Tony the Tort42
Active Member
@Warren he will eat as much as he needs. i wouldnt take it away from him, he probably knows better than we do if he needs it.
How do torts know to eat cuttle bone?
- Thread starter Tony the Tort42
- Start date
I'll give it to him in the morning, I will keep an eye on him.
Archie's mom
Member
Quick question, do Russians need a cuddle bone...the kind you would give to a bird.....where do you put it (hang it on the enclosure or lay it on the substrate??
Archie's mom
Member
I have deer antlers, are they ok to put in the enclosusre for him to nibble on and or climb on?
I just lay them on the substrate in a couple of different places.
I suppose if they have not been treated with anything, your Tort might enjoy a nibble, but I have not tried this.
All tortoises Benefit from Calcium (cuttlebone) for example I personally just toss them on the substrate but some people like to put it on a slate or a stone plate so the tortoise isn't going to ingest substrate.
Sometimes I scrape with a knife on the cuttlebone and what falls off I put on his food.
I dont know about deer antlers
Tony the Tort42
Active Member
Deer antlers cant be awful, he probably would take a nibble. Like the others said cuddle bone is a good thing for them to have as well.
Canadian Mojo
Well-Known Member
I would imagine that cuttlebone would be close enough in appearance/smell/taste to bone that a lot of animals would munch on it pretty naturally. I would be curious to see what would happen if you put a fresh raw stewing bone in a tort enclosure -- particularly with a known scrounger like a Redfoot.
Hello, I would like to update everyone on my Sulcata eating his first cuttlebone by himself. He started with a new one and he really enjoyed it, eating more than I thought he would. He ate alot at first and then he would just take a bite every once and a while. Here's a picture of the cuttlebone he ate on and a new one to compare, after 1 day . I appreciate the likes that I'm receiving. Interacting on line is new to me so bare with me responding back right away. I enjoy reading this Forum and learning alot, will hope to share and interact more with this Forum in the future.
I love this discussion post, will read through the entire thing in a bit..... butttt I did a lil research this morning!
Most reptiles do in fact have "evolved highly specialized chemosensory (i.e. the abilities to smell and/or taste) and visual capacities, in particular color vision (Pellitteri-Rosa, 2010)". Tortoises, or at least Hermann's tortoises, also have preferred colors... The most preferred color in Hermann's tortoises was found to be yellow...
This is all my own speculation, but......... I think that calcium-rich inorganic material (cuttlebone for example) may have specific visual, olfactory, and gustatory properties. I want to suggest that at first , the difference in color between the cuttlebone (or other calcium-rich inorganic substance) and the soil draws the tortoise's attention. Afterwards, the smell makes the tortoise take that first bite or nibble. Finally, the smell and taste combined, or maybe it's just one of them, hold the tortoise's attention until its instincts indicate it has had enough calcium.
Some fun facts about tortoises eating in-organic materials that somewhat informed my speculation:
- The first report of lower vertebrates "mining" and exploiting natural mineral resources was published in 1982 (Marlow). The report tracked Californian desert tortoises, and found they selectively ingested and munched on the exposed lime layer of soil (sometimes they specifically dug to expose it). This lime layer had calcium levels 20-80 times higher than surrounding soil.
-Osteophagy (consumption of bones) has been obsereved in desert tortoises. They have even been observed to consume the bones of deceased desert tortoises (Walde et al. 2007).
-Gravid desert tortoises are more likely to practice geophagy (dirt eating). They are also more likely to consume sea fossils and carnivore scat than their nongravid, female counterparts (Moore 2014). The author suggest that this occurs because gravid tortoises require much more calcium to support the egg-making process.
*Studies, all hyperlinked:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11250000903464067?scroll=top&needAccess=true
https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/science/article/pii/S0003347282800584
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.cul.c...gsite=summon&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://bioone-org.ezproxy.cul.colu...all-Mammal-Bones-by/10.3374/014.055.0105.full
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46628162_Nutrition_of_chelonians
*I didn't cite the last study I listed. It was okay and a nice in-depth resource, but it had some typos...
If anyone would like access to any of the full studies/articles, please tell me. I have access to all of them as pdfs from my University. : )
Most reptiles do in fact have "evolved highly specialized chemosensory (i.e. the abilities to smell and/or taste) and visual capacities, in particular color vision (Pellitteri-Rosa, 2010)". Tortoises, or at least Hermann's tortoises, also have preferred colors... The most preferred color in Hermann's tortoises was found to be yellow...
