Too Much Cuttlebone?

MichaelS

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My Sully seems to be eating cuttlebones like candy. I always make sure she has one available and she always eats them on a consistent basis. She is currently 19 cm and 1270g and eats about 5 five inch cuttlebones per month.

Is that a 'normal' rate for her size?

Do I keep giving her constant access to a cuttlebone and hope that she will self regulate her calcium needs or do I need to hold back a little?

As she grows she is just eating them faster and faster.

Her diet is about 50% old formula Mazuri and 50% weeds/grasses with some Opuntia mixed in.



FYI, these are the cuttlebones I bought and would recommend them:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001OE1KO6/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
 

puffy137

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I pick my cuttlefish off the beach . Today I watched as my 10 month old Greek gnawed away at it , they do seem to enjoy the stuff. They also have the rinds of watermelons , & end stalks of lettuce which I'm sure keeps their beaks from over growing .
 

Yellow Turtle01

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I pick my cuttlefish off the beach . Today I watched as my 10 month old Greek gnawed away at it , they do seem to enjoy the stuff. They also have the rinds of watermelons , & end stalks of lettuce which I'm sure keeps their beaks from over growing .
Awesome! They just float up?
Sorry, I'm afraid eveyone here does not share your sully's enthusiasm :p
 

puffy137

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Do they float? Dunno , I just walk along the beach & collect them , lots just laying on the sand .:D
 

Jodie

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I have never had this problem, or heard of it before. Too much calcium can cause stones, but one would think she wouldn't eat it If not needed. Good luck, hopefully someone more helpful will chime in.
 

MichaelS

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I don't add any powder Ca supplement to his food just the Mazuri and grass (Bermuda, St. Augustine, ryegrass) and weeds (dandelion, chickweed,) and Opuntia.
 

Tom

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That is unusual.

Is she having a growth spurt right now?
 

MichaelS

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Here is her growth chart since I got her. I found this forum in the end of December 2013 and switched her to a closed chamber...so you can see the jump in her growth. But over all she has been a steady grower the last year and a half putting on fairly consistent grow as a percentage of body mass.

Screen Shot 2015-05-21 at 5.11.45 PM.png

She of course is spending more time outside as the weather has gotten warmer.
 

DesertGirl12

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Here is her growth chart since I got her. I found this forum in the end of December 2013 and switched her to a closed chamber...so you can see the jump in her growth. But over all she has been a steady grower the last year and a half putting on fairly consistent grow as a percentage of body mass.

View attachment 130957

She of course is spending more time outside as the weather has gotten warmer.

Michael S, I am coming in late on this but just want to thank you for your growth chart. I have wondered if my two (almost yearlings) were on track for size and weight. It seems they are growing so fast right now and such voracious appetites! I can see that mine are right in there where yours was as a yearling. As for cuttlebone, mine have barely finished their first one but when they choose to eat it, they eat a lot of it (seemed to me) and then ignore it. Each one has had a different time for their growth spurt and when they choose to chow on the cuttlebone.
 

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