Is my tort having calcium problems?

[Tsarina27]

Okay, so I got a call from my boyfriend last night asking if he should feed tortomir even more than he had already (He puts in a bit more than a handful of greens in his food bowl a day, a handful and a half at most). He asked because tortomir was biting his leg and had gotten ahold of a piece of the cypress mulch and my boyfriend had to take it away from him. He put some more food in there and tortomir went to town, affirming that he was hungry. If this is a calcium/mineral problem, could I grind up some of his calcium block and sprinkle it over his lettuce? He hasn't touched the block, so I don't think he's going to eat it on his own. Also, he has been peeing a Lot lately, how often should they be doing that? All of your advice and opinions are appreciated. Obviously I don't want him getting a piece of mulch in his mouth, or for him to bite his legs. Thank you guys.

 

[Tom]

What kind of heating and lighting are you using? Red bulbs or cfl?
What do you typically feed him?
What supplements do you use and how often?
What is your soaking routine?

None of my tortoises will touch those calcium blocks. Have you tried a cuttle bone?

 

[Tsarina27]

I couldn't tell you the specifics about the heat lamp, but I'm going over tonight, so I'll write it down and get back to you on that.
No red bulbs though.

Right now were feeding him a mix of green leaf and spring mix that has endive in it.

I don't have any supplements, because I can't order online right now. I was thinking about getting him some TNT when I can though.

For soaking: I go over three times a week, tuesday, Thursday, and saturday, and while I'm over I soak him for 10-15 minutes.

As far as the calcium block: our other tortoise kind of smelled around it, but tortomir ignores it. And the only cuttlebone I've found was online, so I can't buy it right now.

 

[Yvonne G]

I doubt it's a calcium problem. Sounds to me as if you're just not feeding the tortoise enough food.

 

[Tsarina27]

Well, we feed him the mix of green leaf and spring mix(with endive). And we put in a bit more than a handful a day, he almost always eats just about all of it. I don't want to feed him too much.

 

[Tom]

Your diet is lacking fiber and its lacking variety. There is way too much paranoia about over feeding. The only problem you'd have with over feeding an adult russian is obesity and that is very rare. It is also very easy to see and very easy to remedy if in some rare circumstance it were to happen. Feed your tortoise more, but feed him the right foods. If you can only do grocery store greens then you need to amend it in any number of ways. Blended grass hay can be bought at any pet store, plain grass hay horse cubes can be rehydrated and mixed in, you can buy little plots of organic wheat grass at pet stores or grocery stores, ZooMed grassland tortoise pellets, Tyler's "Herbal Hay": http://www.tortoisesupply.com/HerbalHay. The possibilities are endless.

Here is a list of suggested foods that can be found or grown:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

 

[Tsarina27]

Well, at the pet store, they suggested tortoise pellets, and we bought some. But he won't touch them. Is there a way I can get him to eat them? Maybe crush them and put on his daily greens?

 

[Jodie]

Well, at the pet store, they suggested tortoise pellets, and we bought some. But he won't touch them. Is there a way I can get him to eat them? Maybe crush them and put on his daily greens?

Is it the grassland tortoise pellets? You soak them in water to hydrate them to feed. You can scrape the calcium on to the food as well. A lot of people do. Your pet store should have calcium powder too that can be sprinkled on the food.

 

[Tsarina27]

Well,we went out and found the grassland tortoise food. We'll start him on it tonight.

 

[Tom]

Well,we went out and found the grassland tortoise food. We'll start him on it tonight.

Cool!

I have yet to see a tortoise that would just walk up and eat that stuff plain, so here is how I use it: Start by soaking a single small pellet. They turn to mush in about one minute in just a little water. Then mix up just a little bit with some finely chopped greens that the tortoise already knows and loves. Mix it in very thoroughly and expect the tortoise to not eat much. Make up a fresh batch every day and keep offering it. Eventually hunger will win out over pickiness. With enough time you can get them eating anything using this technique. In a few weeks your tortoise will be chowing down on greens covered in the stuff. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes for you.

 

[Tsarina27]

Thanks! I'll post pictures with the updates too. He an attention hog, so I'm sure he won't mind.

 

[Tsarina27]

And thank you everyone, for all of your advice and opinions. It all helps.

 

[Tsarina27]

Well, he took right to it. All I had to do was hold some lettuce up to him and he went to town.

 

[Tsarina27]

We only put him on the newspaper because he just had his bath.

 

[Tsarina27]

Any ideas on how long the fiber will take to start having an effect on his digestive system? He's been eating it on his lettuce every day since we started him on it, but his poop is still the same: liquidy and not hard at all. Am I not waiting long enough for it to take effect? Or us this something I should check into?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Something about his diet is a tad bit worrying... you've been feeding him lettuce, right? Lettuce has little to no nutritional value, and is mostly water, which would contribute to his not so solid poops.
Are you able to go to an 'orgainc' store or something like that? Many places like those sell dandelions and fibrous weeds that you may not have access to... way better for him

 

[Tsarina27]

It's been very hard to find these kinds of greens in my area. However, just yesterday, I found a mediterranean blend, which has escarole And endive in it, which is hard to come by here. It's mixed with leaf lettuce and radicchio, but I'm just excited to have found a mix that has both of those good greens. We had been feeding him spring mix, but I'm going to try to only buy that on occasion, and try to buy the mediterranean mix more, and add in some other hardier greens with it. It doesn't help that it's winter in Iowa right now, so the selection of greens is very limited. Thanks you for the advice though. It'll be a lot easier to find better food for him once spring hits.

 

[Tsarina27]

And to answer your question, I do not have access to an organic store. I'm limited to Walmart, Hy-Vee, and Fareway. However, in the summer we have a lot of stands go up around town for people that grow their own food and sell it. That will help too.