Until better methods are available, pet stores recommending that you buy vitamin/ mineral supplements (even for keeping the inexpensive green anole (Anolis carolinensis) that you have just bought) are not just out to make a buck; their suggestions are based on the current practices of most lizard keepers.

Special techniques

In order to help determine their contribution to the overall health and captive breeding of insect-eating lizards, three vitamins are currently being experimented with by some breeders: beta-carotene (a vitamin A pre-cursor), vitamin e and vitamin E.

One method hobbyists use to administer beta-carotene and vitamin E is to purchase gelatin capsules of these products at health food stores and to offer (once a week) one or two crickets which have been hand dipped (the dorsal part of the insect) into the spilled contents of a capsule and then into a mineral! vitamin mix prior to feeding. Beta-carotene is also available in a powder that can be added to the vitamin/mineral mix.

For administering vitamin e, crystal vitamin e is purchased at a health food store, then placed in a small mortar and crushed with a pestle. Vitamins can also be crushed by placing them between two pieces of cardboard and pounding them with a hammer. A small amount of the finely powdered vitamin e is added to the vitamin/mineral mix for coating of insects.

The following are some of the benefits attributed to the use of these vitamins by some herpetoculturists.

Beta-Carotene may playa role in increased reproductive success, improved coloration and prevention of eye and respiratory disorders. A current view of many experienced herpetoculturists is that beta-carotene, in the form of grated carrots fed to insects or as a supplement, is probably the best and safest way to assure that lizards get adequate amounts of vitamin A. The current view is that formed vitamin A, because of the risk of overdosing, may be harrnful to certain species and may possibly impair long-term, multi-generational breeding. Hypothetically, if given beta-carotene a lizard would convert to vitamin A only as much as it needed.

Vitamin e is present in the diets of most reptiles; it is probably obtained primarily from the gut contents of prey. A small amount of vitamin e in the diet may help prevent mouthrot (stomatitis). Other benefits have yet to be determined.

Vitamin E may improve the likelihood of reproductive success with reptiles. In veterinary medicine, vitamin E in the diet has been shown to reduce or prevent steatitis, a condition resulting from excess consumption of unsaturated fatty acids. Typical symptoms of steatitis include massive accumulations of altered fat, as well as the development of lesions under the skin and throughout the abdominal cavity.

The above supplementation techniques are experimental and any claims as to possible benefits remain speculative.