Vitamin delivery

[dawn]

I would like to learn more on an idea that Jenn touched on in a previous post in the Help section. It was about adding vitamins
to the water of newts. I was thinking about this myself. Since newts with their mucus membrane skins are so sensitive to chemicals in the water, why wouldn't it help to deliver vitamins to them by adding them to their environment? I've seen liquid vitamins concoctions for sale. I was thinking about it mostly as regards raising larvae to metamorphosis when I think nutrition is most crucial. When I had larvae, I wasn't able to feed them as large a variety of foods as they get in nature, mostly just blackworms, and I was wondering how adequate that is nutritionally and especially for bone development.
Or what about a vitamin bath, like when people do salt baths? I was wondering about this, and also wondered if the liquid vitamins would burn their sensitive skin, so I didn't want to try it.
Also, for example, in the Neurergus care sheet it says to add calcium if the water is soft. Is that partially a vitamin issue or just to make hard water for their comfort?
thanks

 

[foster]

Hi Dawn,
You are probably in uncharted territory here. This sounds like an Ed K question. I cannot comment on the Neurergus but otherwise I'm not sure what effect, if any, that adding a water soluble vitamin would have. It would be interesting to know however one of the great things about caudates is that they will generally accept such a wide variety of living and non-living food items (with the exception of larvae) that I don't think that there is much need for supplementation as long as a variety is offered. Of course this is just my opinion and it would be interesting to hear what others have to say. I personally would be afraid to try it, fearing an overdose (assuming that the vitamins would be absorbed).
Chip

 

[jonathan]

interesting discussion about it in this thread:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/24791/15207.html

"Dissolving vitamin-mineral supplements in water is often an inefficient manner in which to supplement the animals.
1) most of the supplements have a foul taste and are often only ingested as a last resort
2) fat soluable vitamins (E, D3, K and A) are fairly insoluable in water and will segregate out of solution. This may cause the animal to miss these vitamins when ingesting the water."

This is another great thread I found while looking for the first one. It's got lots of practical ideas for how to increase nutrition of the food taken in.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/8/2815.html

 

[dawn]

Thanks for the links! also, I hadn't thought about the overdose part, just the pain part.