Calcium deficiency

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karen

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Took my poor little newt, John, to the vet. Apparently he may have a calcium deficiency. The vet gave me a calcium solution to use in a bath (also some baytril b/c John may be fighting an infection as well). I currently feed my newts frozen bloodworms since the store I used to get live blackworms from decided not to carry them anymore. So, I guess the bloodworms don't have enough calcium. Is there anything on the market that will do the trick. I purchased the "gut loader" powder used to fortify crickets for lizards, but it's hard to mix the powder into the bloodworms, and once you put the worms in water, the powder floats away. Any recommendations?
 
I am curious as to what symptoms your newt is presenting? What made the vet think it was a calcium deficiency?

Supplementing foods for aquatic animals can be quite difficult. If you are worried about calcium deficiency with your animal you may wish to start feeding nightcrawlers as they are more balanced when it comes to calcium. Also it may be good to try a quality pellet on occassion if your newt will accept it. Either way having a varied diet is almost always a good thing.

I have heard that a lot of people use bloodworms as a staple food with little ill effect. Do you check your water quality often? It may be a water issue.

Also, Jennifer had some interesting comments here in a thread about a similar problem.
 
Thanks Abrahm...I've tried pellets in the past with no luck at all. I will try to find another store to get blackworms again- they're very hard to find!!

As to why my vet said he thought it may be a calcium deficiency, he said b/c my newt's back legs looked big (but John has always been pretty "robust", so they don't look any larger than normal to me). Also, 2 fingers on his right hand are "bent", almost look broken (no fights or attacks in the tank that I've seen) Also a reddish color in his extremities (back legs mainly, and alittle in the throat- but those may be bacterial, hence the baytril). I'll also list some comments the vet said on another post.
 
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