suplementation in ball pythons

[djansen]

do any of you add extra calcium or vitamins to your snakes food?
i know they dont really need it but i have like two bottles of minner all and one bottle of pure calcium from my geckos. do breeding females need extra calcium and would my juvies benifit from minner all?
thanks

[daniel1983]

Ball pythons (and just about every snake) do not need any supplementation. They get all the nutrients that they need from the rodents that they eat.

....as far as snakes are concerned....the supplement would just go in one end and come out the other....

[djansen]

even the extra calcium for breeding females?

[JLC]

even the extra calcium for breeding females?

Even that. They're perfectly designed to build eggs and babies without having to go searching for "extra calcium."

[djansen]

ok, thanks
my cresteds really needed extra calcium to make eggs.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I've heard of giving injections to thawed rodents to add extra nutrients.
I'll see if I can find it again

[ECLARK]

Hey pork chops, I like the way you think. always injected my rodents with a liquid injectable calcium for the females starting a couple of months before egg laying and it made a difference. never tried it with pythons but did that when I was breeding corns and kingsnakes. way to think out of the box!

I've heard of giving injections to thawed rodents to add extra nutrients.
I'll see if I can find it again

[daniel1983]

Hey pork chops, I like the way you think. always injected my rodents with a liquid injectable calcium for the females starting a couple of months before egg laying and it made a difference. never tried it with pythons but did that when I was breeding corns and kingsnakes. way to think out of the box!

What 'difference' was noticed Ed? Was the 'difference' concerning health of the egg laying females? Clutch sizes? Hatch rates?...etc.

interesting stuff

[ECLARK]

Daniel, mostly what I noticed was stronger eggs in the second and third clutches of the corn snakes. no more windows in the eggs after I started injecting the liquid calcium into the food items, it also worked with bearded dragon eggs. just overall stronger eggs. I believe what I was using was Neo Cal Gluconate?

What 'difference' was noticed Ed? Was the 'difference' concerning health of the egg laying females? Clutch sizes? Hatch rates?...etc.

interesting stuff

[daniel1983]

Daniel, mostly what I noticed was stronger eggs in the second and third clutches of the corn snakes. no more windows in the eggs after I started injecting the liquid calcium into the food items, it also worked with bearded dragon eggs. just overall stronger eggs. I believe what I was using was Neo Cal Gluconate?

So it was used mainly as an aid for reptiles that can multi-clutch in one season. I will have to check around and see if anyone uses the same methods for monitor lizards. Very interesting stuff....Thanks Ed.