Calcium

[Celticgyrl]

Hi I’ve tried to get Tommy my ( Russian) tortoise to eat the calcium. I’ve mixed it with pellets, put it in water, and added it to his favourite kurly kale. I also bought a calcium and vegetable block but he will not take it, he just walks away. Is there any calcium rich foods that I can give him?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
You can sprinkle a bit of calcium powder over finely chopped greens, so it's almost invisible. Or you can get a cuttlefish bone (white oval things for the birds) - he will take a bite of it, when he's in the mood for some calcium.

As for the foods - collard greens are high in calcium, for example. Curly kale is nice too. You can check this table -
https://www.guinealynx.info/chart_CaP.html and cross-check with thetortoisetable.co.uk for safety (don't pay much attention to goitrogens and oxalates warnings). However, you will still need diet variety - no single food source is perfect.

 

[Tom]

Hi I’ve tried to get Tommy my ( Russian) tortoise to eat the calcium. I’ve mixed it with pellets, put it in water, and added it to his favourite kurly kale. I also bought a calcium and vegetable block but he will not take it, he just walks away. Is there any calcium rich foods that I can give him?

You are likely trying to use too much calcium. You just need a very tiny amount mixed thoroughly with the chopped pile of greens. A tiny pinch. If you can see powder and if it is obviously present, then you have used way too much. Start with hardly any at all. So little that your tortoise barely notices it.

Don't use kale often. Favor endive and escarole form the store. Add in cilantro, arugula, and dandelions greens too. You can use the lettuces, but be sure you are adding in amendments to make the grocery store green more suitable. There are many ways and many products to do this with, but you need to be adding fiber, variety and calcium, if you must use grocery store greens.

The best foods are weeds and leaves from outside. They are free, high in fiber, and high in calcium. You have to invest some time learning about the weeds that grow near you and figuring out which ones are good for tortoise food. We can help you ID them, and if you pull up whole plants and take them to a local nursery, they can help you ID them too.

More here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Celticgyrl]

Hello!
You can sprinkle a bit of calcium powder over finely chopped greens, so it's almost invisible. Or you can get a cuttlefish bone (white oval things for the birds) - he will take a bite of it, when he's in the mood for some calcium.

As for the foods - collard greens are high in calcium, for example. Curly kale is nice too. You can check this table -
https://www.guinealynx.info/chart_CaP.html and cross-check with thetortoisetable.co.uk for safety (don't pay much attention to goitrogens and oxalates warnings). However, you will still need diet variety - no single food source is perfect.

Ok I will try what you suggest and see if it make a difference.I try to give home variety and I’ve picked up a few seeds to grow my own stuff for him. Can I use washed and finely blended eggshells for calcium

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I've seen that some keepers feed redfoots boiled eggs with shells, not really bothering with crushing the shell. So you can try this - minus the egg itself as your tortoise neither need animal protein nor can digest it properly.
But a cuttlefish bone is easier to bite and keeps beak conditioned. Some pet shops have broken cuttlefish ovals, which are unsuitable for birds, but are fine for tortoises and they can give it away for free or with a huge discount.

 

[Celticgyrl]

I've seen that some keepers feed redfoots boiled eggs with shells, not really bothering with crushing the shell. So you can try this - minus the egg itself as your tortoise neither need animal protein nor can digest it properly.
But a cuttlefish bone is easier to bite and keeps beak conditioned. Some pet shops have broken cuttlefish ovals, which are unsuitable for birds, but are fine for tortoises and they can give it away for free or with a huge discount.

Ok thank you

 

[Maggie3fan]

I've seen that some keepers feed redfoots boiled eggs with shells, not really bothering with crushing the shell. So you can try this - minus the egg itself as your tortoise neither need animal protein nor can digest it properly.
But a cuttlefish bone is easier to bite and keeps beak conditioned. Some pet shops have broken cuttlefish ovals, which are unsuitable for birds, but are fine for tortoises and they can give it away for free or with a huge discount.

I feed my Redfoot whole hard boiled eggs from time to time, it's interesting to me to watch how she breaks open the egg...she always eats it all...and as usual see Layla's opinion of her empty food dish...