How much to supplemement?

yay14

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Hello everyone i was wondering how much i should be supplementing my yearling hermann tortoise with calci dust, nutrobal and miner-all when the miner-all arives
The last time i went to the vet he wanted me to send pictures and ingredients of the supplements i was giving so i did and heres the response i got. But as it said he recomended to give 9 times a week which i now is a lot so how much do you guys recomend? Right now i give calci dust 2 times a week and nutrobal 1 time a week which is a mark up from the prevous calci dust 1 time a week and nutrobal one time a week i gave a couple weeks ago. I am going to start giving miner-all to when it arives
 

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Toddrickfl1

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Hello everyone i was wondering how much i should be supplementing my yearling hermann tortoise with calci dust, nutrobal and miner-all when the miner-all arives
The last time i went to the vet he wanted me to send pictures and ingredients of the supplements i was giving so i did and heres the response i got. But as it said he recomended to give 9 times a week which i now is a lot so how much do you guys recomend? Right now i give calci dust 2 times a week and nutrobal 1 time a week which is a mark up from the prevous calci dust 1 time a week and nutrobal one time a week i gave a couple weeks ago. I am going to start giving miner-all to when it arives
For what it's worth, if you feed a good varied diet your tortoise really doesn't need any of that stuff. I don't use any supplements or vitamins at all. Just a wide diet and occasional egg shells for calcium. My Torts have grown nicely and they're healthy.
 

yay14

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For what it's worth, if you feed a good varied diet your tortoise really doesn't need any of that stuff. I don't use any supplements or vitamins at all. Just a wide diet and occasional egg shells for calcium. My Torts have grown nicely and they're healthy.
Yes i wish i could do like you but my current climate does not allow for that so for me they're unfortunatly neccsecery
 

yay14

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I know @Tom had told me in an other thread that calcI dust once a week nutroball once a week and miner-all 2 times a week is fine since that’s what I was planning on giving when the miner-all I ordered arives but I then thought it might be to much phosphate to calcium in that supplementation, not sure though
 

ZEROPILOT

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It would depend on the tortoises age, the foods that are fed, the lighting and other factors.
My yearling RF receive no supplements. Just a very varied diet and real sunlight.
The question is too general.
Tom knows what hes talking about and must know more about your tortoise and your setup than we learned from this post. And the fact that you are in Sweden...I find it hard to fathom your climate. This is an indoor tort?
You are wise to ask.
However, your vet sounds like a nut.
 

yay14

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It would depend on the tortoises age, the foods that are fed, the lighting and other factors.
My yearling RF receive no supplements. Just a very varied diet and real sunlight.
The question is too general.
Tom knows what hes talking about and must know more about your tortoise and your setup than we learned from this post. And the fact that you are in Sweden...I find it hard to fathom your climate. This is an indoor tort?
You are wise to ask.
However, your vet sounds like a nut.
Yes he is currently indoors because of climate and he gets a diet of about 70 % grocery store stuff like endive raddichio kale and arugula and 30% weeds although I just ran out of weeds so I need to grow some more. I also recently started giving mazuri. And lastly my tort is 1 year and 2 months. This is of course just a winter diet but during the warmer months hes outside and gets bunch more weeds and flowers and not really anything from the grocery store.
 
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yay14

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It would depend on the tortoises age, the foods that are fed, the lighting and other factors.
My yearling RF receive no supplements. Just a very varied diet and real sunlight.
The question is too general.
Tom knows what hes talking about and must know more about your tortoise and your setup than we learned from this post. And the fact that you are in Sweden...I find it hard to fathom your climate. This is an indoor tort?
You are wise to ask.
However, your vet sounds like a nut.
But so how much do you think I should supplement?
 

Skip K

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I have confidence in their diet and husbandry...and with Zoomed making up about 30% of their diet I don’t supplement at all in summer when they are outdoors. I do supplement once every two weeks...when they are indoors for the winter. I dust greens with either Calcium + d3 or Herptivite multivitamin. I doubt they really need the winter supping...but it gives me some peace of mind. I probably will drop supping altogether when my indoor plant food sources become self sustaining and the torts can have the same variety in winter ( besides grazing)...that they get in the summer.
 

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But so how much do you think I should supplement?
Calcium - don't DUST the greens, but take a small "pinch" of calcium powder between the thumb and index finger and sprinkle it on the food by rubbing your fingers together two or three times a week.

