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Vitamins?

ButtersCorns4life

ButtersCorns4life

New member
I got a new book on Corn Snakes, and it says that if you are planning to breed a Corn Snake you should give them calcium and something called a D3 vitamin the previous year to help with the egg shells.

Is this true? Is it necessary? Or is it just a good Idea.

And if it is a good idea, where is a good place to buy powder?

Thanks, Butters
 
I have heard of this before, and several years ago I would give my young snakes a calcium supplement. It usually comes in powder form, and you lightly dip part of the prey item ( usually the rear end ) into the calcium powder. I forgot the name of it, but any reputable pet store would probably carry it.

Is it necessary ? Probably not. I did it for about six months then stopped. Baby snakes all the way up to Adults will get most of the nutrients they need from the prey item= mice.

Just try to feed them mice, that have been raised on a good diet like Rodent chow. Whatever the mice eats, eventually the snake will be taking in also.

I haven't heard of many of the large scale breeders giving their adult snakes supplements, prior to breeding.

Hope this helps.

Stephen
 
I have a supplement called ZolCal-D in my armoury, which is a liquid suspension of Vitamin D3 + Calcium that can be added to drinking water.

I used to give it to my breeding females in the run-up to laying, but I've still had eggs with dodgy shells even using the supplement. I now tend to put it in their water for a couple of weeks after laying to help with physical recovery, or if one of them is under the weather and needs a boost.

My vet seems to think that additional calcium can be a useful general pick-me-up, so I now only use it when needed, rather than all the time.

As a footnote, you will need to provide Vitamin D3 with calcium, as the D3 is what allows the snake to metabolise calcium. Without D3, calcium will just go in one end and out the other!

However, as Stephen says, most Corns get quite enough of both from their regular diet of mice.
 
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