Supplements for Sulcata

[succulentsandsunshine]

I've been reading over Tom's great guide about baby Sulcatas and have a question to clarify which supplements I should get.

If I'm understanding correctly I should get everything below:

Cuttle bone -- keep in enclosure at all times
Calcium powder -- twice a week
Mineral supplement -- weekly?
Vitamin supplement -- weekly

I'm having a hard time finding the mineral and vitamin supplements. Are these combined with calcium in some cases?

If anyone has links to specific products they use that would be incredibly helpful.

Also... How long should I use these supplements for? 2-3 years? Longer?

Thank you for the help!

 

[Maro2Bear]

I wouldnt stress out about adding all of the minerals, supplements, calcium etc. Feed a well rounded diet of all good stuff, weeds, plants, cactus, flowers, etc. Keep a cuttle bone available. Add a few nuggets, then handfuls of Mazuri tort food. Mazuri contains a lot of the trace elements & minerals that your tort needs.

For how long? Id say, forever really.

Mazuri 5M21 large pellets... look what it has...

MAZURI Original 5M21 Tortoise Food, 1.25-lb bag - Chewy.com

Buy Mazuri Original 5M21 Tortoise Food, 1.25-lb bag at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

Contains: Ground Soybean Hulls, Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Oats, Wheat Middlings, Cane Molasses, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat Germ, Dicalcium Phosphate, Soybean Oil, Brewers Dried Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Dl-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, D-Alphatocopheryl Acetate (Form Of Vitamin E), Biotin, Cholecalciferol, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K), Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Nicotinic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Citric Acid, L-Lysine, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Cobalt Carbonate.

 

[succulentsandsunshine]

Sounds good! We're currently feeding him the Zoo Med Tortoise Food along with some succulents, wheat grass, and pumpkin vines.

I'll get a cuttle bone to add in too.

Thank you!

 

[YukdaTortoise]

You can also use Reptvite which I do recommend!

 

[succulentsandsunshine]

@YukdaTortoise Is this the one?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GC4B6O/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[YukdaTortoise]

Yep that is indeed Reptvite!

 

[Tom]

I've been reading over Tom's great guide about baby Sulcatas and have a question to clarify which supplements I should get.

If I'm understanding correctly I should get everything below:

Cuttle bone -- keep in enclosure at all times
Calcium powder -- twice a week
Mineral supplement -- weekly?
Vitamin supplement -- weekly

I'm having a hard time finding the mineral and vitamin supplements. Are these combined with calcium in some cases?

If anyone has links to specific products they use that would be incredibly helpful.

Also... How long should I use these supplements for? 2-3 years? Longer?

Thank you for the help!

The mineral supplement that I like is called "MinerAll". Its made by a company called Sticky Tongue Farms. As you can see from the name, they originally developed it for chameleons, but its great for tortoises too. Help stop or prevent rock eating behavior due to mineral imbalances or deficiencies. This sort of imbalance can come from over supplementation of calcium in some cases. Calcium interferes with the absorption of other important mineral and trace elements. Too much calcium and you'll get a defienciey somewhere else.

Some keepers prefer to let them self supplement with the cuttle bone. I usually do this too when they are getting a wide variety of weeds and leaves here in summer and spring. When summer rolls around and in Fall when my grapevines and mulberry trees drop all their leaves, I tend to use a little of the calcium powder once or twice a week.