CA & Vitamin Dusting Schedules

[Mentat]

Here are my CA/D3 dusting schedules to help out those that are new to frog husbandry. Since baby, juvenile, and adult frogs have different needs according to their growth stage; several schedules are provided. Some experienced members do use one additional CA/D3 dusting per week and if you want to follow that rotation will have to modify the information provided. This schedule is provided as a guide. Feel free to move things a bit in order to accommodate your work, study, or life commitments .

Different companies manufacture several formulas, so there might be a product that does not work well being administered as discussed. Currently I'm using Repashy's Supervite & SuperCal MeD because of their formula and super fine particle size. Repashy has a new all inclusive formula to be used with every feeding, labeled Calcium Plus. Use of that will negate a need for schedule; but have not tried that product yet. If Repashy is not available locally; RepCal has a very good line of Reptile Products too. Questions and comments are welcome !

CA/D3 - Calcium supplement with D3 vitamin to enhance CA absortion
Vit - Vitamin supplement
No - Feeding day with no supplements added
Off - Off feeding day.
Rotation starts and repeats itself on item labeled in red italics.

Baby Frogs on a Daily Feeding Schedule - Baby frogs grow fast and require large amounts of CA and vitamins to build healthy body tissue including bones. If CA intake is below that needed, the frog's physiological process will draw CA from it's bone, possibly leading to Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD).

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
No	CA/D3	No	Vit	No	CA/D3	No
No	CA/D3	No	Vit	No	CA/D3	etc.

Juvenile Frogs on a Every Other Day Feeding Schedule - As froglets get older their body growth will slow down and their larger body will be able to take bigger meals and store more nutrients. A less than enthusiastic approach to daily feeding is a sign to feed less frequently. When spacing out feedings, it's recommended to space out supplement use too, in order to maintain the same rotation and nutritional balance.

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Off	CA/D3	Off	No	Off	Vit	Off
No	CA/D3	Off	No	Off	No	Off
CA/D3	Off	No	Off	Vit	Off	No
CA/D3	Off	No	Off	No	Off	etc.

Semi-adult or Adult Frogs on a Twice a Week (1 on/2 off) Feeding Schedule

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Off	CA/D3	Off	Off	No	Off	Off
Vit	Off	Off	No	Off	Off	CA/D3
Off	Off	No	Off	Off	No	Off
Off	CA/D3	Off	Off	No	Off	Off
Vit	Off	Off	No	Off	Off	CA/D3
Off	Off	No	Off	Off	No	Off
Off	CA/D3	Off	Off	No	Off	etc.

Adult Frogs on a Weekly Feeding Schedule - Scheduled feed on Saturday to accommodate those with heavy week day schedules but can feed any day you prefer.

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	CA/D3
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	No
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Vit
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	No
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	CA/D3
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	No
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	No
Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	CA/D3
etc.

[Zyndyna]

Ok so if you do the Saturday only schedule how many crickets would you feed? I am honestly not sure who is an adult and who isn't in my group. I think due to size mt RETF is an adult but my Whites tree frog is like an inch long. Thanks for posting this great schedule.

[Mentat]

Ok so if you do the Saturday only schedule how many crickets would you feed? I am honestly not sure who is an adult and who isn't in my group. I think due to size mt Red-Eyed Leaf Frog is an adult but my Whites tree frog is like an inch long. Thanks for posting this great schedule.

You can go to AmphibiaWeb and search the data base for any frog species natural adult size (most captive frogs max out around 60-75% of that). Also, our Care Articles have data for more popular ones.

The amount of food will depend on the frog species. You want them meaty; but not obese. White's are a species that will overeat themselves into an unhealthy fat level if allowed. A one in. long White is either a young froglet, or a badly stunted juvenile.

[Dendrocare]

Dendrocare have also a, all inclusive formula to be used with every feeding an its 14 years old al ready :-)
and more importantly it works!!

greetings simon plinck

Dendrocare | complete vitamin & mineral powder for dendrobates

[Dendrocare]

About the discoverer

In the early 2000s Chris van der Lingen made a study into vitamin use in poison dart frogs. By listening to some of the problems where different frog farmers ran into, such as the emergence of the spindle leg syndrome, sudden death of adult animals etc and after a lengthy comparison study between food animals in nature and food animals we farm ourselves, it turned out as expected that there were some differences in vitamins and minerals.
Vitamins created by the sun, vitamin E and D3, are hardly found in our farmed food animals. Vitamin D3 ensures proper absorption of calcium, needed for proper bone development and vitamin E helps maintaining a health endocrine system and thus good farming results.
Chris has developed a sbalanced combination of vitamin thoroughly testing it on the frogs he farmed himself, noticing farming results significantly improving almost immediately. The frogs behaved much livelier, producing healthier eggs and young frogs proved much healthier, and there were no signs of spindle leg syndromes or other anomalies anymore. Time was ripe to market this vitamin combination, bringing about Dendrocare.
Dendrocare is the missing link between food animals we grow ourselves.

[KBDean]

This is some great info! Thank you for posting! What would you recommend would be the best was the dust crickets. I have been told to pour some of the of the supplement and calcium powder into the container and gently shake... is this correct?

[monster]

Carlos this is awesome because I just got a baby albino pacman. Quick question, So lets say on one of the night for calcium or vitamins your frog doesn't happen to eat. Do you give him that vitamin the next day or just let it be skipped and keep going?

[Mentat]

This is some great info! Thank you for posting! What would you recommend would be the best was the dust crickets. I have been told to pour some of the of the supplement and calcium powder into the container and gently shake... is this correct?

Yes, I use a tall plastic cup (32 oz. like those used to culture fruit flies). Add a bit of supplement and shake gently, then feed crickets to frogs .

[Mentat]

...So lets say on one of the night for calcium or vitamins your frog doesn't happen to eat. Do you give him that vitamin the next day or just let it be skipped and keep going?

Good question; myself would pick up schedule next time frog eats !

[Percoxan]

I just got 2 baby (1/2"-3/4") Whites tree frogs. At what size do I move them to the juvenile chart?

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[bwwwww]

Can someone share links to independent studies on the the effectiveness of supplements?