I wouldn't use Nutrobal, instead I'd put three drops of liquid bird vitamins in the soaking water once a week.
 

yay14

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Calcium - don't DUST the greens, but take a small "pinch" of calcium powder between the thumb and index finger and sprinkle it on the food by rubbing your fingers together two or three times a week.

I wouldn't use Nutrobal, instead I'd put three drops of liquid bird vitamins in the soaking water once a week.
okay but how much should i be using the supplements including nutrobal since it's the only source of minerals he gets right now since the miner-all i ordered has not arived as said previously.
 

Yvonne G

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And as I said previously,:

Calcium - stick your thumb and index finger into the jar and pick up a very small amount, "a pinch" - between your thumb and index finger, twice a week.

Nutrobal - no need to use this AND the calcium. One or the other. "Nutrobal - A CALCIUM BALANCER AND MULTIVITAMIN SUPPLEMENT" Instead, use liquid bird vitamins, two drops, in the soaking water once a week.

When the Miner-All comes you add a "pinch" to the food once a week
 

Sarah2020

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They don't need much. Small amount of Calcium on fresh green 2 or 3 times week. Rest once a week. It is good to provide a cuttlefish bone similar to what is provided to a budgie. You may not get a bite for month then suddenly you see nibbles.
Most important for healthy tort fresh greens and dandelion flowers, heat,water, light, soaks, substrate....
 

yay14

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And as I said previously,:

Calcium - stick your thumb and index finger into the jar and pick up a very small amount, "a pinch" - between your thumb and index finger, twice a week.

Nutrobal - no need to use this AND the calcium. One or the other. "Nutrobal - A CALCIUM BALANCER AND MULTIVITAMIN SUPPLEMENT" Instead, use liquid bird vitamins, two drops, in the soaking water once a week.

When the Miner-All comes you add a "pinch" to the food once a week
Ok so calcium twice a week and miner-all once a week could I get away with this supplementation without the liquid bird vitamin or is it needed and are they any substitutes to that like a multivitamin and how often should I use that if there’s a substitute I could use?
 

yay14

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Ok so calcium twice a week and miner-all once a week. could I get away with this supplementation without the liquid bird vitamin or is it needed? Also are they any substitutes to that like a multivitamin and how often should I use that if there’s a substitute I could use? Since I am not sure if I can get ahold of the bird vitamin but I know I can get ahold of those multivitamin supplements
 

Sarah2020

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I would avoid piling on the supliments. Least is best. When you have a issue you can address at the time. Priority is what I wrote before get that right, growth and welfare will just happen.
 

Skip K

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Not sure why the calcium supplement AND Miner-all too. I though Miner-all WAS a calcium supplement with some other added minerals. But I haven’t used Miner-all in quite some time as I used it for occasional light dusting of insects for my lizards back in the day
 

Yvonne G

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Not sure why the calcium supplement AND Miner-all too. I though Miner-all WAS a calcium supplement with some other added minerals. But I haven’t used Miner-all in quite some time as I used it for occasional light dusting of insects for my lizards back in the day
You're right. If you're going to use Miner-All for the extra minerals it provides you can stop the calcium. Just like with Nutrobal, one or the other but no need for both. Thanks for calling me on that.
 

yay14

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You're right. If you're going to use Miner-All for the extra minerals it provides you can stop the calcium. Just like with Nutrobal, one or the other but no need for both. Thanks for calling me on that.
Oh but wont that lead to a bad calcium to phospate level if i only use Miner-all also if not how many times a week should i use miner-all?
 

Skip K

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You're right. If you're going to use Miner-All for the extra minerals it provides you can stop the calcium. Just like with Nutrobal, one or the other but no need for both. Thanks for calling me on that.
Yvonne...you are a sweetie. I’d never call you on anything..lol! I never used Miner-all for anything more than dusting insects years ago. It was marketed that way. When I saw it mentioned in the original post...I researched it again. What’s your opinion on it using it verses say Rep-Cal or other brands of supps? Is it apple/oranges or maybe a benefit one way or another?
 

Skip K

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Oh but wont that lead to a bad calcium to phospate level if i only use Miner-all also if not how many times a week should i use miner-all?
When I researched Minerall it said it’s phosphorus free. As for frequency...hard to say. I don’t supp at all in the summer and only once every two weeks in the winter. But our outdoor environments...ie seasons..are different. If husbandry is correct...diet and lighting...but mostly indoor lighting...I would always err on the side of caution. I’d ask experienced fellow keepers in Sweden or like “season” keepers. For me not living there it were purely be a guess that could be totally incorrect
 
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