calcium powder
- Thread starter HtVic
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If he gets outside......Never. D3 is for reptiles that are kept totally indoors, as I understand it.
A pinch sprinkled on his food 2 or three times a week is all he needs. If you give them too much everyday it can interfere with the absorption and balance of other important nutrients and minerals.
Good ole Tom! That's where I got my info on how much to give Cooper! He's the man!
HtVic said:
Like many tortoise related things, I'm not sure this is really a right or wrong thing. It is all relative and every situation is different. There are people who use it everyday and their tortoises appear to be fine. Their are people who never use it and their tortoises appear to be fine too. I'm just sharing my opinion on the matter, but people should feel free to adjust any advice to fit their situation.
For example, if I had a super fast grower like Cooper, I might want to give calcium 3 or four times a week, or maybe still twice a week, but a little more quantity. Another example: I don't give adult males any additional calcium, but I give adult females a lot. My females generally get calcium three times a week because of the volume and frequency of the eggs they are laying all year long. My hatchlings and smaller tortoises get it twice a week in small quantities.
Glad you mentioned Cooper Tom. I have stay'd on the twice a week, but I have up'd the amount of it. So thanks for the extra info!Tom said:
I learned that one from a discussion with Yvonne. She is of the opinion that the giants need a bit more than some of the smaller species. I agree with her, and I also consider the sulcatas a giant too.
Thats for sure, giants they are!
If you want a more concrete, but not necessarily helpful, formula, there should be about 1.3-8mg of calcium per calorie of food. You can get a good idea of how many calories a reasonably active tortoises needs a day by taking the current weight in grams, to the 0.75th power, times 72*.
So... WTgr^0.75 x 72* x (1.3 to 8, or about 5 for an average) = Calcium dosage in milligrams. (This is summarized in the chart at https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/nutrition/guidelines-and-dosages )
(*- Instead of 72, you would use 36 for a fairly inactive tortoise, or up to 108 for a very active tortoise, like one laying eggs.)
This includes the calcium in the diet, cuttlebone, etc. so now all you need to do is to determine how much calcium it is getting in the food, and subtract that from the above dosage, then give enough powder to make up the difference.
Easy peezy, huh?
A reasonable amount of excess calcium can be excreted by the tortoise in the bowels, but way too much over time can become a problem- especially if the tortoise is also dehydrated.
Most of us just find a working average- roughly a decent 'pinch' or two a week (but that amount can be spread over the entire week if you want- a few smaller pinches, or a bunch of really tiny pinches, etc.) Besides, calcium powder makes the food bitter and look like it is moldy.
(And, of course, don't forget that you ALSO need UVB light, good hydration, etc.)
So... WTgr^0.75 x 72* x (1.3 to 8, or about 5 for an average) = Calcium dosage in milligrams. (This is summarized in the chart at https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/nutrition/guidelines-and-dosages )
(*- Instead of 72, you would use 36 for a fairly inactive tortoise, or up to 108 for a very active tortoise, like one laying eggs.)
This includes the calcium in the diet, cuttlebone, etc. so now all you need to do is to determine how much calcium it is getting in the food, and subtract that from the above dosage, then give enough powder to make up the difference.
Easy peezy, huh?
A reasonable amount of excess calcium can be excreted by the tortoise in the bowels, but way too much over time can become a problem- especially if the tortoise is also dehydrated.
Most of us just find a working average- roughly a decent 'pinch' or two a week (but that amount can be spread over the entire week if you want- a few smaller pinches, or a bunch of really tiny pinches, etc.) Besides, calcium powder makes the food bitter and look like it is moldy.
(And, of course, don't forget that you ALSO need UVB light, good hydration, etc.)
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Calcium for sure; but with D3? is the question.
The amount of D3 in calcium is designed to be safe even if the animals are kept under UVB lighting- it is on the low end of the dosage scale (which can be found at the dosages link above). It should not be a big problem. Most of the real problems come when the calcium and D3 are badly unbalanced.
I prefer, however, to not use calcium with D3 when I use a good UVB light, and there is some doubt that dietary vitamin D works as well as UVB does (it certainly does something, just not necessarily the same things to the same extent.)
I prefer, however, to not use calcium with D3 when I use a good UVB light, and there is some doubt that dietary vitamin D works as well as UVB does (it certainly does something, just not necessarily the same things to the same extent.)
I have tried putting calcium powder in water as my RF likes to drink it, or should it strictly be consumed with food?
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