Putting calcium in my Red Foot’s scrambled eggs

mmfox1993

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Hi all! I’ve only had my red foot Indie for a few weeks now so I am still learning how to adapt to her preferences. For some reason she refuses to eat anything with calcium powder on it. For her protein intake I make her a scrambled chicken egg once a week. I’ve been getting worried about her calcium, so this time I put the powder in her egg and she ate it all with no issues. Is this safe to do? Will in damage the amount of calcium or make it less effective?
 

JoesMum

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When you add calcium powder you only need to sprinkle a very tiny amount on very sparsely… and only do this 2-3 days a week. Overdosing leads to bladder stones and/or the tortoise refusing to eat.

An alternative is to hard boil your egg and mash it thoroughly complete with the eggshell. The eggshell will provide all the calcium your tort needs.

You can also put a cuttlebone in the enclosure. Some tortoises love to chomp on these for calcium. You will find cuttlebones in the bird aisle of your pet store.
 

mmfox1993

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When you add calcium powder you only need to sprinkle a very tiny amount on very sparsely… and only do this 2-3 days a week. Overdosing leads to bladder stones and/or the tortoise refusing to eat.

An alternative is to hard boil your egg and mash it thoroughly complete with the eggshell. The eggshell will provide all the calcium your tort needs.

You can also put a cuttlebone in the enclosure. Some tortoises love to chomp on these for calcium. You will find cuttlebones in the bird aisle of your pet store.
I will look into cuttlebone! My veterinarian said that using eggshells from store bought eggs could give her salmonella and that since the diets of the chickens they come from are unknown they may be more harmful than good for her. She recommended calcium powder, which I have been using a few times a week lightly sprinkled on food as recommended but Indie is not a fan.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Hi all! I’ve only had my red foot Indie for a few weeks now so I am still learning how to adapt to her preferences. For some reason she refuses to eat anything with calcium powder on it. For her protein intake I make her a scrambled chicken egg once a week. I’ve been getting worried about her calcium, so this time I put the powder in her egg and she ate it all with no issues. Is this safe to do? Will in damage the amount of calcium or make it less effective?
For calcium you could just feed the eggshell insteadI of using the powered stuff.
 

JoesMum

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I will look into cuttlebone! My veterinarian said that using eggshells from store bought eggs could give her salmonella and that since the diets of the chickens they come from are unknown they may be more harmful than good for her. She recommended calcium powder, which I have been using a few times a week lightly sprinkled on food as recommended but Indie is not a fan.
Just wash the eggshell thoroughly before grinding it if upyou are scrambling the gg.

If you’re boiling the egg, rinse it before boiling to get any dirt off. The boiling water will kill any salmonella.
 

mmfox1993

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Just wash the eggshell thoroughly before grinding it if upyou are scrambling the gg.

If you’re boiling the egg, rinse it before boiling to get any dirt off. The boiling water will kill any salmonella.
Thank you!
 

Yvonne G

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I will look into cuttlebone! My veterinarian said that using eggshells from store bought eggs could give her salmonella and that since the diets of the chickens they come from are unknown they may be more harmful than good for her. She recommended calcium powder, which I have been using a few times a week lightly sprinkled on food as recommended but Indie is not a fan.
That's the mistake quite a few folks make - you don't "sprinkle" on the calcium powder, you just take a TINY pinch between your thumb and index finger and put that over the food. . . a TINY pinch two or three times a week.
 

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