Supplements and sub adults

[Destben]

Hey guys,
I have what I’m guessing is a sub adult Russian he is 4 1/2 inches. I was wondering how often he should get calcium and vitamins? Maybe also a guess on his age. I know there is no way to tell for sure how old but I thought I would get opinions.

 

[Pearly]

Hey guys,
I have what I’m guessing is a sub adult Russian he is 4 1/2 inches. I was wondering how often he should get calcium and vitamins? Maybe also a guess on his age. I know there is no way to tell for sure how old but I thought I would get opinions.
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I think that would depend on the diet you provide. I’ve been raising 2RFs from tiny hatchlings and being “diet-crazy” as a mom of 3 picky eaters (human kids) I’m fully confident that there is more than plenty of variety that covers all their nutritional needs in what I feed them. Remember that VARIETY is the key. I know that with herbivorous torts you guys are more limited than I am with RFs but there is still a lot to choose from in fresh foods and don’t forget about the commercial pelleted food that’s made for your species. I do not advocate feeding your tort pellets exclusively but believe that there is nothing wrong with adding SOME just to increase the variety and fill in the nutritional gaps here and there. I use several different brands of tort food, soak the big ones and sprinkle on top or mix into my torts’ salads. There are some very tiny pellets and I sprinkle little of those dry on top of food which always encourages my torts to eat. There is only one brand that they do not like, most of the others seem pretty palatable. If you would feel better supplementing, with GOOD VARIED DIET I think once a week sprinkle of the supplement would suffice. Some folks do couple times a week. Just know your tortoise, watch him/her, give frequent warm baths, inspect his entire body afterwards, if skin, scales, shell look good, strong, he feels like a heavy rock when you pick him up, he’s active, with great appetite, then you’re doing something right and keep it up Supplements seem to be a personal choice of each one of us. I did try using calcium powder at the beginning but they wouldn’t eat their food with powder in it. Some torts don’t mind, mine did. Like I said, it varies. Just stick around here, read about other people’s pets, ask questions, and you’ll figure it out over time

 

[Destben]

I think that would depend on the diet you provide. I’ve been raising 2RFs from tiny hatchlings and being “diet-crazy” as a mom of 3 picky eaters (human kids) I’m fully confident that there is more than plenty of variety that covers all their nutritional needs in what I feed them. Remember that VARIETY is the key. I know that with herbivorous torts you guys are more limited than I am with RFs but there is still a lot to choose from in fresh foods and don’t forget about the commercial pelleted food that’s made for your species. I do not advocate feeding your tort pellets exclusively but believe that there is nothing wrong with adding SOME just to increase the variety and fill in the nutritional gaps here and there. I use several different brands of tort food, soak the big ones and sprinkle on top or mix into my torts’ salads. There are some very tiny pellets and I sprinkle little of those dry on top of food which always encourages my torts to eat. There is only one brand that they do not like, most of the others seem pretty palatable. If you would feel better supplementing, with GOOD VARIED DIET I think once a week sprinkle of the supplement would suffice. Some folks do couple times a week. Just know your tortoise, watch him/her, give frequent warm baths, inspect his entire body afterwards, if skin, scales, shell look good, strong, he feels like a heavy rock when you pick him up, he’s active, with great appetite, then you’re doing something right and keep it up Supplements seem to be a personal choice of each one of us. I did try using calcium powder at the beginning but they wouldn’t eat their food with powder in it. Some torts don’t mind, mine did. Like I said, it varies. Just stick around here, read about other people’s pets, ask questions, and you’ll figure it out over time

I feed a variety to my leopard tortoise and I have already started this guy on the good stuff. He’s from petsmart and is in poor condition. Not horrible but poor. He seems to be enjoying a variety though and I’m not sure if he was getting supplements there. His #2 is almost completely undigested and full of carrots and he is shedding horribly. So right now I’m just trying to get good food in him and the needed supplements.