# Vitamin A



## chamsRawesome (May 14, 2014)

One of my friends frog was looking very skinny and dropped some weight (first frogs) and I notice he isn't supplementing them with repashy vitamin A plus and was wondering if that was the cause of the weight loss? I would appreciate the help if anyone could chime in, thanks.


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## Friggy_frogger (Aug 24, 2014)

No I don't think so, had he had testing done sounds like parasites.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Friggy_frogger said:


> No I don't think so, had he had testing done sounds like parasites.


Based on what? Why couldn't the weight loss be due to a vitamin A deficiency? 

Some comments 

Ed


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

I agree with you Ed. This could be a matter of supplementation and I definitely think the frogs would benefit from it. 

From what I've seen, a combination of factors is the likely culprit as parasites are much more prevalent in captive collections than most know or care to admit and of course the lack of vitamin A is very likely affecting the frog as well. Honestly, I believe the best course of action (the one I would personally take) would be to add vit A to the supplementation schedule as well as conduct a series of fecal tests. This way you get a better understanding of your frog's health 

John


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## MasterOogway (Mar 22, 2011)

I'm on my phone right now so don't have access to a lot of resources, but what particular physiological pathway would be affected by a vitamin A deficiency that would then lead to weight loss? From the little that I understand I was under the assumption that vit. A was utilized for eye health and I know there has been done work with vit a and limb regeneration effects. Any papers someone could point me to? Or is this more speculative? 

Edit: And according to a quick (very) Google,is oral administration even very effective? 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20945643/ 

I'll try and read the whole paper when I get off work, just skimmed the abstract now. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

It's been awhile since I read the paper but to some extent that shouldn't be unexpected in severely deficient animals. The changes to the tissues of the digestive tract result in decreased ability to uptake some nutrients. In addition, the ability to uptake vitamin A is dependent not only on dose but whether there is sufficient fat in the diet to form micells for the uptake of the vitamin A. As an additional issue, the competition between A, D3 and E for uptake can be an issue. 

With the above issues in mind, treatment with vitamin A orally has in other studies been shown to correct the problem depending on the level of deficiency which changes the amount of time to fully resolve the issue. If there is proof that the animal is severely deficient then under the supervision of a veterinarian topical dosing may resolve it more quickly. 

I'd dig up the references but I've got some homework and other chores to take care of here. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## TheCoon (Feb 8, 2011)

While Ed's response shows how Vitamin A deficiency could be the cause, I suppose it is very unlikely for that to be the case. Considering a great majority of the hobby does not supplement with Vitamin A, we'd be seeing quite a few skinny frogs. On that note, to those who now want to start adding Vitamin A to their supplements, please do your research as it can be very easy to overdose.


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## hillblazer (Jul 1, 2013)

TheCoon said:


> While Ed's response shows how Vitamin A deficiency could be the cause, I suppose it is very unlikely for that to be the case. Considering a great majority of the hobby does not supplement with Vitamin A, we'd be seeing quite a few skinny frogs. On that note, to those who now want to start adding Vitamin A to their supplements, please do your research as it can be very easy to overdose.


I was surprised to see "it should not be used more then once per week" in the direction for vitamin A plus. Is that for breeding frogs only? I thought I read once or twice a month is enough.


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## anniehouse (Sep 23, 2012)

The problem with all of this continuing discussion on vitamin supplementation is it always focuses on a qualitative (i.e.what vitamins),and temporal,(how often) approach,when there should be a quantative consideration.Vitamins and minerals are required in extremely small amounts by living systems and it is very easy to O.D.on potentially toxic supplements.
Consider if one dropped a bag of flower on the floor,the resulting dust cloud would leave a very thin almost imperceptible layer on adjacent surfaces, well that is the level at which an organisms physiology requires supplements.The problem we have is,how much of this formula we buy is active ingredient and how much just filler and bulking agents etc?
If you are still in doubt,look at the R.D.A. on the pot of human vitamin and mineral supplements and compare that to the body mass of an average adult human and that of a fully grown tinc.
Terry


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## J_Dog (Nov 8, 2014)

The last time someone complained to me about a skinny frog I asked them when the last time they fed their frog was and they replied "About a month ago".


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