General Care Discussion :: Floyd is soo odd...

[KameKo]

I've been having this odd problem for the past few months. In my overall setup I have big rock slabs making up the basking setup and on the opposite side of the tank one of those ZooMed basking docks that most people either own or have heard of. The reason the ZooMed dock is not used for the actual sunning is because the turtles have never displayed any interest in ever climbing on top of it. Never have, never will. They much prefer hiding under it *shrugs*.

Well...as of late my oldest turtle Floyd has been biting the ZooMed dock. Literally, biting off little pieces of it, spitting it out, and then leaving it to float around in the water. Very annoying as far as cleanup goes. Thinking it was a fluke, I threw that one away and bought them another one. Same thing happens! I'm not sure why in the world he is biting the dock into pieces. He has little water plants that he loves to knock off of the basking area and into the water and I feed him a diet of turtle pellets, dried shrimp (twice a week), grapes (once a week), and carrot shavings. I'm not sure why he doing this. Other than that, healthwise he is fine. Any suggestions?

[TheComputerGremlin]

Often turtles begin doing that type of behavior when they are in need of calcium. Have you give cuttlebone yet? Cuttlebone is a calcium supplement found in the bird section of pet stores. You have to cut off the hard backing from the one side before giving it to them. But usually a few pieces of cuttlebone will keep that behavior at bay. Also, you should start them on leafy greens and cut back on some of the carrots. Carrots as an only veggie can cause health problems. But lettuce, you can give them as many leaf lettuce pieces or dandelion greens that they want, in moderation of course.

[1981camaroz28]

The brand I use it called Turtle Bones and they are great they float and they are really cheap they come in packs of 2 for under $5 they are about 8 inches long

[steve]

Turtle bone is the same as cuttlebone. They usually STILL have the hard backing, and that needs to be removed.

[Nettle]

Just to let you know, cuttlebone from Wal-mart in the bird section is 88 cents for an eight inch box. Just putting that out there.

[taylor_a]

This is a little off topic...but I just discovered that cuttle bone actually comes from cuttlefish...for some reason I thought they were synthetically made!

This distressing me a little bit, since cuttlefish are so damn cute and amazing.

Oh well.

[marisa]

taylor_a, I know how you feel. This was brought up on another forum, and when I saw a photo of how cute they were (and someone said they were relatively intelligent), I felt bad as well. I think of it sometimes when I give my turts cuttlebone, and I think I've learned to rely a bit more on other sources for calcium in their diet.

[KameKo]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll have to try getting them some cuttlebone to try out. So does the hard backing just peel off or do I have to cut it?

[2wicky]

i got cuttlebone from the bird section in petco. of course the employees had no idea why I would be buying it for a turtle.. but i ripped off the backing and give him little chunks at a time. he LOVES it

[Bumby's Mom]

I seen a picture of a cuttlefish and nearly cried. I won't buy it anymore since I found out its an actual animal plus my turtles refuse to eat it and my cockatiel can have other things.

[Tenodera]

Well thousands of cuttlefish are fished up and eaten every month and since the cuttlebone they don't use in dishes, they sell it for animals.

I really like cuttlefish, but I'm not gonna let their bones go to waste and still gonna keep on feeding them to my turtles.

They don't kill cuttlefish JUST for their cuttlebone, usually the cuttlebone is the thing left over when they grill/cook/fry it.

[taylor_a]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they were killed just for their cuttle bone..

[marisa]

It wouldn't surprise me either, although I've seen cuttlefish curry on the menu at some eateries in Tokyo, so they are caught for food as well. I've read there's been some concern over the heavy metal/contaminant content in them, particularly in the edible parts.

[Azfar]

Hello everyone.. I just wonder.. is it the cuttlebone, the one looks like transparent bones? If I buy the fresh cuttlefish at market, then I take out the bone, can I give to my turtles directly? after wash n rinse..

[Nettle]

I don't know about transparency. This is a pic of the cuttlebone I use.

http://www.ruscelli.com/images/LR4P2328aweb.jpg