I have a 5 month old sulcata(Opo). Opo wakes up to the natural sunlight on my screen porch. But loses the sunlight after a few hours. I also have the UVB light. Should I give Opo calcium with vitamin D3 or without D3
Thanks Ray
Thanks Ray
Calcium
- Thread starter Ray--Opo
- Start date
The screen on the porch is blocking a lot of the uvb from the sun.
Your in Florida, is there a reason you can't build him an outdoor enclosure to get full uvb from the sun for about an half hour to an hour a day with shade provided. Then keep him in a closed chamber the rest of the time?
If not, then d3 just a small pinch twice a week.
Your in Florida, is there a reason you can't build him an outdoor enclosure to get full uvb from the sun for about an half hour to an hour a day with shade provided. Then keep him in a closed chamber the rest of the time?
If not, then d3 just a small pinch twice a week.
I figured once I get my yard fenced in to keep out dogs and when he gets a little bigger and don't have to worry about hawks. I will build him a nice enclosure outside. Being retired I try to get Opo outside for at least a hour a day to graze
It doesn't matter. The small amount of D3 in the calcium supplement is not enough to do any harm unless you are using tons of it every day. A small pinch once or twice a week, will do no harm.
A tortoise needs UVB light so it can make its own Vitamin D. Humans can do this too, but you can also take up Vitamin D from your diet which torts do not seem to be able to do so well.
Vitamin D is used by the tortoise, and humans, to absorb dietary Calcium.
The whole process prevents Metabolic Bone Disease, or Rickets as it is sometimes called in humans.
So giving a supplement with added D3 won’t do any harm, but the added D3 may not help.
An overdose of Calcium can inhibit the uptake of other dietary minerals so it is important not to overdo it. A tiny pinch sprinkled on food 3 times a week max is enough.
UVB light doesn’t pass through glass or plexglass/perspex and is inhibited by mesh screens.
However, it does pass through cloud - you can get sunburned on a cloudy day. I found out the hard way as a teenager one summer and with no sunscreen burned very badly
) There is still UVB out in the open even when the sun isn’t shining directly onto the tortoise. An hour or two of the sun’s UVB a day is plenty, the problem you have is the screen on the porch rather than the sunlight going off the porch. Hence, your tort needs a UVB lamp and the correct diet.
Thanks for all the feedback. I am sure I will have many more questions in the future. LOL
