Feeding and Nutrition :: Cuttle bone lovers!

[richard]

after countless cuts and pokes trying to get that backing off cuttlebone we have been grinding it all mostly now,we bought a small handheld electric grinder for 50cents at a garage sale last yr and dust all the turts food before it goes in,we also make sure that there is one large piece of cuttlebone floating in the water at all times but since the grinder a lot less blood and curses have arised in the house hold with the grinder we dont worry about the backing as it turns to dust along with the rest of the bone

[SpotsMama]

Interesting solution! Does the dust float off in the water or can you get it to stick pretty well? How do you get it to stick?

[N4784N R4613]

The best way to do it is, get the pellets damp, roll them in the dust, then let them dry, and then feed them to your turtle.

[grey goose]

When my guys were babies, I would cut up tiny bite-sized pieces for them, and they wouldn't touch it. Then I tried clipping a large (about 1/3rd) piece of cuttle to the side of the tank, just below the waterline. They all went nuts! They became obsessed and would not leave it alone until it was all gone! I still do it occasionally, but not they like the pieces too.

[erinemcgreevy]

I bought the turtle bone by Zoo Med, do is there still a hard backing to remove?

[SpotsMama]

There is still a hard backing on the "turtle bone". Turtle bone is just a fancy name for a cuttlebone that they charge more for.

The hard backing is somewhat hard to see. It's on one side just below the surface. If you try to dig into the bone with your fingernail or the tip of a knife you'll find that it's relatively easy to do on one side but not on the other. The difficult side is where the backing is. You can pry it off with a knife. It's kind of messy. The bone will break into pieces in the process but that's not so bad because you were going to break it up anyway.

[erinemcgreevy]

Is there still a hard back to remove if I bought the Turtle Bone from ZooMed?

[octpusgirl8]

Yes, the ZooMed Turtle Bone is the same cuttlebone as is sold for birds, just more expensive and in a different package. I bought to too, hoping that it wouldn't have the backing...oh well. Now i just buy what they sell for brids, it's much cheaper.

[spyder85]

So this will probably sound really stupid to all of you but, what is a cuttlebone?
I'm new to the turtle game and on half of these topics im so lost.
My RES's are still really little, so any tips you have would be amazing.

[N4784N R4613]

Cuttlebone is a calcium rich "bone" that is used to help keep a birds beak strong. But luckily for us turtle keepers, it also keeps a turtles shell hard. You can find it in most pet-stores in the bird section. After you buy it you have to pry off the hard backing, because RES can't disgust it well. After the backing is off, it will most likely be in pieces, just toss the pieces in the water, and replace when there eaten.
Here is what Cuttlebone looks like...

[spyder85]

does the size of chunk I throw in the tank matter? I wouldn't want it to choke them?

[N4784N R4613]

It depends on the Turtle. Some like to take bite out of a large chuck, and others like bite size pieces.

[kimberly183]

I bought one that was already broken - the clerk looked at me quite oddly! All I do is strip a little off the back with a knife (like peeling a mango or avocado), drop it in, and it's GONE! They LOVE it. But, I don't think the previous owner EVER gave them any, so calcium craving is probably an accurate assessment.

[emma]

I really dread giving the cuttlebone now. The turtles make such a mess with it. Today right after I was done cleaning the tank, I put some cuttlebone in and about 2 hours later I came back up and like 1/3 of the tank bottom had scattered cuttlebone pieces everywhere. Does anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it?

[shannon_nicole]

My turtles don't even touch their cuttlebone. I keep putting bits in there, then they just get waterlogged and sink so I take them out and replace.. but they seem totally untouched.
It's weird. They love their turtle pellets, and also lettuce, but the cuttlebone just isn't for them I guess.

So I got them some calcium powder and just put it on their food. I wish they would just eat the cuttlebone though so it doesn't seem like such a waste of effort for me.