Cuttle bone being devoured

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I am concerned about Edward eating non-edible things... On 13th of May I started taking Edward out a few hours per day to soak up some sun. That same week I noticed that he had started to eat substrate, specifically when outdoors. As per @Tom 's advice I stopped giving him additional calcium, in case that was the problem. A few days later he stopped eating substrate and his poop has been clear ever since. Here is the original thread: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/tortoise-started-to-eat-substrate.214948/

But, on 24.5. our Apple trees started blooming and the petals would fall into his enclosure. He loved eating those white petals. The problem is, soon after that I noticed that he would try to eat everything white that he could find, bird poop, his ow urates, rocks... At first I thought, maybe this is just because he is still on the look for the flower petals?

But, the day before yesterday, after just digging a white rock out of his mouth, I decided to give a try to getting a cuttlebone. Maybe he isn't getting enough calcium now that I stopped supplementing? He can't overdose on cuttlebone, right? Well, as of today, the cuttlebone has been absolutely devoured. I would say about half of it has been eating, leiving it thin and a bit smaller than before. My question is, is his change of behavior explained by too much or little calcium?

Here is a pic of the cuttlebone straight out of the store, before removing the metal and giving it to Edward. And after, the cuttlebone today.

 

[Tom]

Balance. Too much calcium every day causes an imbalance. No calcium ever, depending on the diet, can also cause an imbalance.

Usually a pinch of calcium mixed into the greens twice a week is enough, but not too much.

What does tis tortoise eat? I see this sort of behavior the most in tortoises that are fed mostly grocery store greens. I see it less often in tortoises that are fed weeds, leaves, and flowers.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

He has been eating weeds only since 29.4. I used to add a pinch of calcium to his food 3 times a week since I got him in February, until I stopped in 25.5. He also had pellets for fiber supplementation with his grocery store diet during his time with me. UVB he is currently getting outside at least 4 times a week, few hours at a time. Prior to me getting him there was no calcium supplementation, fiber or UV, at least not in the shelter.

I have had to pick some weed myself and offer them, if I let him just graze on his own he will only pick dandelion greens and any flowers he sees. From the food dish he is less picky.

Maybe this is because the cuttle bone was new to him? Should I add calcium on top of the cuttle bone or keep things as they are for now? Could this still be imbalance caused by his previous diet?

 

[Tom]

He has been eating weeds only since 29.4. I used to add a pinch of calcium to his food 3 times a week since I got him in February, until I stopped in 25.5. He also had pellets for fiber supplementation with his grocery store diet during his time with me. UVB he is currently getting outside at least 4 times a week, few hours at a time. Prior to me getting him there was no calcium supplementation, fiber or UV, at least not in the shelter.

I have had to pick some weed myself and offer them, if I let him just graze on his own he will only pick dandelion greens and any flowers he sees. From the food dish he is less picky.

Maybe this is because the cuttle bone was new to him? Should I add calcium on top of the cuttle bone or keep things as they are for now? Could this still be imbalance caused by his previous diet?

Over a month of good weeds should have fixed this.

If he is eating nothing but dandelions, or just mostly dandelions, that might have something to do with it, but it sounds like you feed him a wide variety.

Sounds to me like this is just an odd preference/neurosis of your individual tortoise. You've done a great job of feeding.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

For what it’s worth, our red foot absolutely chows down on a piece of cuttlefish😂like not just nibble, it’s gone🥲
We don’t give it her often as she seems so hell bent on it, so it’s a treat for her I guess haha
She gets a little pinch of power in 2-3 of her feeds each week with a varied diet, I’ve only ever known her to pass some small pieces of substrate on 2 occasions over a good few years, it’s always worried me when I’ve seen it and I still don’t know why she did😣

But yeah ultimately I think she just really likes the taste of the cuttlefish, or it’s because she doesn’t have it often, maybe your guy is the same🥲

 

[ZEROPILOT]

As a rule of thumb, I leave a few cuttlebones in my enclosures and replace them if they get fouled or eaten.
What I see has been my tortoises absolutely ignoring them for weeks or more. Then one day one or more of my tortoises eat the cuttlebone like they can't get enough of it.
They seem to know when they need the extra calcium boost. And having the cuttlebone available to them totally stops the rock eating. As far as I can tell.
Rock eating can be a huge issue in an outdoor enclosure. Especially here in south Florida where the majority of the rocks are pure coral

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

As a rule of thumb, I leave a few cuttlebones in my enclosures and replace them if they get fouled or eaten.
What I see has been my tortoises absolutely ignoring them for weeks or more. Then one day one or more of my tortoises eat the cuttlebone like they can't get enough of it.
They seem to know when they need the extra calcium boost. And having the cuttlebone available to them totally stops the rock eating. As far as I can tell.
Rock eating can be a huge issue in an outdoor enclosure. Especially here in south Florida where the majority of the rocks are pure coral

Maybe I’ll start giving ours more, though I fear she has no personal limit🤣

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Maybe I’ll start giving ours more, though I fear she has no personal limit🤣

Bird boutiques sell broken cuttlebone peices pretty cheaply BTW.
I guess bird snobs want whole, pristine ones.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Bird boutiques sell broken cuttlebone peices pretty cheaply BTW.
I guess bird snobs want whole, pristine ones.

Yeah I’ve ordered from a few places that sell decent size chunks in bulk instead of the whole ones, definitely better value

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

As a rule of thumb, I leave a few cuttlebones in my enclosures and replace them if they get fouled or eaten.
What I see has been my tortoises absolutely ignoring them for weeks or more. Then one day one or more of my tortoises eat the cuttlebone like they can't get enough of it.
They seem to know when they need the extra calcium boost. And having the cuttlebone available to them totally stops the rock eating. As far as I can tell.
Rock eating can be a huge issue in an outdoor enclosure. Especially here in south Florida where the majority of the rocks are pure coral

I have spent hours trying to remove every rock from his enclosure before I let him back in there...

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Over a month of good weeds should have fixed this.

If he is eating nothing but dandelions, or just mostly dandelions, that might have something to do with it, but it sounds like you feed him a wide variety.

Sounds to me like this is just an odd preference/neurosis of your individual tortoise. You've done a great job of feeding.

When grazing, he mostly eat only dandelions. First he had a thing with the leaves, then the flowers, then the closed flower and now it is only the stems he will graze. But when I pick him a variety and offer it in his indoor enclosure (daily) he will eat other weeds like always.

I am leaning towards the preference/neurosis. He just seems to gain more and more these kind of things, especially food related. For the first few weeks he wouldn't eat rocks. Then he would eat white rocks, and now all rocks. Also, he has these "goals" that he tries to accomplish. For to weeks straight he might try to climb on top of his hide every morning (he can't, it is too high up, but it sure is a fall risk) and the he will suddenly stop.

Yeah, overall his behavior wasn't what I expected.

 

[TammyJ]

Yeah I’ve ordered from a few places that sell decent size chunks in bulk instead of the whole ones, definitely better value

Couldn't they possibly choke on the small pieces?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Couldn't they possibly choke on the small pieces?

I wouldn’t say they’re small where I’ve got them, but any tiny bits I just crush up onto her food, I’d say they’re more half sized pieces😊