General Care Discussion :: more calcium!

[sam 'n ella]

Hi, my turtle Sam wont eat the calcium suppliments I give him anymore. hes little little, about 2". his shell is going soft. what can i feed him to get calcium into him?

[marisa]

What supplements were you giving him?

If you haven't tried it, you could float some pieces of cuttlebone in the tank to allow him to nibble as needed. Cuttlebone is a decent secondary source of calcium.

Does he have a UVB light? If he doesn't get enough Vit D3 (metabolized from the UVB rays), he won't be able to absorb the calcium in his diet. If he does have a UVB light, how old is it?

What is the rest of his diet like?

[TurtleLover_S&B]

I agree with marisa. My turtles would eat & eat cuttlebone as fast as they could! I had never tried calcium supplements so I don't really know anything about them. If you haven't tried cuttlebone, you should definitely try it!

[sam 'n ella]

yeah thats what i meant, the cuttlebone. they used to eat it, but wont anymore. hes a UVB bulb in the basking dock, and spends a fair amount of time there. i dont know how old he is, bought him at the end of august, and hes only 2" now. just a youngin. i also feed him nutrafin turtle pellets, and random veggies by time. romaine, carrots, broccoli. hes not so much a fan of the veggies though.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Well, keep trying with the veggies! Don't give up on 'em! And with the cuttlebone, do you cut off the outer layer? The outer layer is pretty hard and can make it difficult for them to eat it. They may have stopped eating i because they were tired of the pain or problems. So if you don't cut the outer layer off, that could be the problem!

[sam 'n ella]

i cut it off. they just dont eat it no more. i dunno why. but thanks guys. hopefully he'll come around.

[Lilsaint]

JUst put a cuttle bone in his tank. Mine doesnt like eating cuttlebone too. She gives up on it. But occasionally take a nibble. She finish about half her head size cuttlebone in 2 days

[TurtleLover_S&B]

I agree with Lilsaint. Just cut off the outer layer and put the whole thing in there. Sometimes they may get hungry & want a snack. They'll probably just go and take a bite! Don't give up! There are other ways....but you just have to really think! Ha ha!