Feeding and Nutrition :: Feeding on floating dock??

[turtleacquirer]

I'm new to this whole turtle thing. My 4yr old son received two for his birthday so now I'm trying to learn all I can about them. They started eating the corner off their floating dock and I'm just wondering if this will hurt them or if I should be concerned. I first thought they weren't getting enough to eat so I increased their food but there is still food in the tank after 10 mins. and they have lost interest in the food so I take out the remaining food. So now I'm trying to figure out why they are doing it and how to get them to stop because it is making quite the mess in the tank.

[rana]

Mine try to eat anything and everything they can get into their mouths!

[steve]

They're very opportunistic eaters, so they'll eat even if full. I would switch to a different dock and there are many options to buy or make one.

[LoKeyRES013]

My turtles will try to eat any stationary object in their tank including the thermometer heater filter and dock from what I've seen aquatic turtles just like to chew on stuff like most breads of dog one thing I've found helpful is to not break my cuddle bone into pieces after I remove the coating and just let it float near the dock this seems to distract them from tearing up the dock for the most part they still take chunks out every once in a while but its not as bad

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Ranger used to eat his dock all the time. He ate almost half the ramp off. It's safe considering nothing happened to Ranger and he ate a lot of it! The only thing I hated is he sometimes bit off pieces and spit them out and it would float on the surface.

[steve]

It also depends on what it's made of. My male RES had one of those hard resin platforms. He'd constantly bite it to the point where he chipped his beak. He goes after the cork and the result is not bad, just the occasional buoyant poop.

[theartbook35]

I would provide some cuttlebone whenever you see the turtles do this, as, chomping down on tank decor almost always means they need calcium.