# HELP! Is my Tortoise getting it's Calcium?



## PlatinumTortoise (Jul 25, 2015)

My Redfoot tortoise is 2 months old and it usually eats spring mix veggies and Kale... lots of kale... I was wondering if that was enough Calcium for my Tortoise...

I DO NOT give it Cuddle fish bone or calcium supplements of any kind!


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## Tidgy's Dad (Jul 25, 2015)

A perfectly balanced diet should give a tortoise it's calcium needs without the use of cuttle bone or supplements.
After all, they don't have these in the wild.
However, is his diet sufficient in calcium?
Extra calcium is always needed for a growing tortoise and if the veggies fed are grown in calcium deplete soils, or he doesn't eat enough of the calcium rich veggies he may not be getting enough.
A cuttle bone will give him the extra if he needs it, often they seem to know when they are short of something in their diet and will try to eat odd objects to compensate. Cuttle bone can also help keep its beak trimmed too.
Some torts won't eat it, so a little grated onto his food a couple of times a week may help.
Supplements seem to be favoured by others, as some torts like them and they usually have other beneficial ingredients in them too.


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## Gillian M (Jul 25, 2015)

Sorry - can't be of help here - am no expert.

And a very warm welcome to the forum.


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## Tom (Jul 25, 2015)

Probably not enough calcium and the other compounds in kale make it not good to feed it all the time.

I think your diet needs lot more variety and grocery store foods are not the best way to go. Here are some suggestions for other, better things:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds: 
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food


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## PlatinumTortoise (Jul 25, 2015)

I have a 2 month old baby red foot tortoise who usually eats spring mix consisting of romaine lettuce, spinach other greens and also eats ALOT of Kale.... He DOES NOT eat calcium supplements of any kind and also has the occasional fruit.... Is my Tortoise getting enough calcium? How would I know? 

Please be specific... and give straight answers... THX!!!


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## dmmj (Jul 25, 2015)

Sounds good, I would cut out the spinach. It has calcium binders in it 
You can lightly sprinkle calcium on the food two to three times a week.


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## Lyn W (Jul 25, 2015)

Does he have access to a cuttlefish bone? He may start to nibble on that if he is calcium deficient and it will also help keep his beak trimmed. Not all torts bother with them, but you could lightly scrape some over his food a few times a week to provide calcium too.


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## johnandjade (Jul 26, 2015)

another vote for cuttlefish, you can scrape on food as has been mentioned. i also agree to cut out the spinich.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Jul 26, 2015)

I wouldn't do the supermarket mixes unless I had to.
Fresh farm or garden grown weeds and greens are usually better, as long as you know they're chemical free.


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## Tom (Jul 26, 2015)

PlatinumTortoise said:


> I have a 2 month old baby red foot tortoise who usually eats spring mix consisting of romaine lettuce, spinach other greens and also eats ALOT of Kale.... He DOES NOT eat calcium supplements of any kind and also has the occasional fruit.... Is my Tortoise getting enough calcium? How would I know?
> 
> Please be specific... and give straight answers... THX!!!



Did you not like the answers the first time you posted this question?


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## PlatinumTortoise (Jul 26, 2015)

I didn't actually, you must of posted the answers though.


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## Grandpa Turtle 144 (Jul 26, 2015)

PlatinumTortoise said:


> I didn't actually, you must of posted the answers though.


And most of all with out UV light your tort still isn't getting enough cal .


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## Lyn W (Jul 27, 2015)

PlatinumTortoise said:


> I didn't actually, you must of posted the answers though.


Tom's given you a long list of good foods for torts which will help with his calcium levels, and as Grandpa says your tort needs vital uv from the sun or his lights (to help digestion and absorption of minerals etc). If your tort is getting a healthy diet and uv you only need to sprinkle calcium a few times a week, and leave a cuttle fish bone in his enclosure so he can help himself if he thinks he needs it. If you do a search for symptoms of calcium deficiency in torts (or similar)you'll see what sort of things could happen - but with a varied healthy diet and uv hopefully those could be avoided.


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## ZEROPILOT (Jul 27, 2015)

Welcome. You've been given solid advice.
Are you able to provide natural sunlight at all during the day? It would be very beneficial.
Also, a word of warning. When my Redfoot tortoises are not provided some sort of calcium supplement such as Cuddlbone, they often eat rocks and whatever else they can find as a replacement. This would not be good for a baby.
It's true that 90% of the time, they will ignore the cuddlebone altogether. But the 10% is what counts.
Instead of the white powdered calcium supplement that many tortoises don't like the taste of, I also use a product called Repashy. It is brown in color and my Redfoot seem to act like it isn't there.


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## Nephelle (Oct 18, 2015)

ZEROPILOT said:


> Welcome. You've been given solid advice.
> Are you able to provide natural sunlight at all during the day? It would be very beneficial.
> Also, a word of warning. When my Redfoot tortoises are not provided some sort of calcium supplement such as Cuddlbone, they often eat rocks and whatever else they can find as a replacement. This would not be good for a baby.
> It's true that 90% of the time, they will ignore the cuddlebone altogether. But the 10% is what counts.
> Instead of the white powdered calcium supplement that many tortoises don't like the taste of, I also use a product called Repashy. It is brown in color and my Redfoot seem to act like it isn't there.



Jumping in because this is the first time I've seen mention of this product and am very interested - 

http://www.store.repashy.com/grassland-grazer-12-oz.-340g-3-4-lb-jar.html Is that the right kind? I think I'd like to get some!


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## keepergale (Oct 18, 2015)

This is the product I have used.
And recommend


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## ZEROPILOT (Oct 19, 2015)

ZEROPILOT said:


> Welcome. You've been given solid advice.
> Are you able to provide natural sunlight at all during the day? It would be very beneficial.
> Also, a word of warning. When my Redfoot tortoises are not provided some sort of calcium supplement such as Cuddlbone, they often eat rocks and whatever else they can find as a replacement. This would not be good for a baby.
> It's true that 90% of the time, they will ignore the cuddlebone altogether. But the 10% is what counts.
> Instead of the white powdered calcium supplement that many tortoises don't like the taste of, I also use a product called Repashy. It is brown in color and my Redfoot seem to act like it isn't there.


No. The powder that @keepergale posted is what I use and like.


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## Randi (Oct 28, 2015)

When I first joined this forum, I saw a post that ZEROPILOT made about Repashy.. my Red Foot refused anything with calcium on it. I went out and bought some, added it to the food and s/he never refused. I recommend the Repashy. It's wonderful. Thanks, ZEROPILOT


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