General Care Discussion :: Potential chewtoy + calcium source for RES.

[GoGoCharlie]

We have been the proud owners of a RES named Skippy for about a year now and have been using a trick to curb the destructive tendancies of our turtle which I felt like sharing.

Several months ago our RES started chewing and destroying the foam floating dock we had bought for her. It was a big concern for us. I soon realized that the only thng she enjoyed chewing on more was those little calcium turtles we keep tossing in every few weeks.

One day i was in the fish store picking up more turtles when i noticed the clerk unpacking a box of 7 day beta fish feeder blocks. Little white pyramids with food in them that slowly disolves releasing the food into the water. I realized the main ingrediant in the white part was the same ingrediant in the calcium blocks!

So now any time we see the turtle destroying something we dont wat her to, we toss a 3-day feeder in. They are CHEEPER then the calcium turtles too! You get 4 of them for the price of 1. The food bits also feed any fish in the tank.

Now im no expert, so If anyone has any warnings go ahead and post them. Otherwise, spread the word!

[roseK]

yea my turtle chews on my dock and used to chew on those little turtles.

my turtle is kinda chubby so hes on a diet..... lol....... he gets his cuttle bone and it jsut sits in the tank for whenever he wants it and it lasts awhile. but he still chews the dock.

but because of the additional protien and nutrients, putting in those feeders might be bad for his health.

[BullDog]

I think you'll want to be careful with those. Like Rose said, they do have the food in there, and you don't want your turtle to get chubby.

An even cheaper source of calcium is cuttlebone, like the kind for birds. Many places sell it bulk and you can get a large bone for 50c or less

[marisa]

If the turtle is chewing on the dock, I'd replace it with something he doesn't find to be as appetizing.

And I do think that cuttlebone would be better than those white turtle blocks or the 3-day fish feeder.

[GoGoCharlie]

Never thought about that for the feeder blocks, but it does make sense.

Ill look for the cuttlebone next time I visit the shop.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Are you certain those "little turtles" were calcium ones? The only ones I know of are a type of sulfa block, which your turtle SHOULD NOT be eating, and you shouldn't be putting in the tank anyways.

I would just go with cuttlebone, and get rid of the foam basking area altogether by replacing it with plexiglass. Turtles are naturally destructive, of sorts. They sometimes need additional stimulus from their environment, so you can add a few decorations here and there, and change up the tank once a week by rearranging the decorations. Also, add a few large river rocks. If the turtle has other things to keep them busy, they should be less destructive!

[GoGoCharlie]

yeah they werent the medicated ones, but im gonna switch to the cuttlebone as soon as the local shop gets it in. She hasnt chewed the dock once after her move from the 21 to the 120.