[Ed Martin]

I was reading Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry and saw a reference to using vitamin B in the tadpole rearing enclosures at the Philly Zoo in order to combat Spindly Leg Syndrome. I contacted some people that I know at the zoo about this and to get more details: when did they start supplementation, how often, how much, what kind, etc… but I was wondering if anyone here had tried this?
Ed

 

[edwardsatc]

Ed,

Although I've never tried it myself, I know a few people who have and the results have mostly been mixed. Low Folic acid (part of the vitamin B complex) has been linked as one of the causes of SLS.

Did you email Ed K at Philly? It would be interesting to hear what he has to say. I've been thinking of trying this on some leucs that have been having constant SLS problems.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Ed Martin]

Thanks Donn, Ed K is one of the people that I spoke to at the zoo. I think it cannot hurt to try, vit B is not one of the vitamins has harmful side effects like vit A. I have some leuc eggs that should hatch out in a couple days that I was going to try it with. Fortunately/Unfortunately I do not have a control group with a history of SLS. And you are correct, it was B-complex that was used not a single "B" vitamin.
Ed

 

[jbeetle]

I dust ff's with Folic acid from time to time for my breeders, but haven't tried to feed it to tads directly.

 

[Homer]

Some people add dried stinging nettle to their tad mix to increase the folic acid content.

 

[jbeetle]

I do that as well .

 

[Ed Martin]

I do that too (add stinging nettle).What I got from the note in the book was that they were disolving the B-complex right into the water (I could have misinterpreted that).
Ed

 

[kyle1745]

So are these things helping? And what the heck is "stinging nettle", and where do I get it?

 

[steelcube]

Local health store... but I don't think it helps fighting SLS... from my experience anyway.

I had a case of SLS last year from a tinc pair. I've tried several things and I found that adding prenatal vitamins (800mg of folic acid and 100% betta carotene) to FF media and dusting FF w/ herptivite regularly, works wonder...

BTW, it's Frank Van Beukelen idea to add vits to FF media.

SB

 

[Ed Martin]

Actually I added the stinging nettle mainly because of the high calcium content after I had a problem with MBD in some froglets.

Steelcube, did you see a reduction in the yield from the fruit fly cultures?
Every time I add a vitamin or something like it (paprika, calcium) to my media, I see a significant reduction in the yield. Also did the vitamins totally halt the reoccurance of SLS or did it just reduce the percentage of occurance?

Thanks!
Ed

 

[steelcube]

No SLS after the vit supplement. No reduction on FF yield either. I guess it depends on your recipe.

SB

 

[Homer]

You can also collect stinging nettle from cattle pastures in the Midwest. If you have ever run through a patch of it, you will remember what it looks like. The undersides of the leaves and the stems are covered in tiny hairs that contain formic acid. If it touches your bare skin, it feels like being bitten by a fire ant. However, if you pull it with gloves on and pull the leaves of and let them dry in the sun, the stinging capacity is gone, and you can powder the leaves in a coffee grinder or however else you would like.