Vet-Recommended "Shake N'Bake-like" Reptile Vitamins for BP?

[Mendel's Balls]

We took our BP to the vet today and he recommended we supplement her diet by coating herp vitamins onto the prey item.....

He said he puts the powder on F/T rat pinkies in a ziplock bag and shake n' bakes them before offering the prey item to the snake.

I wondered what the BP.net community had to say about this....does anyone do this? If so what brands do u use? has anyone even tired this? Is it necessary? Is it benficial at all for the snake? Since BPs can be picky eater would this screw up her feeding response?

Some other details.....

We have been feeding F/T two medium mice a week to Morty for the past four weeks.......before that we used 1 medium mouse, before that mouse fuzzies.

Since we got her on the 31st of March she has gone from 124 grams to 338 grams as of today 9/2. That's an average of 42.8 grams a month. She has never refused a prey item for us.

[Nate]

He said he puts the powder on F/T rat pinkies in a ziplock bag and shake n' bakes them before offering the prey item to the snake.

Wha???

[JLC]

Sounds to me like your vet is trying to sell you some "snake oil." There's simply no need to provide supplements of any sort for a healthy BP...or any healthy snake, for that matter.

[Mendel's Balls]

Wha???

He doesnt actually bake them....but coats the prey items similiar to how you coat a piece of chicken with "shake n'bake" mix.....hope that makes sense now.

[Mendel's Balls]

Sounds to me like your vet is trying to sell you some "snake oil." There's simply no need to provide supplements of any sort for a healthy BP...or any healthy snake, for that matter.

But that's the werid thing.....he didnt carry them in his practice.....so I see no nefarious reason why he would recommend it.

Maybe he owns stock in Pet-Co? lol!

Thanks for the input though!

[JLC]

But that's the werid thing.....he didnt carry them in his practice.....so I see no nefarious reason why he would recommend it.

Thanks for the input though!

Alrighty then....not nefarious...but merely misinformed, I guess. We do live in a society where nothing ever seems good enough, and man must strive to "improve" even the most tiny details...even things that don't need our input at all. (Or maybe most especially things that don't need our input. )

Anyhow...that's my opinion on it.

[Mendel's Balls]

Alrighty then....not nefarious...but merely misinformed, I guess. We do live in a society where nothing ever seems good enough, and man must strive to "improve" even the most tiny details...even things that don't need our input at all. (Or maybe most especially things that don't need our input. )

Anyhow...that's my opinion on it.

I was very skeptical of the whole idea as well.....because I worried it would impact feeding response.....some of his other comments also made me skeptical......

he also seemed to be under the impression that we should be providing UV light.

When I mentioned to him that I read that was uneccessary, he said that "yes that's true that the pendullum has shifted to the view that was unecessary...but he said it couldnt hurt.....he mentioned that the need for active Vitamin D synthesis (I know this is true for us humans). He also mentioned a herpetologist for Univ of Cali at Berkley (cant remember the name?)

So this is why I asked about the community thoughts about it....I had doubts about a couple of his recomendations

[Evan Jamison]

Reptiles that eat nutrient deficient food items like crickets, mealworms (or crocodilians that are only fed horsemeat) etc, may need supplements added to their diet depending on what gutloading is done beforehand. Snakes, and other reptiles that eat whole prey items do not need these supplements. They get everything they need from rats/mice, as most vertebrate prey items include all necessary vitamins and minerals. Your Doc probably doesn't specialize in exotics, and just lumped snakes into the wrong group. Personally, I would find a new Vet.

-Evan

[Evan Jamison]

he also seemed to be under the impression that we should be providing UV light.

When I mentioned to him that I read that was uneccessary, he said that "yes that's true that the pendullum has shifted to the view that was unecessary...but he said it couldnt hurt.....he mentioned that the need for active Vitamin D synthesis (I know this is true for us).

Does he think that all reptiles are diurnal insectivorous lizards?

-Evan

[Mendel's Balls]

Reptiles that eat nutrient deficient food items like crickets, mealworms (or crocodilians that are only fed horsemeat) etc, may need supplements added to their diet depending on what gutloading is done beforehand. Snakes, and other reptiles that eat whole prey items do not need these supplements. They get everything they need from rats/mice, as most vertebrate prey items include all necessary vitamins and minerals. Your Doc probably doesn't specialize in exotics, and just lumped snakes into the wrong group. Personally, I would find a new Vet.

-Evan

Thanks for your opinion......he is that practice's "herp vet". I havent decided yet if we'll keep them. We found him through....http://www.herpvetconnection.com/penn.shtml.