calcium question ???

[animalmad]

Hi
can anyone tell me if you can feed too much calcium, ive been sprinkling limestone flour onto Tims weeds most days and giving him a bit of Nutrobal about twice weekly.

I do leave a cuttlefish in his table but he doesnt seem to be interedted in it, even when ive tried soaking it. I also leave a small bowl of limestone flour in the enclosure but have only ever seen him walk through it and not eat any direct from the bowl

just want to do my best by him, any advice welcomed x

[Shellystells]

As far as I no (and I've learned pretty much everything from here) that using nutrabol every other day with limestone flour the other day is fine but have the cuttlefish available at all times mine doesn't reli touch the cuttle. You can over do it with the nutrabol so every other day is fine hope this helps someone else will surely comment with a bit more exp than me xx

[cherylahutch]

I'm a learner as well but i sprinkle calcium 5 days a week and Nutrobal the other 2 days they have cuttle fish in there houses which they do sometimes have a chomp on but not often

[Shelled Lady]

As long as you don't feed the supplement on the same day, or when the tortoise is out in the sun for long periods, your tortoise should be OK. Over doing both the supplement and calcium is where problems occur, as D3/Omega3 locks up calcium. If your tortoise is not interested in the cuttle bone or dish of calcium, then it is getting enough. I would also give your tortoise a rest some days from any extras and just provide food, especially when it is out in good weather. There is nothing like the real sunshine for a healthy tortoise.

[Alan1]

They can overdose on calcium but it is pretty unlikely. There was once an article in practical reptile keeping magazine about it.

If you wet the cuttlefish and don't give them food first they will often go for the cuttlefish then you give them food after and they still eat it. If you give them food they eat the food and don't much bother with the cuttlebone

[animalmad]

great, thanks for the advice

[pagan queen]

Originally Posted by Shelled Lady

As long as you don't feed the supplement on the same day, or when the tortoise is out in the sun for long periods, your tortoise should be OK. Over doing both the supplement and calcium is where problems occur, as D3/Omega3 locks up calcium. If your tortoise is not interested in the cuttle bone or dish of calcium, then it is getting enough. I would also give your tortoise a rest some days from any extras and just provide food, especially when it is out in good weather. There is nothing like the real sunshine for a healthy tortoise.

What do you mean when you say "D3/Omega3 locks up calcium"?

[Alan1]

I do wonder where they get their calcium requirement in the wild, yes it's in plants but nobody is going to convince me that plants in the wild contain the amounts of calcium that people horse onto their torts' food. It probably equates to about the amount that is in pellets (what's in plants in the wild I mean)

[pagan queen]

Originally Posted by caledonia

I do wonder where they get their calcium requirement in the wild, yes it's in plants but nobody is going to convince me that plants in the wild contain the amounts of calcium that people horse onto their torts' food. It probably equates to about the amount that is in pellets (what's in plants in the wild I mean)

I've seen mine eat snail shells Alan, which are calcium. And I presume they would eat discarded egg shell from birds. I sometimes give mine shell from my chickens eggs, boiled first, and they seem to love that. I do sometimes wonder if too much calcium could cause over growth on shells, it has to go somewhere, but that's just me theorising, probably totally off the mark.

[Alan1]

Aye eggshells, snails and possibly stones and old bones