Vitamins for Freddi (ball python)?

[PandaBurrr]

Our local Reptile store is now selling and advertising vitamins and supplements for reptiles including snakes. My question is are these needed? Is this something we should be sprinkling on the rats before we feed them to Freddi? I have seen vitamins for lizards that you sprinkle or feed to crickets or insects but I have never seen or heard of vitamins for snakes so I am really curious as to others experiences and thoughts. Thank you in advance!!!

[tttaylorrr]

they are unnecessary; your snake does not need supplements.

[PandaBurrr]

I figured as much. They were telling me that he needs Calcium and Vitamins due to his lack of getting natural sunlight. I wanted to check with you guys before I bought anything. Why would a snake need vitamins? or are there certain snakes that do?

[tttaylorrr]

I figured as much. They were telling me that he needs Calcium and Vitamins due to his lack of getting natural sunlight. I wanted to check with you guys before I bought anything. Why would a snake need vitamins? or are there certain snakes that do?

"they" obviously don't know what they're talking about. ball pythons don't need sunlight to survive/thrive. i do not know of any pet snakes that need supplements or require sunlight.

[PandaBurrr]

Amazing!!! Just puts my mind at ease. I trust the owner and a couple of the employees working there but not the store manager. I am aware that the employees are pushed to sell items by the store manager and these being new item i can see that being the case. But thank you from the bottom of my heart as I thought I had been doing our Freddi a diservice.

[tttaylorrr]

Amazing!!! Just puts my mind at ease. I trust the owner and a couple of the employees working there but not the store manager. I am aware that the employees are pushed to sell items by the store manager and these being new item i can see that being the case. But thank you from the bottom of my heart as I thought I had been doing our Freddi a diservice.

you're very welcome.

[dakski]

Some reptiles do need supplements in captivity, but rarely snakes. Lizards usually do; bearded dragons, leopard geckos, skinks, etc.

However, snakes like your BP, eat whole food items. They get everything they need from their prey. Remember, they ingest the entire animal, bones, fur, muscle, etc.

Also, as already pointed out, nocturnal animals do not need UVB either.

Remember, not all reptiles are created equal. There is a big variance between types, species, localities, etc. What works for one does not necessarily work for another.

The biggest thing all reptiles in captivity have in common is that they need heat and need their keepers to create and maintain a proper environment for them.

Good to ask the question though. If I was told X should be done and I didn't do it, I would be worried too. However, here you have nothing to worry about!

[PandaBurrr]

Y'all really are amazing!!! Thanks so much!!!

[SDA]

So long as you give him a whole rodent diet of proper size he will get everything he needs from the bones of the rodent. A recent study was even done on ball pythons and it was found that they do not produce and or synthesize vitamin D3 from UVB exposure so they have even less reason to get supplements. Some snakes do benefit from UVB but ball pythons are not one of those snakes.

[paulh]

Our local Reptile store is now selling and advertising vitamins and supplements for reptiles including snakes. My question is are these needed? ....

I've done some reading and thinking and a tiny bit of experimentation on this question. This is all IMO, and YMMV.

Mostly I agree with those who write that no extra supplements are needed for snakes eating a whole rodent diet. Exceptions are breeder females (usually), fast growing babies (sometimes) and snakes mostly eating obese rodents.

Pregnant human females need extra vitamins in the diet. So do females of domestic animals from trout to chickens. So why not snakes, too? We know of congenital defects in captive bred snakes, such as vertebral kinks and eye problems. Similar congenital defects have been diagnosed in domestic animals on vitamin deficient diets.

Boa constrictors have developed steatitis, a vitamin deficiency disease, after a steady high fat diet of obese rats.

To add vitamin D3 to a snake's diet, expose a live or fresh killed rodent to the UV rays in raw sunlight for 10-15 minutes. Window glass will not pass UV light.

The calcium in rodent bones is all that is needed, even bones of pinkie rodents. Calcium supplements may pass through a snake's gut unabsorbed (a waste of money). If absorbed, the calcium is likely to get deposited in various tissues causing gout (both injurious and a waste of money).

IMO, most of the supplements on the market of snakes were originally for lizards and mammals, where they may do some good. For snakes, the major benefit is to the marketers' wallets.

I have used liquid multiple vitamins for birds (the stuff used in bird drinking water) to supplement snake diets. One drop inserted in a dead rodent's belly once or twice in a two month period seems to do no harm to a baby corn snake. This was a 10 inch long runt from my breeding. She grew up and produced healthy babies for me.