Feeding and Nutrition :: RES eating water conditioner tab, thinks its cuttlebone?

[toomuch9992001]

I bought one of the small turtle shaped water conditioner tabs, says it helps keep dieses down. I just noticed my female, 6" is trying to eat it. Im wondering if it will hurt her and maybe she thinks its cuttle bone? She LOVES cuttle bone, but how often should I give it to them? She is eating really great. I give veggies one day and sticks the next, veggies next and protien next?

[untsmurf]

Those things don't do anything except make it harder for actual medicine to work on your turtle when you need it. I would take it out to prevent any possible problems. I don't know what's in them (and wouldn't be surprised if it was a scam and was made of cuttlebone) but I wouldn't want mine eating them.

I've heard people say give as much as your turtle will eat and others that say give a head sized piece every few days. I'm not sure if they can get some sort of calcium poisoning. But I think if your turt is looking for it, you should give it to them (as far as cuttlebone is concerned, not food).

[toomuch9992001]

Thanks! Will remove now, and offer small piece of cuttlebone.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Yeah, those turtle things are just added expense. Keep an eye on your turtle as they are known to upset turtle bellies if eaten, and you can have some mild vomiting or diarrhea as a side-effect.

Cuttlebone is a mixed bag; on one hand, you should give as much as your turtle wants, on the other hand, a lot of turtles will just eat and eat. I would say that a good starting point would be to not exceed one 4-5" cuttlebone (with the backing removed) per week, and go from there. Some people just have their cuttlebone hanging in the tank, and it takes weeks to go through it. My little garbage disposal will eat anything I put in her tank, so she gets like maybe 1/3 of a cuttlebone at a time. I give her it once or twice each week. And remember that a lot of the crunching action causes the cuttlebone/calcium to go into the water instead of into the turtle, so too much cuttlebone could cause your water to go hard, but far as I understand, that's about it.

[theartbook35]

I personally would give them one half a shell sized piece of cuttlebone a week. Too much of anything is never good.

[marisa]

You can give a turtle all the cuttlebone s/he wants, but if there's insufficient vit D3 in the diet, the calcium won't be utilized (it will be excreted). All you'd basically be doing is spending/wasting money on cuttlebone (or whatever calcium supplement being used).

That said, I try to keep a few pieces of cuttlebone in the tank all the time. The need for it varies, and this is reflected in how long my turts take to eat it (or not).

[theartbook35]

You can give a turtle all the cuttlebone s/he wants, but if there's insufficient vit D3 in the diet, the calcium won't be utilized (it will be excreted). All you'd basically be doing is spending/wasting money on cuttlebone (or whatever calcium supplement being used).

That said, I try to keep a few pieces of cuttlebone in the tank all the time. The need for it varies, and this is reflected in how long my turts take to eat it (or not).

If they act like they need more calcium than what I give them, I usually put extra in. They seem to know when their bodies need it, and they consume it as they see fit.

Toomuch- Your turtles are going to try to eat or at least attack/bite anything new that goes in the tank. For that reason, please be careful in the future what you put in the tank. I used one of those conditioner tabs too, and nothing happened to my turtles, but I guess some are just more sensitive to it than others. Calcium sulfate, what the turtle tablet is made of, isn't the right kind of calcium that they need anyways. (They should have calcium carbonate). I recommend a liquid conditioner for you in the future.