General Care Discussion :: turtle eating the reptoguard water conditoner

[monolithmaji]

as it said about my turtle keeps trying to eat it .. its the little block that looks like a turlte... well i think he might of eaten some of it. Now the package did not say not to put it in there with the turtle and considering it said it last 40 to 60 days i figured it was suppouse to go in there with him.. so i was just wondering if any one knew if that was a bad thing that he was biting on it.

[ScrewZoo]

Its suppose to go in there but those things dont even help. id take it out.

[Daniel3507]

are you sure its not a sulfa bar? ive never heard of a water conditioner in a bar form. if it is being eaten you need to take it out probably. alot of people use reptisafe water conditioner and its a liquid.

[LeslieMW]

i'm not sure if i'm thinking of the right thing, but i get this little calcium block for the water that is shaped like a turtle and it's actually good for the turtle to eat it.

[octpusgirl8]

The only turtle shaped blocks i've ever seen are sulfa blocks, and they're really not good to use. Good water quality and proper care is all you need to prevent illness, and overuse of medication can cause it to be ineffective if you ever do need to treat an illness. Besides all that, i've heard of turts getting nasty diarrhea from eating it.

LeslieMW- are you sure that it's a calcium block and not a water treatment? What's it called?

[xfueledbykatie]

i think i know what you're tlaking about.
it's stuff that like kills bad bacteria in the tank and stuff like that.

i used ot use it back in the day
but my turtles would just eat it and it eventually became a waste of money.

[LeslieMW]

i don't know the name of it exactly, but here's something similar
http://www.petwell.com.hk/ft61.turtle.jpg

[Simba]

Is this it? http://www.petco.com/product/6313/Tetra ... ioner.aspx Don't have any useful information but it looks cute hence my noticing it in the stores :p

[Fuzzy Hamster]

Every one of those that I have looked at in the stores that is shaped like a turtle, and some just block shaped, contains 'calcium sulfate' as the main or only ingredient. Some also contain sodium chloride. Some don't even list the ingredients at all!

These should be added to the list of things that are labeled as 'for turtles' but are NOT recommended for use with turtles. Spend your money on items that will benefit your turtle.

Your turtle should be getting their calcium from the variety of food they eat and supplemented with cuttlebone if necessary. Proper filtration and/or regular water changes will ensure that water quality is not an issue.

The only thing these 'conditioners' accomplish is to 'condition' you to spend your money on them. The blocks serve no useful purpose and should be avoided.

In fact, I believe that because they contain sulfates, your turtle could actually become immune to some medications that a vet might prescribe, thus making it more difficult & expensive to treat any conditions that might require veterinary intervention.