How do torts know to eat cuttle bone?

[Tony the Tort42]

Hey, this is more of a question out of curiosity, but how do torts know to eat their cuddle bone? Its not natural like normal foods, so Im curious about how they know when they need it. today I found tony nibbling at it, so i had to know. thanks!

 

[wellington]

Not real sure. Maybe @Markw84 @Kapidolo Farms @Tom can answer this.
I just assumed they could smell that it's something they need and normally get in the wild by the different things they eat.

 

[Gijoux]

Hey, this is more of a question out of curiosity, but how do torts know to eat their cuddle bone? Its not natural like normal foods, so Im curious about how they know when they need it. today I found tony nibbling at it, so i had to know. thanks!

This may have nothing at all to do with them eating it, but I found that new hatchlings are programmed to eat their "white shells" I'm sure for the calcium. When I placed them in their enclosure, after being in the brooder box, where most of them ate good portions of their shells, I found them eating the cuttle bone quite readily. I think their DNA programs them to go for white. Pure speculation, but that is what I came up with.

 

[Lyn W]

My tort will ignore his cuttle bone for months and will then have a good nibble on it before ignoring it again.
I thought it was because he may have felt the need for a calcium boost, but not sure.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Mine will eat rocks. Mostly pure coral here.
They seem to instinctually know how to find minerals and that they need them.
Cuttlebone is safer than eating rocks.

 

[Tony the Tort42]

Wow very interesting. They certainly arent dumb animals

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Wow very interesting. They certainly arent dumb animals

That's probably purely instinctual behavior.
I'm one of the members of the "tortoises aren't very smart" camp.
My group seem like REPTILES. Clumsy and clueless.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

My tort will ignore his cuttle bone for months and will then have a good nibble on it before ignoring it again.
I thought it was because he may have felt the need for a calcium boost, but not sure.

I think that is EXACTLY what happens.

 

[Tony the Tort42]

Ik that tortoises arent the smartest, but compared to my geckos they seem like geniuses. my geckos do the dumbest things.

 

[Scorpio]

That's probably purely instinctual behavior.
I'm one of the members of the "tortoises aren't very smart" camp.
My group seem like REPTILES. Clumsy and clueless.

Actually, there was recently an article about tortoise cognition, where researchers trained red foot tortoises to do different behaviors and then tested 18 months later to see if they remembered the training even though they did nothing to reinforce the training during that time. While they probably don't have the intelligence of an African Gray Parrot or a Chimpanzee, they are most likely smarter than we give them credit for. The problem is that we are just now finding ways to really test them.
Here's the article itself: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0853

 

[JJ]

It is a calcium source but they also sharpen their beaks on them, this might be why they will leave them for months and then go back to them when their beaks are blunt.

 

[Yvonne G]

That is a good question. Us humans have lost our ability to know these types of things, but I'm assuming animals still have the instincts that tell them what their bodies need., so my answer is Instinct.

 

[Florida]

Hey, this is more of a question out of curiosity, but how do torts know to eat their cuddle bone? Its not natural like normal foods, so Im curious about how they know when they need it. today I found tony nibbling at it, so i had to know. thanks!

I have two baby (month old) sulcatas and they constantly nibble on their cuttlebone. At least once or twice a week. I also took some poultry oyster shell and ground it up a little finer and spread it around their feeding and basking area. They ate every bit of it!

 

[ArmadilloPup]

My redfoot taste-tests everything, which is something baby mammals and herbivores do. He will destroy cuttlebone, but one time I tried to give him one of those compressed cuttlefish/calcium bones with banana flavor, and it sat in his habitat for a week with just a tiny nibble on one corner

It didn’t take long for him to associate the color blue with shrimp (the top of the container is blue). He is attracted to that particular color of blue and picks up his speed and goes into nibble everything mode.

 

[Tony the Tort42]

hmm. mine isnt as enthusiastic, but i still see him nibbling it on occasion

 

[Markw84]

That is a good question. Us humans have lost our ability to know these types of things, but I'm assuming animals still have the instincts that tell them what their bodies need., so my answer is Instinct.

Actually we have not lost that ability. That is really the root of "cravings". If your body is deficient in some basic needs we get cravings for items to fulfill that. Some are more in tune to that, and others ignore it. Hunger itself is a type of craving. Your body telling you blood sugar is low and needs calories. Some cravings will lead you to choose foods higher in certain missing vitamins and or minerals. This is one the basic and very primitive ways animals choose and learn food items. A dog will even eat grass or weeds to make them throw up when their body tells them they don't like what's in their stomach. A tortoise will eat bones and other items high in calcium as it feels the "need" to get more calcium in its system. Diet may provide ample vitamins and minerals and the craving is not there. But when the diet is lacking, or calcium needs are metabolically higher, the cuttlebone is much more attractive.

 

[deblpatton]

I had some deer antlers in the garden and Truman (my 6 year old Sulcata) started chewing on those and loved them!

 

[Warren]

I have a question about cuttlebones, I have a two year old Sucata about 8 lbs now. I've always used a calcium power until recently. My tortoise take big bite out of his cuttlebone and I worried that he may hurt himself. I let him take a few bites and then I take it from him. How much should I allow him to consume, and how often should I give him his cuttlebone. When he sees it he comes running.

 

[xMario]

I have a question about cuttlebones, I have a two year old Sucata about 8 lbs now. I've always used a calcium power until recently. My tortoise take big bite out of his cuttlebone and I worried that he may hurt himself. I let him take a few bites and then I take it from him. How much should I allow him to consume, and how often should I give him his cuttlebone. When he sees it he comes running.

My sulcata has always a cuttlebone available and eats as much as he wants... he never hurt himself by eating it. Some days he ignores them some days one is gone in minutes than I'm putting another one in directly hes growing and healthy.

 

[Warren]

My sulcata has always a cuttlebone available and eats as much as he wants... he never hurt himself by eating it. Some days he ignores them some days one is gone in minutes than I'm putting another one in directly hes growing and healthy.

Thank you for responding, sorry that I didn't get back to you sooner. I'm in the middle of two home projects, one is making a new indoor nightbox for my Sulcata. He has gotten so big in two years, I should have it done in another day or two. Will upload some pictures in a couple of days. Will give my Sulcata his cuttlebone tomorrow and see what happens, How much will he eat? Thank you again.