Vitamins and calcium for turtles and other reptiles: what to buy?

The food that we feed our cold-blooded pets differs from natural food in terms of usefulness in terms of vitamins and microelements. Herbivores get natural grass only in the spring and summer, and the rest of the time they are forced to eat artificially grown salads and vegetables. Predators are also often fed fillets, while in nature they get the necessary vitamins and calcium from the bones and internal organs of prey. Therefore, it is important to balance your pet’s diet as much as possible. The lack of certain substances (most often it concerns calcium, vitamin D3 and A) leads to various diseases. It is also important to remember that D3 is not absorbed in the absence of UV exposure, which is why UV lamps in a terrarium are so important for healthy development.

In the summer, it is important to give herbivores fresh greens. The dark green color of the leaves indicates that they have a lot of calcium. The source of vitamin A is carrots, you can add it to the diet of your pets. But it is better to refuse top dressing with eggshells. This also applies to aquatic reptiles. Predatory species can be fed whole fish and small mammals of the appropriate size, along with internal organs and bones. Aquatic turtles can additionally be given snails along with the shell, once a week – the liver. Land turtles can be placed in a terrarium with a calcium block or sepia (cuttlefish skeleton), this is not only a source of calcium, but turtles grind their beaks against it, which, against the background of a lack of calcium and feeding with soft food, can grow excessively.

It is still recommended to add additional mineral and vitamin supplements to the feed during the life. Top dressings mainly come in the form of a powder, which can be sprinkled on wet leaves and vegetables, fillet pieces, and insects can be rolled in them, depending on the type of pet and its diet.

So, let’s consider what top dressings are now available on our market.

Let’s start with those drugs that are best used, they have proven themselves in terms of composition and safety for reptiles.

1. The company JBL provides vitamin supplements TerraVit Pulver and mineral supplement MicroCalcium, which are recommended to be used together in a ratio of 1: 1 and given per pet’s weight: per 1 kg of weight, 1 gram of the mixture per week. This dose, if it is not large, can be fed at a time, or it can be divided into several feedings.
2. The company Tetra releases ReptoLife и Reptocal. These two powders must also be used together in a ratio of 1:2, respectively, and fed per 1 kg of pet weight 2 g of a mixture of powders per week. The only small disadvantage of Reptolife is the lack of vitamin B1 in the composition. Otherwise, the top dressing is of good quality and has won the trust of the owners. True, in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to meet it on the windows of pet stores.
3. Firm ZooMed there is a wonderful line of dressings: Repti Calcium without D3 (without D3), Repti Calcium with D3 (c D3), Reptivite with D3(without D3), Reptivite without D3(c D3). Preparations have proven themselves all over the world among professional terrariumists and are used even in zoos. Each of these top dressings is given at the rate of half a teaspoon per 150 g of mass per week. It is better to combine vitamin and calcium supplements (one of them should be with vitamin D3).
4. Vitamins in liquid form, such as Beaphar Turtlevit, JBL TerraVit fluid, Tetra ReptoSol, SERA Reptilin and others are not recommended, since in this form it is easy to overdose the drug, and it is not very convenient to give it (especially to insectivorous reptiles).
5. The company did not perform well Sera, she releases top dressing Reptimineral (H – for herbivorous reptiles and C – for carnivores) and a number of others. There are some errors in the composition of the top dressing, and therefore, if there are other options, it is better to refuse products from this company.

And top dressing, which can be found in pet stores, but the use of which dangerously for reptile health: firm Zoomir top dressing Vitaminchik for turtles (as well as the food of this company). Agrovetzashchita (AVZ) top dressing Reptilife powder was developed in the terrarium of the Moscow Zoo, but the necessary proportions of the ingredients were not observed during the production process, which is why the harmful effects of this drug on pets were often encountered.