T - Rex Sandfire Dragon dust ? is this the only supplement i use every day for the insects and leafy greens?

Question

BEARDED DRAGON SUPPLEMENT

Answer 1

I am not familar with that supplement so I don't know whether it is a vitamin or calcium supplement. I answered your other question and that answer works for this one too. I have copied it and will paste it here.
Actually there has been a lot of hype about vitamin D3 and the dragon's need for it lately and this is what I got from all that I have heard. Vit D3 is a vitamin that is manufactured in the skin of a beardie(humans too)when they are exposed to adequate amounts of UVB light. Most reptile vitamins have D3 in them and so does a lot of calcium powders. I was recommended not to give additional D3 (it makes sense not to). You should always have a fresh UVB light source for your dragon so they should be making their own at all times. When you consider that vitamins and caclium powders also have it in it and it IS a substance that can be overdosed on, it is not a good idea. A much better idea is calcium powder(dusted on the prey items and over the salad)that contains NO D3. I also do not recommend vitamins and instead would state that variety of both veggies and prey items is a much healthier way to go. For prey items you can use silk worms, crickets, or roaches(the ones they sell as feeders) and only occaisionally you can offer super worms, wax worms, butter worms, pheonix worms, and my favorite...goliath tomatoe hornworms. Do not ever feed meal worms, their outer shell contains too much of a substance called chitin and dragons have difficulty digesting this chitin and can become impacted(intestines blocked up). The occaisional feeders are that because they are too high in fat and should not be fed all the time because it would put too much of a strain on their liver and kidneys. They are good every once in a while though to add variety to the diet.
For greens, never feed lettuce or citrus fruit they offer little to no nutrition and can cause diarrhea which can cause dehydration.
Collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, Kale, escarole, butternut squash, turnips and turnips greens, and parsnips are all exceptable foods for their salad.
I think that a varied diet and caclium dusted prey items are the key to keeping your dragons heathy. Like stated above though I would not use anything with D3 in it, there has even been arguments made that the dragon cannot utilize D3 when given orally, that the only D3 that they can use is if they themselves process it in response to UVB exposure.
Hope this helps.
Dale
PS Calcium without D3 is a little harder to find but I think the benefits outweigh the effort of finding it.

Answer 2

I'm not sure if this is what I'm thinking it is, but is this the dust that lists the plant sources of the ingredients on the back and gives NO vitamin and mineral analysis?

If this is correct, while it "might" be a good product, I stay away from it. Good calcium supplements and a good multivitamin are necessary for herps to be healthy. I prefer something where I see a mg, mcg, IU or some other analysis of what's in it. This is because 1) I like to know thatspecific vitamins, such as A (important to vision and eye health) are included and 2) there is a greater likelihood of consistency between batches. If just ingredients are listed, who can tell what's actually in it?

Also ,use a calcium supplement that gives you a choice of additives. Rep-Cal (the line I use) has calcium +D, calcium with 0% D, ultrafine calcium, calcium + 0% phosphorous - I like this since lizards can make their own vitamin D if they're under UVB (and too much D3 is toxic), but they also have it with, for nocturnal animals.