This is all my own speculation, but......... I think that calcium-rich inorganic material (cuttlebone for example) may have specific visual, olfactory, and gustatory properties. I want to suggest that at first , the difference in color between the cuttlebone (or other calcium-rich inorganic substance) and the soil draws the tortoise's attention. Afterwards, the smell makes the tortoise take that first bite or nibble. Finally, the smell and taste combined, or maybe it's just one of them, hold the tortoise's attention until its instincts indicate it has had enough calcium.
Some fun facts about tortoises eating in-organic materials that somewhat informed my speculation:
- The first report of lower vertebrates "mining" and exploiting natural mineral resources was published in 1982 (Marlow). The report tracked Californian desert tortoises, and found they selectively ingested and munched on the exposed lime layer of soil (sometimes they specifically dug to expose it). This lime layer had calcium levels 20-80 times higher than surrounding soil.
-Osteophagy (consumption of bones) has been obsereved in desert tortoises. They have even been observed to consume the bones of deceased desert tortoises (Walde et al. 2007).
-Gravid desert tortoises are more likely to practice geophagy (dirt eating). They are also more likely to consume sea fossils and carnivore scat than their nongravid, female counterparts (Moore 2014). The author suggest that this occurs because gravid tortoises require much more calcium to support the egg-making process.
*Studies, all hyperlinked:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11250000903464067?scroll=top&needAccess=true
https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/science/article/pii/S0003347282800584
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.cul.c...gsite=summon&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://bioone-org.ezproxy.cul.colu...all-Mammal-Bones-by/10.3374/014.055.0105.full
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46628162_Nutrition_of_chelonians
*I didn't cite the last study I listed. It was okay and a nice in-depth resource, but it had some typos...
If anyone would like access to any of the full studies/articles, please tell me. I have access to all of them as pdfs from my University. : )
This is so cool!!! I'm shook.
I love this discussion post, will read through the entire thing in a bit..... butttt I did a lil research this morning!
Most reptiles do in fact have "evolved highly specialized chemosensory (i.e. the abilities to smell and/or taste) and visual capacities, in particular color vision (Pellitteri-Rosa, 2010)". Tortoises, or at least Hermann's tortoises, also have preferred colors... The most preferred color in Hermann's tortoises was found to be yellow...
This is all my own speculation, but......... I think that calcium-rich inorganic material (cuttlebone for example) may have specific visual, olfactory, and gustatory properties. I want to suggest that at first , the difference in color between the cuttlebone (or other calcium-rich inorganic substance) and the soil draws the tortoise's attention. Afterwards, the smell makes the tortoise take that first bite or nibble. Finally, the smell and taste combined, or maybe it's just one of them, hold the tortoise's attention until its instincts indicate it has had enough calcium.
Some fun facts about tortoises eating in-organic materials that somewhat informed my speculation:
- The first report of lower vertebrates "mining" and exploiting natural mineral resources was published in 1982 (Marlow). The report tracked Californian desert tortoises, and found they selectively ingested and munched on the exposed lime layer of soil (sometimes they specifically dug to expose it). This lime layer had calcium levels 20-80 times higher than surrounding soil.
-Osteophagy (consumption of bones) has been obsereved in desert tortoises. They have even been observed to consume the bones of deceased desert tortoises (Walde et al. 2007).
-Gravid desert tortoises are more likely to practice geophagy (dirt eating). They are also more likely to consume sea fossils and carnivore scat than their nongravid, female counterparts (Moore 2014). The author suggest that this occurs because gravid tortoises require much more calcium to support the egg-making process.
*Studies, all hyperlinked:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11250000903464067?scroll=top&needAccess=true
https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/science/article/pii/S0003347282800584
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.cul.c...gsite=summon&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://bioone-org.ezproxy.cul.colu...all-Mammal-Bones-by/10.3374/014.055.0105.full
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46628162_Nutrition_of_chelonians
*I didn't cite the last study I listed. It was okay and a nice in-depth resource, but it had some typos...
If anyone would like access to any of the full studies/articles, please tell me. I have access to all of them as pdfs from my University. : )
Thank you so very much for this wonderful information. I will enjoy reading these studies.
Jeanette
Anytime, please let me know if you want them as PDFs
)
But it looks like I need to be a University student or staff member to access.
Yes I would!Anytime, please let me know if you want them as PDFs
Jeanette
I can email them or send them through app you’d like! Just private message me with the info
Tony the Tort42
Active Member
Pretty neat!
Sue Ann
Well-Known Member
I guess I’m going shopping for Cuttlebone in the morning.
Great discussion group thanks
