Effect of various vitamin D metabolites on serum calcium and inorganic phosphate in the freshwater snake Natrix piscator.

Vitamin D3 (650 pmol and 6.50 nmol/100 g body wt), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (650 pmol and 6.50 nmol/100 g body wt), and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (65 pmol and 650 pmol/100 g body wt) were administered daily to the freshwater snake Natrix piscator for 15 days. Both serum calcium and inorganic phosphate levels were increased significantly in all of the treated groups. This is the first report of hypercalcemia and hyperphosphatemia in reptiles induced by 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.