Baby calcium intake

Nico7

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Hi all, I have one baby Russian tortoise About one year old and I am worried she is not getting enough calcium, I have I cuttlebone in her Enclosure but she has never eaten it, I also have a UVB light, should I give her calcium supplements? Grind the cuttlebone and use that on her food or will she know when to eat it? Thanks.
 

GBtortoises

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If you're feeding your tortoise a varied quality diet calcium deficiency shouldn't be an issue. The problem with constantly coating food with calcium or other supplements is that you may be forcing your tortoise to consume those supplements when they don't need so much. A better way is to offer calcium carbonate powder at all times in a separate, shallow container for it to consume it when it wants to in the amount that it wants to. Different tortoises will consume different amounts at different times of their growth, adulthood and even during different times of the year. There is no standard amount for all tortoises. They do know when they need to consume it.
 

Tom

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Hi all, I have one baby Russian tortoise About one year old and I am worried she is not getting enough calcium, I have I cuttlebone in her Enclosure but she has never eaten it, I also have a UVB light, should I give her calcium supplements? Grind the cuttlebone and use that on her food or will she know when to eat it? Thanks.

What do you feed your baby?

If you are using mostly grocery store greens, then you'll need to supplement the calcium a couple of times a week. If you are feeding mostly weeds and leaves that are already high in calcium, and have a good calcium to phosphorous ratio, then just offering the cuttle bone is probably enough. Many tortoises ignore the cuttle bone for months or years, and then one day eat it all up.
 

Maitaimommy

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Jul 26, 2017
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I mix calcium powder in my torts water when I soak him. I also sprinkle a bit on his food occasionally. Seems to do the trick:)
 
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