My Aldabras are growing up fast, with the largest one being over 65lb. Some of them can really chew up a cuttlefish bone in one sitting. When do you stop giving them the bone? My torts diet consists of 40% orchid grass, 30% mazuri LS, 20% Mulberry leaves, 10% other things (produce/watermelon/carrot/pumpkin, etc).
When to stop feeding cuttlefish bone?
- Thread starter Suranai
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- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Do not feed sugary foods. No watermelon or carrots.
I don't know how much extra calcium an adult Aldabra would require with a correct diet and outdoors sunlight.
I only provide it for my egg laying adult females. But I only keep Redfoot
I don't know how much extra calcium an adult Aldabra would require with a correct diet and outdoors sunlight.
I only provide it for my egg laying adult females. But I only keep Redfoot
Thank you for the response. I only give sugary stuffs as treats which is about once every two weeks.
In the wild, I don't know of much adult Aldabras consume seashell on the beach. That's why I'm wondering when to stop giving calcium supplements or if I should continue to give indefinitely. If so, then I want to know how other people manage calcium intake for their Aldabras because I can't imagine everyone feed Mazuri as main diet.
Depends on what it's diet is. Try to add more variety to the diet. Feed less of the water melon though. Maybe twice a year. Same with the pumpkin should not be fed so often.
I don't have an aldabra but if I had one and it would eat cuddle bones I would give them some forever. I have a Russian so I have to give a bit of calcium/d3 powder and maybe he'll eat it. He won't eat cuddle fish bones at all to get his correct calcium intake by self regulating.
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- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Yes. It's not what the cuttlebones ARE that's important. It's that they're a great way to provide calcium and minerals into a diet.
My south Florida yard is full of coral rocks. If I don't supply cuttlebone, my tortoises will start searching out these rocks and they'll eat them when they get that "need".
(They seem to know when they need it)
My entire group also sometimes goes many weeks or months without even nibbling one. And I just keep replacing and foul looking ones. Then one day, they'll eat one entire cuttlebone 2 or 3 days in a row.
My south Florida yard is full of coral rocks. If I don't supply cuttlebone, my tortoises will start searching out these rocks and they'll eat them when they get that "need".
(They seem to know when they need it)
My entire group also sometimes goes many weeks or months without even nibbling one. And I just keep replacing and foul looking ones. Then one day, they'll eat one entire cuttlebone 2 or 3 days in a row.
With a proper diet, they shouldn't need it forever. Specially not on a daily basis. Too much is as bad as too little.
If they are eating it like crazy, the diet probably needs improving.
Thank you for all the comments. But should I continue to give my torts cuddle bone or no? Also, I haven't been giving cuddle bone for almost a week now, couple of them starts eating sand. Is that bad?
I saw sand all over their mouths and so thought they were just basking on the sand. But today, I actually saw two of them sticking their tongues out and licked the sand.
I saw sand all over their mouths and so thought they were just basking on the sand. But today, I actually saw two of them sticking their tongues out and licked the sand.
Yes that's bad. Sand causes impactions and that's why it shouldn't even be used
You can give the cuttlebone but give like one per tortoise or one per two tortoises a week. Not every day. Improve the diet by adding more items like cactus pads, more mulberry leaf, grass, orchard grass hay and less watermelon, carrot and pumpkin.
You can give the cuttlebone but give like one per tortoise or one per two tortoises a week. Not every day. Improve the diet by adding more items like cactus pads, more mulberry leaf, grass, orchard grass hay and less watermelon, carrot and pumpkin.
If they are eating sand when you don't have cuttlebone in there something must be wrong with their diet.
I have seen our Aldabras and Galapagos eat sand that had Mazuri LS mixed into it. Sometimes it was food they tracked out of the tray or it was food that got rained on and flooded out of the tray. Could that be the case with yours?
If they are big enough to eat hay you should feed more of it. Cut down the Mazuri to once or twice a week at most. Stop feeding the carrots, watermelon and pumpkin. A couple of times a year is fine but not 10% of their diet. I would cut out the carrots entirely.
Try to get cactus pads, they like them almost as much as Mazuri. Collect weeds and vines. Ours really love grass clippings from the mower.
I have seen our Aldabras and Galapagos eat sand that had Mazuri LS mixed into it. Sometimes it was food they tracked out of the tray or it was food that got rained on and flooded out of the tray. Could that be the case with yours?
If they are big enough to eat hay you should feed more of it. Cut down the Mazuri to once or twice a week at most. Stop feeding the carrots, watermelon and pumpkin. A couple of times a year is fine but not 10% of their diet. I would cut out the carrots entirely.
Try to get cactus pads, they like them almost as much as Mazuri. Collect weeds and vines. Ours really love grass clippings from the mower.
May be hard to remove sand because I have a patch under a shade. Beside all torts love to lay on the sand to cool themselves down during the day. I can try to cover the sand w/ mulch but the torts will likely digging up the sand again.
I'll definitely feed less watermelon, carrot, pumpkin and other sweet stuffs. And thank to your advice before, their main diet are now orchard grass and will try to increase that over time.
I place their food in their feeding bowls, far away from the sand patch. Right now I'm still training them to feed on hay by mixing w/ mazuri.
I cant be collecting plants for them anymore. All of my torts are between 60-75lb and they pretty much clear out all the weeds and wines around my place - grass dont even grow in the enclosure area anymore, LOL.
I have 6 cactus plants and I have to move them away from my torts. Otherwise, they'll eat them all. Perhaps I should drive around the neighborhood picking up grass clippings.
Don’t feed grass clippings from a lawn that you don’t know the care history of. Too risky from a chemical standpoint. Also grass clippings start to mold within hours so they need to be fresh.
Maintaining these guys long term without pasture to graze on will not be easy.
Maintaining these guys long term without pasture to graze on will not be easy.
If you have the room, and if possible, separate the land into two sections. Let them graze on one while the other is growing. If that's not possible, then try to fence off a section and grow the food in in. Then you can either let them in there to graze when it's full of food or be able to pick and cut it for them. How many do you have and how big is their property enclosure?
If it helps, you can extend the time of the grass clippings from molding if you spread them out in a layer, instead of a pile.
I didn't think of that. Thank you for pointing that out .
I want to give them as much land as I can and so I dont want to section up the space. Having said that, I could whatever land I have in the front of my property to grow grass for them.
I've been feeding them orchard hay I bought from amazon. They're dry and soft.
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