General Care Discussion :: Turts Eating Non-slip ATBA covering...

[RaytheonLiszt]

Hi guys,

My two turtles have a ceramic floor tile for an ATBA with plexiglass ramps. I thought this was OK at first because I read about a couple people here who used ceramic tiles as basking areas. The problem now is that I'm noticing that as my turtles slide off back into the water, the tile seems to be lightly scraping the bottom of their shells. I lightly sanded the edges of the tile but I don't think that's helping.

To stop this I got some of that non-slip shelf liner from Target (I've seen people use that before) and covered the tile (including the edges). (I also thought it would help dry out the bottom of their shells).

So the shelf liner stops the scratching, but now my turtles are eating it!!! I cut off all the loose parts but then they just eat the top of the liner (it's kind of bulbous, which is why I got it) while they're basking! This is really concerning me because I'm not sure how safe it is for them because it is not an "aquatic approved" product (a while ago I used to have the Zoomed turtle dock, which they promptly ate and destroyed, but I wasn't as concerned because other people seemed to have that problem and they just passed on the foam anyways).

But now what should I do? I want them to stop eating the liner, but I don't want the tile to scratch them anymore. Do any of you guys have any suggestions??

Thanks a ton!
RL

[BullDog]

Do you give them cuttlebone? Sometimes turtles eating bits of the dock can mean they're feeling a lack of calcium.

Other than that, can you maybe just put a lot of silicone on the edges of the non-slip stuff so they can't peel up the edges?

[marisa]

What do you mean by "bulbous"---do you mean it's loose/ comes up in places? If so, can you flatten it and find a way to keep it flat?

[RaytheonLiszt]

What do you mean by "bulbous"---do you mean it's loose/ comes up in places? If so, can you flatten it and find a way to keep it flat?

Oh I just meant that the liner is foamy (but it's not thick). I'll try to flatten it, but I think it's the type of foam that comes back up. I'm not sure how I'd keep it flat though...

[mikee]

Ray-zit -- I know what you mean about the liner. Years ago I put some out door carpet on a ramp and the little boogers started eating it. I did not realize it until one got a little sluggish. I found carpet fibers hanging out of his butt. He was sick! After pulling it out over a period of a few days he got better. They will eat almost anything. He may be missing something in his diet but they are little pigs. You may have to revert to a hard rubber or something they "can't" eat. Good Luck! m.

[RaytheonLiszt]

Hmm now it seems they've gotten "bored" with it and have stopped eating it. One of them pooped out chunks of it this morning, and she seems normal, so I think that stuff didn't affect them (HOPEFULLY!). I'll keep watching them closely, and if they don't eat or bite at it anymore, I think I'll leave the liner there.

Thanks guys!

[theartbook35]

Ray-zit -- I know what you mean about the liner. Years ago I put some out door carpet on a ramp and the little boogers started eating it. I did not realize it until one got a little sluggish. I found carpet fibers hanging out of his butt. He was sick! After pulling it out over a period of a few days he got better. They will eat almost anything. He may be missing something in his diet but they are little pigs. You may have to revert to a hard rubber or something they "can't" eat. Good Luck! m.

That's like when I used to put tinsel on our Christmas trees, and realized my cats were eating it, so every once in a while we'd be pulling tinsel out of their butts. We stopped using tinsel after that.

Anyways, Ray, just buy cuttlebone. Or take the liner off, and sand down the ceramic tile more. You could also replace the liner with turtle turf, or another kind of reptile carpet.