redearslider.com

Posted: **Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:55 am**

So I bought a new zoo-med basking platform for cap'n pockets. She loves chewing it up and spitting it out. I read on these forums to put cuttlebone in the tank. I wanted to call shinaningans on this because i make cap'n pockets turtle jello with calcium powder. So whatever, I put cuttle bone in the tank w/o the plastic back and GUESS WHAT?! She still eats the platform and doesn't bother with the cuttle bone. Soo, my hypothesis is that turtles just enjoy biting that kind of platform because of it's texture not for any instinctual behavior for more "calcium."

Posted: **Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:10 am**

I just caught my turtle snapping at his dock too, but he cant quite get a grip on it.

Posted: **Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:58 pm**

I'm also skeptical that the basking dock chewing is related to a calcium craving. Cuttlebone is a good as it will help trim the beaks and give your turtle's something to bite.

Posted: **Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:26 pm**

I've given up on this one. She loves her dock as much as reptomin yet when I take the dock away she won't bask. She is able to get up and bask, but without it she just wont. So I've given up and just fish all the dock pieces out of the tank every couple days and give a heavy depressed sigh

Posted: **Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:30 am**

interesting...

Posted: **Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:35 pm**

sam has taken a couple of chunks out of his dock, and I always have bits an peices of cuttle bone in his tank. So I don't think it's related to not having enough calcium. I had to sand down some shale rock peices that I put in there (not because they were sharp because they were really dull edged) because Sam kept eating peices of them. Maybe some turtles are just weird?