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Dusting Pinks

IndianaCorn

IndianaCorn

New member
When dusting pinks how do you know what's too much or not enough? I know too much (vitamins or calcuim) can be as bad as not enough, so how do you know what the right amount to use is? Can anyone give me some advice on dusting... how the best way to do it is. Also, I've heard somewhere only to dust the back half of the pinks so the dusting doesn't affect the scent of the head area for the snake. It makes sense, but does it make that much of a difference? ReptoCal and ReptoLife are the products I will be using. I was planning on using one of them about every three meals, how does that sound? Your help is always greatly appreciated!

IndianaCorn
 
i dont dust my pinkies or fuzzies but is your snake sick or something thats when i dust but not if u feed him often like evry 5 to 7 days
 
I don't dust

I don't dust mine either, Alot of what I've read about snakes is that they get the calcium from the bones of the animal.
But mine's fine without the dust.
 
I dont dust my snakes food but i do dust my leopard geckos crickits with it soooo i guess it would be fine.My friend dose it with his baby corn and he just dips the pinkes head in it.

Hope this helps

Zach
 
A couple of things here.

Unless you provide dietary vitamin D3, or expose your animals to natural unfiltered sunlight, they will have difficulty assimilating calcium from the diet into their bloodstream.

A lot of people are under the impression that feeding snakes whole mice is identical to what the snakes eat in the wild, so no dietary supplement of vitamin, minerals, amino acids, etc. is necessary. I disagree, however. Rodents in the wild will nibble and eat all kinds of things they are not provided in a laboratory or captive environment. When these rodents are eaten by wild snakes, all of this material in the gut of the rodent, plus that already digested and part of the tissue matter of the rodent, is then assimilated by the snake.

We dust ALL of our mice every feeding with a mixture of SuperPreen, Osteoform, and lately Sticky Tongues mineral supplement. We have been doing this for a couple of decades now.

Baby snakes need to be able to assimilate calcium in order to build their rapidly growing skeletal structure. Female snakes need additional calcium intake to be able to provide this calcium for the internal nutrients in the eggs as well as the egg shell itself. If a female has insufficient calcium for this job, it will be leached from her own skeletal stucture. As you can probably imagine, this is not a good thing for her to undergo.

Any snake with a weakened skeleton is a certain candidate for easily broken ribs, among other ailments.

I believe that MANY deficiencies that people are running into with their babies are not caused from inbreeding, which is the conclusion they normally will jump to. I believe it is a problem of cumulative deficiencies in diet over generations. Figure that if there is even just one amino acid that being absent will not cause immediate discernible problems, but does have a negative effect. Then the next generation it has a little bit more of a negative effect, but possibly still invisible to the eye. Compound this over 5 generations or so and you can see where this might lead. What appears to be a SUDDEN problem, was not sudden at all. What was 'sudden', was the observable tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, that's my take on it. Not everyone agrees, of course, but from my experiences in the past, I will continue to dust the feed animals regularly.
 
I dust all my mice & rats with Vit/Min and Calcium supplements.
I dip the rear of the rodent in the powder and feed. I have dropped a whole pinkie in the powder but I had no problems with the snake eating it, they get used to it:)
 
Where can you get This dusting supplement?

It sounds like a good idea, no hurt trying it out!:)

Kristy
 
Shop and compare for the best delivered pricing...

By doing a WWW.GOOGLE.COM keyword search, one may find additional vendors...

Super Preen (Made in the U.S.A.)
A natural nutritional supplement that provides Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids, and Electrolytes, plus other nutrient factors... Contains no preservatives or fillers...only the finest and purest ingredients used...
http://www.arcatapet.com/superpreen.cfm

Osteoform is readily available, as close as your friendly local drugstore or "health food" store. One might have better luck finding "bulk" osteoform at the health food store, as most drugstore customers want readymade, easy to swallow tablets.
The Latin prefix "osteo" does mean "of or related to bone".
The term "Osteoform" would imply a supplement helpful in "forming bone".

