How often should you dust calcium on food

Bradley price

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I’m Brand new to keeping tortoises and I just want to known how often you should dust calcium on their food
 

Bradley price

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ok 2-3 days for the calcium. I have also got vitamin and minerals earth pro-A powder how often should I put that on their food
 

JoesMum

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Nothing else should be needed.In fact vitamin A in excess can cause severe skin reactions in tortoises.

What species tortoise do you have? We can then advise on the correct diet
 

Skip K

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I try to use diet and correct husbandry in lieu of powdered supplementation. I do feed pelleted ( Zoomed) for about 30% of the diet ...which provides vitamins, calcium etc. For babies I will use a small amount of powdered supplement...maybe once every two or three weeks but as they mature...just diet and husbandry. My reasoning is torts in the wild don’t get supplementation and most have low nutrient diets. With store bought greens which are nutrient rich...a much varied natural diet...natural grazing (when seasonal weather permits the torts to be outside) and vitamin/mineral enriched pellets...that it should be enough and has worked well for my torts and turtles over the decades
 

JoesMum

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A Hermann’s s diet should be weedy and leafy greens.

However, at this time of year, few of us manage without supplementing with pellets softened in water as weeds are in supply.

Tearing at leaves helps a tortoise keep its beak in shape. If it only eats mush then the beak will overgrow and you’ll be heading to a specialist vet to get it trimmed.

It can’t digest sugars properly - they cause digestive and kidney problems - so sweet foods like fruit, tomato, carrot and bell pepper should only be fed very sparingly and very occasionally if at all.

Cucumber and lettuce contain little fibre and and few nutrients so should also be fed sparingly.

Write a list of things that grow around you and those that you can buy and look them up on The Tortoise Table Plant Database for suitability to feed. If you can’t identify a plant, post a photo in our Plant ID section and someone will help.

This is the care sheet for your species of tortoise. I recommend that you read it carefully and compare it with your setup.
 

Tom

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I’m Brand new to keeping tortoises and I just want to known how often you should dust calcium on their food
I saw that we are talking about a hermanni, but what age, size and sex? This answer will vary.

More for a growing baby. More for an egg laying adult female. Less for a grown adult male. If you are feeding a good varied weedy diet, then once or twice a week should be sufficient for both.
 

KT1

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What brand of vitamin/mineral powder do you all recommend? I already give a calcium with D supplement.
I have a six month old leopard tortoise
Thanks much!
 
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