many sheds he had gone through since they had him and he replied (quite a few)...I then asked him what they were giving him to make him grow so quickly and that my corn appears to have only grown an extremely small amount and has only undergone one shed since I've had her...the worker replied they put calcium in his water, fed him every five days and just kept his tank a good temp....Now I have also been doing all of that for Maize except for the calcium..the employee said it's a good idea to put calcium into the snake's water...is this a good idea for corns?? should I do this?? I'm just worried after seeing the python's major growth to Maize's bare growth...the only think I notice on Maize is that she is a little bit longer then the day I bought her..and even that is not by much...am I doing something wrong that is affecting her growth?? can this harm her in any way?? sorry for the long post..hope you guys can give me some answers...

 

[DeadMouse]

I have never heard of this for snakes. From everything I've read, snakes get enough calcium from digesting the bones of the animals they eat. I don't see the need to add any more.

As far as the ball python growing quickly, and I'm definately no expert on ball python's, I don't think you can compare the growth rate of a corn snake to a ball python. They are obviously very different animals with different metabolisms and genetics. So, it's very possible that it's growth spurt alone could be due to it's species type.

I would definitely do a lot of research before putting any additives in my animals food, no matter what kind of animal it is. For example, we have a huge sulcata tortoise that we've had since he was a baby almost 15 years ago, my wife fed him a semi-rich calcium diet consisting of cottage cheese, tofu and calcium additives. When we noticed his shell pyramiding (getting spikes), we lowered his calcium intake quite a bit so that he would be normal and healthy. But we've heard many stories of people that would give their sulcata's huge amounts of calcium to not only hasten their growth, but to give them very high pyramiding of their shells which I've heard can be a potential problem for tortoises.

I guess my point is, let your animal grow at it's own normal and natural pace. This isn't a race to see who gets the biggest snake first I would be very suspect about using large amounts of calcium to hasten a snakes size in a short amount of time, it just doesn't seem natural or all that healthy to me. But I would love to hear if anybody else has more knowledge based on this. I've just never read about this in any of my books.

 

[diamondlil]

I haven't got any ball pythons, but 'quite a few' sheds in a month and a half just seems wrong. There's no need for calcium supplements for your corn, IMO, and to track its growth you could weigh it once a month, I'm sure you'll be surprised by how much it gows

 

[Droptines]

I call bs on that guy.They sold that first ball,,and this is a larger new one ..Most calcium supps. are in a powder/granular form that I don't think dissolve..

 

[Maize411]

Thank you everyone for all your advice..three against one is way more then enough for me to not get suckered into giving Maize more calcium...I knew that sounded kind of weird..thank you all again..I'm just going to let her grow her own way...I guess one thing I could do is either ad a humid hide into her viv. or at least spray it every now and then to keep the humidity up..maybe put her into a more comfortable feel so she can shed..right now the regular humidity is about 23 usually..when I see her getting ready to shed (this has only happened once so far)...I spray and spray to keep the humidity at the very least..40...so maybe this will help comfort her a bit?? I dunno..but no calcium for her..thank you all again.. :cheers:

 

[bitsy]

I call bs on that guy.They sold that first ball,,and this is a larger new one ..Most calcium supps. are in a powder/granular form that I don't think dissolve..

In the UK, we can get Zolcal-D from Vetark, which is a liquid supplement of calcium and Vitamin D to add to their water.

However, I heartily agree with your BS call! Sounds like the guy in the shop was either taking the mickey, or trying to get another sale. And for a BP to double its size in 6 weeks, doesn't sound all that healthy - big isn't necessarily better.

I only add calcium to the water for breeding females, to make sure that they don't "rob out" their existing calcium levels to form eggshells whilst gravid. I've never come across it being used as a growth-booster.