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Two questions - calcium and disinfecting

rippit

rippit

New member
Hi all, I'm new to the forum and have two questions:

1. What is a good calcium supplement for a hatchling? My snake eats like a horse (2 pinkies every 3 days) and seems to be in excellent health, but I'd like to get her a little bit of extra calcium, which I read can help with her bone development.

2. I have been cleaning the aquarium once a week with antibacterial dish soap. Would there be any negative affect on the snake if I used lysol to spray the tank instead (without the snake IN the tank during cleaning, of course). Or could I spray the tank with Lysol and then wash it out with the dish soap?
 
If your snake is eating like a horse, you're feeding it the wrong stuff ;)

I don't give my snakes any sort of supplements, and they aren't required for a snake's health. However, if you are feeding that often, it may be better to move up to larger prey items a little less frequently--perhaps a small-ish fuzzy every week or so. Larger mice have more nutrients in them than pinkies do.

I've heard that Lysol is toxic to snakes, but you may want to get other opinions on that one. I know that using bleach water to disinfect every once in a while does the trick.
 
Pinkies lack calcium.

Instead of supplementing with calcium, I'd recommend feeding older mice. Two pinkies twice a week is not as beneficial as one or two fuzzies. Snakes digest the mouse's skeletal system, utilizing the calcium it contains. Moving to bigger prey items is more beneficial and increases the overall development of your snake.

I definitely wouldn't recommend using Lysol inside the enclosure. There are many suggestions contained in old thread here. Try searching for "disinfectant".
 
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I use special desinfectant for snakes i get at the pet store. Even if you rince thoroughly some desinfectants may be very toxic to reptiles. So be *very* carefull what disinfectant you use. I don't know lysol but if it doesn't say it save to use with reptiles i would not use it.

You don't need to clean the tank that often. Clean the water bowles every other day though. For the viv i would just do a daily spot check (scoop out all the pooh). Cleaning the complete viv is very stressfull for the snake and non sessasary. Though mind the waterbowls for spilled water.

I got my calcium from the rep store. It's some icky looking brownish powder. Nothing special. It's just calcium after all.
 
I usually only give calcium to females that are gravid or recovering from egg-laying, as the formation of eggs can cause depletion of calcium. Otherwise, their normal diet seems to contain as much calcium as they need.

It's worth noting that if you do need to give a calcium supplement, then you should also ensure that the snake is getting enough Vitamin D, as this is required to metabolise calcium. Without it, all of your expensive calcium will just come straight out the other end, as it can't be stored within the snake. We have a really useful product called "Zolcal-D" in the UK - it's a liquid suspension of Vit D and calcium combined, that you put in their water. Don't know if it (or similar) is available in the US, but it should be accessible in the Netherlands.
 
Zolcal_D. I'll see if i can find it. Right now to be exact i use: AmirepCal: Cal./Fos.2.1 + vitaminesupplement.

At first i did not use calcium as i thought they would get it through their food. After all they don't get supplements in the wild. He (An experienced breeder i get my pinkies from) told me that they need it always, but especially when young and eating pinkies and when breeding. First i did not believe him but he pointed out in a book called 'illustrated terrarion encylcopedia' that in the wild they get that by licking dew, rainwater and with the earth they swallow along with their prey. He also told me not giving it may produce kinks.
I'm not sure how reliable this is. I asked other breeders and some give it, and some don't. The ones that don't didn't complain of abnormal number of kinks. It scared me into buying his product though ;) Perhaps i have wasted my money but it wasn't expensive and i got a huge amount for it.

I'll look for Zolcal_D Kel. Thanks :)
 
Glad to help Jicin. You're doing what you think best and it certainly won't harm your Corns.
 
Thanks for the tips. A lot of the threads seem to suggest a hydrogen peroxide solution as a disinfectant, so I'll try that.

While we're on the disinfectant subject, here's another question that maybe you can answer. I had already sprayed one of my vivs with Lysol before I posted my question. Don't worry, it's a spare tank, no snake in it yet (it's future expansion for my second snake). After I sprayed it, I washed it out with antibacterial dish soap. So, my question now is...how many additional washings will it take to get the Lysol out of the viv, and how long would you suggest I leave it uninhabited? And would hydrogen peroxide help that process?

CAV - thanks for the tip on larger prey, but she's only about 3 1/2 months old and pinkies are about as big as she can handle right now.
 
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