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I can't believe what I saw today at Petsmart. We all know that small stones/rocks and gravel can cause serious problems. Well it seems some companies will do anything to make a buck. They are now selling something called Total Turtle Aquatic Substrate.
I didn't find it on their site but you can find it at drsfostersmith.com. It appears to be simple gravel and a few packets that say they are beneficial bacteria and such. I mean really do they want to cause problems for the turtles? Or maybe I'm wrong and its not rocks but a dense mineral that dissolves over a long time and digests.

it is an interesting idea but yea, companies will do anythign to make money

I think it's a common trend in a lot of turtle-specific equipment (except food maybe).
Examples:
-turtle kits are awful
-turtle filters are equally inadequate
-turtle gammarus/krill food isn't any good for them
-turtle specific tanks suck
-those tiny calcium turtles to put in the tank
-turtle lagoons!

The reason for this i think is because turtle owners-in general- are the least knowledgeable about their pets (think of the thousands small res sold to small kids all over the world every year), compared to other reptiles/fish/mammals. So less honest companies rip them off easily.

From the picture, it looks like plain old pea gravel to me.

Marcus.85 wrote:I think it's a common trend in a lot of turtle-specific equipment (except food maybe).
Examples:
-turtle kits are awful
-turtle filters are equally inadequate
-turtle gammarus/krill food isn't any good for them
-turtle specific tanks suck
-those tiny calcium turtles to put in the tank
-turtle lagoons!

The reason for this i think is because turtle owners-in general- are the least knowledgeable about their pets (think of the thousands small res sold to small kids all over the world every year), compared to other reptiles/fish/mammals. So less honest companies rip them off easily.

Your 100% right!
I was going to buy all of that (except the lagoon) when I first got my RES but it was a good thing I looked up some stuff before i bought mine.

Actually I have to tell you that this stuff is wonderful. The rocks are too big to be ingested by MOST turtles, but the great part of it is, even if they nip at it or eat it entirely this stuff is MADE OUT OF CALCIUM! I had the same idea as you at first, then I did the research and find this stuff to be great. I have actually started using it in my tanks a few weeks ago. The packets that come with it are the usual crap, like "beneficial bacteria" to jumpstart cycle, clarifier, etc, but the substrate itself is great

choob99 wrote:Actually I have to tell you that this stuff is wonderful. The rocks are too big to be ingested by MOST turtles, but the great part of it is, even if they nip at it or eat it entirely this stuff is MADE OUT OF CALCIUM! I had the same idea as you at first, then I did the research and find this stuff to be great. I have actually started using it in my tanks a few weeks ago. The packets that come with it are the usual crap, like "beneficial bacteria" to jumpstart cycle, clarifier, etc, but the substrate itself is great

Not sure what size turtle you have but mine are almost full size females and the pieces I saw would fit in their mouth easily. Also not sure about the 100% calcium part, a lot of what's in the bag looked like rocks to me. The problem still lies in the fact that the information given to new turtle owners and the impression they get from the junk they are sold is what needs to be stopped. Well that and the illegal breeding and selling of turtles, but that's another rant.

choob99 wrote:Actually I have to tell you that this stuff is wonderful. The rocks are too big to be ingested by MOST turtles, but the great part of it is, even if they nip at it or eat it entirely this stuff is MADE OUT OF CALCIUM! I had the same idea as you at first, then I did the research and find this stuff to be great. I have actually started using it in my tanks a few weeks ago. The packets that come with it are the usual crap, like "beneficial bacteria" to jumpstart cycle, clarifier, etc, but the substrate itself is great

My 4 inch RES was able to fit these in his mouth how big is your res?