General Care Discussion :: Turtle Eating Dock!~ :(

[pan1k]

I am getting frustrated. My turtle is starting to eat the dock. Ever since I started feeding her the correct amount of food. It's getting bad, i'm afraid shes going to get sick. What can I do? It's the foam zoo-med one. Also I noticed discoloration on the dock, is it from the turtle waste maybe and the heat lamp baking it in? It's a reddish color.

[RunninWideOpen]

If the turtle's eating the dock I would take it out. There's been a lot of people talking about different kinds of docks that the turtles can't eat and they look a lot better to me.

here's the link: http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7398

[SpotsMama]

Do you keep cuttlebone in the tank for your turtle to snack on? One reason turtles try to eat those docks (I assum it's a Zoo Med) is a craving for calcium.

But I agree, if he/she has gotten into the habit of eating the dock it's best to replace it.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I agree with Tohmit. Check out the link in his post. It really is a good dock & I use it for my turtle who normally eats everything, but she doesn't eat the acrylic dock.

[pan1k]

Thanks everyone! I got some cuttlebone from petco, as soon as I put it in the tank, she went crazy eating the heck out of it. I'll see when I get home if there are any more pieces of the dock missing. I'll get her the new ramp/dock in a few weeks.