NEED CREATIVE CALCIUM ADVICE

[Guggie]

My 2 cents:

Try without D3. My Greeks like it better.
Try putting in a small bowlful and letting them go at it when they want to. My Greeks hit it hard once or twice a week or so.

 

[Madkins007]

He does eat some cactus pads chopped up. I have done most of the above except, Putting in water, the fruit and putting just a little on each day. I usually sprinkle quite a bit twice a week. I haven't done the baby food, but I did try the canned pumpkin and mushy Mazuri, which he didn't eat either. I will keep trying all suggestions until I win
Thanks everyone. Any more suggestions are welcomed.

I bolded the bit that caught my eye. When you use calcium as a supplement, you need to treat it like some sort of radioactive salt- very small amounts a couple times a week. The stuff is pretty bitter (try it yourself) and also looks like powdered mildew, both of which turn the tortoise off.

My guys avoided the stuff, even in small pinches, until I made up my 'Tortoise Library Power Mix'-
- A cup or more of coarsely ground hay (I take Timothy hay blocks for rabbits, tap the block with a hammer until it flakes apart, then rub/crunch the flaked layers until they separate into the original bits.)
- A tablespoon or so of calcium powder
- A human multi-vitamin/mineral tablet crushed fine
- Store in a air-tight container (the vitamins will loose their effectiveness over a fairly short time in this form.)

I add a decent sprinkle of this (like adding sugar to cereal) to any meal that is low in calcium and/or fiber (ie- Spring Mix, most lettuces, etc.). My guys almost always eat it readily.

 

[wellington]

Nice idea. I will try. I feed the same Timothy hay. Thanks. I will be trying all suggestions until I win All other ideas still welcomed.

 

[erdavis]

My sulcata was the same way when I first got him. He also doesnt like to eat grass, only weeds and spring mix. What I did was put it all in a blender, but dont blend it for too long or it will be mushy. That got him to eat it all. Slowly I stopped mixing it and he is now chewing on the cuttlebone and eating grass from the yard
Sorry if someone already said to do this, I'm at school and not supposed to be on the computer so I couldn't read all the posts.

Good luck!

 

[DesertGrandma]

You are probably using too much. My vet suggested, and this is what I do, to use tropical flavored Tums. After spraying the food with water lightly sprinkle this on the food. I grate mine up really fine with one of those kitchen graters that you use for nutmeg, etc. over the food. You don't need the D3 if using an MVB and going outside. A little every day is better than a lot once in awhile.

 

[Jacqui]

I really never had any picky ones until this winter with my two Homes hingeback hatchlings. They were a bit slow on even eating and what they did eat wasn't super great as far as calcium, but if you added calcium they flately ignored the food. I was worried, especially since one seemed to have a really soft shell. I tried several types of calciums (with and without, a mango flavored one, hibiscus powder, and every this and that type of mixture out there and fed in various ways). Finally I decided to go with the liquid calcium in their soaking water every so often. Seems to be working.

 

[EKLC]

1. put mazuri pellet and healthy pinch of calcium powder in cup
2. pour hot water over it and stir calcium into solution
3. let sit for few minutes

 

[randy]

Cuttle bones, are you talking about the ones you get for food?, excuse my ignorance but is this one of the calcium ways to feed the baby tortoises (sulcata) other than zoo med calcium powder?

 

[Dagashi]

hatchlings may have difficulty with timothy hay (not the flakes) we found that out recently.

Ours don't mind the calcium but they don't eat day old vegetables. or vegetables that have wilted for a bit! They used to. but now they just totally ignore it. But they go gaga when introduced fresh leaves or mazuri (which they smell a mile away). since they drink water and they are fairly small, u might want to try Jacqui's advice on soaking them with liquid calcium so that they drink the calcium instead. or you can soak the vegetables with liquid calcium and see if that helps?

U can try Okra (lady's fingers) too. I heard they have high calcium and can be eaten by torts. but double check to see if Sulcata's can have those.

 

[Jacqui]

Cuttle bones, are you talking about the ones you get for food?, excuse my ignorance but is this one of the calcium ways to feed the baby tortoises (sulcata) other than zoo med calcium powder?

Cuttlebones, which are really from fish, are usually recommended to be left sitting in an enclosure to allow the tortoise to gnaw on them whenever they feel the need for more calcium. It is also good for wearing on the beaks naturally. Some tortoises never touch them, some love them, some only like them new while some think aged is tastier. You can find them usually cheaper sold in bulk for birds, but also in the tortoise section, too. You can also break them up or grind them to add either as a dressing on top of the food every so often or leave a dish with some of it powdered or small crumbles.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Cuttlebones, which are really from fish, are usually recommended to be left sitting in an enclosure to allow the tortoise to gnaw on them whenever they feel the need for more calcium. It is also good for wearing on the beaks naturally. Some tortoises never touch them, some love them, some only like them new while some think aged is tastier. You can find them usually cheaper sold in bulk for birds, but also in the tortoise section, too. You can also break them up or grind them to add either as a dressing on top of the food every so often or leave a dish with some of it powdered or small crumbles.

Cuttlebones come from cuttlefish, which are not really a bony fish, but rather a type of cephalopod mollusk, related to octopus, squid, and nautilus. They have a structure inside them made from calcium carbonate, similar to the shells of other mollusks like snails, to help with buoyancy. We call this a "bone," even though it only superficially resembles the calcium phosphate bones of true fish.

I think nowadays, most cuttlebones don't really come from real cuttlefish anymore. I think they mold them in the shape of a cuttlebone from a mixture of calcium sulfate under artificial conditions.

 

[yoda3106]

Try calcium powder in there bath, another way to get it into there body!! I do it with my 5month old who had a really soft shell, now it's all but hard!!