Calcium Supplement with Vitamin D3.... need help on the dosage..

[shanu303]

Ok so after a lot of foraging for calcium supplement, calcium carbonate, cuttlefish bone etc....in my area....i ended up with this human calcium supplement tablets....they contain organically sourced calcium carbonate and vitamin D3.....
the name of the tablets is : CIPCAL - 500 by Cipla
Info : Each tablet contains 1.25 grams of Calcium carbonate from an organic source(Oyster Shell) equivalent to

elemental Calcium............... 500 mg
Vitamin D3 I.P(indian pharmacopoeia)............ 250 I.U
colour of the tablet..... Titanium Dioxide


so my question is how many tablets should i crush and sprinkle over food and how frequently...... i have an Indian star Tortoise almost 10 years old....

 

[hunterk997]

I'm not sure about the question, but I know using oyster shell as the source has high amounts of phosphorus.

 

[wellington]

I personally would only do one small pinch a week. If they get a lot sunshine, I wouldn't give any.

 

[Tom]

I wouldn't use that. Personally, I don't like to use pills designed for adult humans on reptiles. If your tortoise sees the sun a couple of times a week, you don't need to supplement D3. If your tortoise is 10 years old and male, you might not need to supplement calcium either, depending on the diet you offer.

 

[shanu303]

thank you all for your suggestions i feed him hibiscus leaves and flower as staple.... with coriander and jasminum sambac flower and leaves occasionally.... cucumber is also on the menu...... and since winter is starting we will have tons of fenugreek available in the market....

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Re: RE: Calcium Supplement with Vitamin D3.... need help on the dosage..

I wouldn't use that. Personally, I don't like to use pills designed for adult humans on reptiles. If your tortoise sees the sun a couple of times a week, you don't need to supplement D3. If your tortoise is 10 years old and male, you might not need to supplement calcium either, depending on the diet you offer.

Tom, why exactly on this? Human use consumables are more regulated with better oversight, than "pet" products.

Determining amont to use may not be so simple, but quality wise, I don't believe better can be done.

For actual use, do the math so that the quantity matches use of a whole diet tortoise feed like Zoomed pellets or Mazuri.

Will

 

[lismar79]

I wouldn't use that. Personally, I don't like to use pills designed for adult humans on reptiles. If your tortoise sees the sun a couple of times a week, you don't need to supplement D3. If your tortoise is 10 years old and male, you might not need to supplement calcium either, depending on the diet you offer.

Sorry to ask, but can you elaberate on the diet recomendations. I do have a ten yr old male that i just rescued and I have been trying to figure out how much d3 / calcium he needs. Dont want to over do it but im affraid of his current state and am new at this. He is inside for the winter, small 8 lbs 12 inches with mbd. I have been giving him dandilion greens, spring mix, kale, and collard greens. Will not touch hay but I trick him ino it by mixing mazuri and pumkin. Again , sorry to high jack post.

 

[wellington]

If you gave a small pinch once a week it wouldn't be too much. If he's a rescue and came from a home that probably didn't feed him a diet other then lettuce and maybe a few other odds and ends, he probably could use the extra D3 for a while. In the summer, when he can get outside for lots of sunshine, stop the D3. A good diet, is a mixture of as many natural growing edible items you can give. Check out thetortoisetable.org.uk for ideas.

 

[ascott]

I don't like to use pills designed for adult humans on reptiles.

Agree with this...hell, I don't even find truth and quality in items labeled safe for human consumption most times....

 

[Tom]

Tom, why exactly on this? Human use consumables are more regulated with better oversight, than "pet" products.

Determining amont to use may not be so simple, but quality wise, I don't believe better can be done.

For actual use, do the math so that the quantity matches use of a whole diet tortoise feed like Zoomed pellets or Mazuri.

Your third sentence says it all. Overdose would be pretty easy. One little mistake in some fairly complicated math equations (complicated for some of us) and you could have a serious problem.

Much simpler and easy to figure out for most people, including myself, to just sprinkle a "pinch" of RepCal twice a week on top of the food.

---

Sorry to ask, but can you elaberate on the diet recomendations. I do have a ten yr old male that i just rescued and I have been trying to figure out how much d3 / calcium he needs.

Here is what I consider to be a good tortoise diet. I typed this up for sulcatas, so there is a lot of emphasis on grass. For any other species, just use less or very little grass, but the rest is good: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-76744.html

For and adult male combatting MBD, I would probably use a calcium supplement 3-4 times a week. With D3 or not, doesn't matter in my opinion. The tortoise should be getting appropriate UV, so D3 should be irrelevant. Make sure a tortoise like this stays hydrated, so they can easily pass any unneeded, excess calcium.