And I believe this is the other product that Rich Z mentioned....

"Sticky Tongue Farms"

"Miner-All"
(key product features)
The only product scientifically designed with over 50 vital minerals and trace-minerals found in skin, bones and muscles of wild herps.
Formulated to stick better to insects, mice and vegetation than any other product.

No oyster shell product containing pollutants or dangerous metals.

Used and recommended by top breeders, Zoos, and veterinarians!

Miner-All "O" does not contain Vitamin D3 while Miner-All "I" does contain vitamin D3.

http://www.miner-all.net/STFMINER-ALL.htm

Repcal products...
http://www.repcal.com/supp.htm#Herptivite
Rep-Cal Ultrafine (fine grind) is in response to miner-all being a ultra finely ground product.
"Size matters" when it comes to the assimilation of calcium into the body.:)
 
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Thanks CowboyWay!!

I took a glance at the links and looked for retailers in Canada that have these supplements but I can't seem to find any. I might just go to my health store and look for that osteoform mixture and see if I have any luck with that. I even tried searching the canadian google for it but it just came up wtih US dealers.
Thanks again!!
Kristy :)
 
Rep-Cal

I use the Rep-Cal products and have been very happy with them.
Many pet stores in the US carry that line. You might call some of your pet stores and check with them. Good luck:)
 
So, do those who dust with supplements continue doing so even after they move up from pinkies? That was the impression I got from Rich Z's post.
 
Hmmm....

Maybe I'll give it a go too. Couldn't hurt plus my snake is using a UVB bulb anyways for lighting. Might as well put my bulb to more of a use and get a healthier corn!
 
Super preen is not widely stocked...

Blairs Super preen can be hard to find.
Mail order is a good place to find it, but one may very well be able to find it at a Bird/ Parrot show/ Expo type of thing.
I know some old school parrot breeders that have supplemented with Super preen for decades and with great zeal and product loyalty, swear by it.
Accept no substitutions, they will tell ya. :)

Repcal has recently reformulated their "Herptivite" brand Vitamin supplement using sea kelp as part of the micro-nutrient package.

HERPTIVITE
Product Description follows...

Rep-Cal's HERPTIVITE is a ... multi-vitamin, multimineral and amino acid food supplement developed from the latest findings in reptile and amphibian nutritional research.

Its formulation contains all natural source ingredients with a base of "sea vegetation."

Unlike other companies which use non-nutritional "bases," Rep-Cal's "sea vegetation" base is rich in essential trace elements and minerals.

Furthermore, HERPTIVITE contains precise levels of vitamins and minerals combined in perfect balance to ensure correct utilization of protein and other essential nutrients for growth, reproduction, maintenance and many aspects of your reptile's bodily functions.

HERPTIVITE is the first reptile vitamin without Vitamin A.
Instead we use Beta Carotene which is an anti-oxidant that is converted into Vitamin A in a regulated way, so there is no threat of Vitamin A toxicity.

:)
Developed by Veterinarians, apparently a well thought out, quality product, By jove, I think they've got it.
Repcal will literally sell tons of this stuff, I have no doubt.

Repcal recommends a 1 to 1 ratio (50/50) Herptivite to calcium mixture...

They state...
"We ask that you mix Rep-Cal with our vitamin supplement Herptivite.

If we premixed the products, the "beadlets" of beta carotene in Herptivite may possibly be damaged during manufacturing by the calcium in Rep-Cal."

"The Bean Farm" (recommended) has herptivite containers from the 3.2 oz. on up to gallon size...
They also stock Sticky Tounge Farms, miner-all products...
https://secure.ioncart.net/beanfarm/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=10&cat=Health+Care
 
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QuickSilver said:
So, do those who dust with supplements continue doing so even after they move up from pinkies? That was the impression I got from Rich Z's post.
Click to expand...

Yes, all of my snakes get supplements. Pinkies all the way up to rats get dusted.
 
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