My DT was nibbling on sidewalk chalk

[JohnnyB65]

The toddlers next door have found it fun to toss things over the wall and have me retrieve them. Today I found a piece of child’s blue sidewalk chalk near my tortoises burrow and it looks like there are a couple of small bites out of it. The bites look too small to be from a toddler although there are also some larger bites that definitely look like they may have been from a child.

So I hope that something a child can eat would be nontoxic and would not cause any harm to my Desert Tortoise.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Sidewalk chalk is made from calcium sulphate rather than calcium carbonate like rock chalk.
However, as far as I can make out, it is completely nontoxic to children and pets and the dyes used to make the colours are similarly safe.
It shouldn't be any problem for your tortoise.

 

[JohnnyB65]

Thanks Adam, I don’t know how long the chalk has been there because I’ve been putting in some long days at work and didn’t notice. He must have not liked it because he only took a couple of nibbles.

I guess I’m going to have to put up another shade screen to keep the toys out of the yard. I have one already over my pond to keep their pine tree needles and cones out of the pond. These people weren’t here when I did that and the neighbors who did live there took offense to it like it was personal or something. The new people are a little wild and crazy so there’s no telling how they will react. I haven't talked to them, only hear them yelling all the time so I keep to myself.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thanks Adam, I don’t know how long the chalk has been there because I’ve been putting in some long days at work and didn’t notice. He must have not liked it because he only took a couple of nibbles.

I guess I’m going to have to put up another shade screen to keep the toys out of the yard. I have one already over my pond to keep their pine tree needles and cones out of the pond. These people weren’t here when I did that and the neighbors who did live there took offense to it like it was personal or something. The new people are a little wild and crazy so there’s no telling how they will react. I haven't talked to them, only hear them yelling all the time so I keep to myself.

Well, good luck with that.
Do what you have to do and hope the neighbours can be reasonable about it.
I know what it's like having bonkers neighbours.

 

[Blakem]

My sulcata tried to eat just about anything white on the ground. It usually tells me that he needs some calcium, so I give him a hunk of cuttlebone.

 

[JohnnyB65]

My sulcata tried to eat just about anything white on the ground. It usually tells me that he needs some calcium, so I give him a hunk of cuttlebone.

Thanks for the info.
I bought a 1 lb bag of Calcium Carbonate from Amazon after reading about that “how-to-make-home-made-calcium-blocks-for-tortoises” thread, but I keep forgetting to buy a silicon muffin pan. I thought my wife had one and she says she doesn’t. I've never heard of a "cuttlebone" and I wounder if that's something I can buy locally just to get it started until I get my baking thing together.

 

[Lyn W]

Thanks for the info.
I bought a 1 lb bag of Calcium Carbonate from Amazon after reading about that “how-to-make-home-made-calcium-blocks-for-tortoises” thread, but I keep forgetting to buy a silicon muffin pan. I thought my wife had one and she says she doesn’t. I've never heard of a "cuttlebone" and I wounder if that's something I can buy locally just to get it started until I get my baking thing together.

You usually find it in the bird section of anywhere that sells pet goods, it's quite easy to find - at least here in the UK it is - may also be called cuttlefish bone

 

[JohnnyB65]

You usually find it in the bird section of anywhere that sells pet goods, it's quite easy to find - at least here in the UK it is - may also be called cuttlefish bone

Oh OK thanks, I think I know what that is now that you mentioned birds.

 

[JohnnyB65]

Well I sent my wife to WalMart to buy some bird calcium and she came back with Wild Harvest pineapple flavored Mineral Treat. I would not have bought it just because of the pineapple flavoring, but she said they had nothing else. It is not worth making another trip to return it so I gave it to the tortoise and he smelled it then walked away. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to order a silicone muffin pan and make my own.

 

[Blakem]

It's this. It should be at a pet store. I buy mine from a farming feedstore and its really cheap.

 

[JohnnyB65]

It's this. It should be at a pet store. I buy mine from a farming feedstore and its really cheap.

Thanks, I have to go into town tomorrow and I know where there is a Pets Mart so I'll give them a try