General Care Discussion :: Hardness off the shell

[joem1481]

I was just curious how hard a baby RES shell should be. I know they are a little softer when they are young but i just wanted to know how soft oir hard they should be and should i be giving them jurasi cal or somehting like that as a supplemental calcium source.

[marisa]

It's especially important that growing turtles have adequate nutrients, and calcium is one of them. A hatchling's shell, although not as hard as an adults (shells harden up at about a year) should be firm to the touch (not press in like if you were pushing on a crusty dinner roll, for example).

Jurassi Cal is good, although I don't believe it contains Vit D--no problem if your turtle has a balanced diet and a UVB light (necessary to produce Vit D3 for calcium absorption). I use RepCal; whichever supplement you get (if you get one), don't get one that contains phosphorus. Since it can be messy, it's good to moisten the pellets, roll/coat them with the supplement, let them dry and then give them to your turtle (more of the powder will stick and some will be absorbed into the pellet. Or, if your turtle will eat from your hand, you could just feed him the moistened/coated pellets.

Cuttlebone is also good as a secondary calcium supplement, although it may take him some time to realize it's edible. You could try leaving a few small pieces in the water and see what he does with them.

[joem1481]

ok that sounds great. Whatr is cuttlebone and where do i get it?

[cam722]

cuttlebone is what birds use to sharpen their beaks. You can get it at almost any pet store. Take off the hard backing.. the turtle can't digest this. Then break it or cut it into pieces and let if float in the tank. Some turtles can handle larger pieces some prefer smaller, just experiment and see what yours like. BTW, cuttlebone is much less expensive than the supplements you were talking about..

[joem1481]

ok sounds great and i assume when you say small you dont mean small like the siz eof pellets you just mean like a small chunk they can nibble at or do you want it in pellet size? Thanks for your help

[cam722]

nope, just small chunks not as small as a pellet. Maybe the size of a peach pit.. you can try bigger.. they may eat it.. Mine always have .. they just nibble on it..

[Emily]

Does the cuttlebone ever disolve into the water?

[joem1481]

ok thanks for the advice

[marisa]

Cuttlebone may be cheaper, but if a turtle doesn't take to it (smaller ones sometimes don't), a non-phosphorus calcium supplement would be really good to try...

[joem1481]

ok not worrying about money what is the best way to get them the calcium and how much calcium to baby turtles really need?

[marisa]

You could try both and see. Directions for usage are on the supplement, and if you leave some cuttlebone in the tank, your turtle will, assuming he eats them, nibble as he feels like it.

Hatchlings need enough calcium to grow hard and healthy bones and shells. The precise amount, I don't think is possible to say, as to some extent it will depend on the turtle as well as other factors. Not all the calcium that's injested is utilized, particularly if the diet isn't balanced and Vitamin D is lacking (a UVB light is important) and/or there's too much phosphorus in the diet, for example.