Feeding and Nutrition :: calcium for hatchling

[LeslieMW]

my little hatchling refuses pellets and anything freeze-dried. she only eats things alive or fresh

she loves to eat fresh meat, esp live fish. and she even loves lettuce.

i know she needs more calcium, so what should i give her?

the only lettuce i have right now is romaine, so i give her a piece of that everyday and then a live feeder fish, a rosy red minnow.

then every 3 days i give her a meal worm for extra protein, because hatchlings need protein.

but she needs more calcium, so what should i give her? i read that salmon is good for calcium, and my mom has a fresh piece and said i can have some for the turtle, so should i give her some of that?

[untsmurf]

Will she not eat cuttle bone?

[LeslieMW]

i think cuttle bone would be too hard for her to eat. she's soo little, it's even so hard for her to eat little minnows!

i have a disolvable calcium pill that i take, should i put it in the tank?

the pill is calcium and some magnesium

[TheComputerGremlin]

No, no human supplements unless a vet tells you do.

Cuttlebone can be broken into managable sized pieces. I feed my turtle a head-sized piece rather than a whole one. If I gave him a whole one, he'd have it crunched up before I knew it, he eats anything! So you can definitely give little mouth-sized pieces of cuttlebone for your turtle.

Since she's into live food only, you could also crush up a piece of cuttlebone and try stashing it in some fish or salmon.

You really need to start the tough-love approach and get her on pellets before she is so spoiled that you can't. Since she's eating, start putting pellets in and no fish and do that for a few days. If she doesn't eat after three or four days, you can give her a little fish, not a lot, just a small piece so you feel better that she's not starving. Then go another three or four or more days. Eventually, she'll get the point that she's not getting fish every day.

[LeslieMW]

ooh ok i'll start doing that.

i thought maybe i'd soak pellets in tuna juice or something.
atleast she'll eat lettuce for now

[spaceapple]

Try zoologist's recipe for jello turtle treats (which includes calcium powder). I just made some yesterday and my little turtle who has a hard time biting lots of things and she thought they were great! Here's the thread in case you don't see it:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17486

[Rexamus]

I would like to suggest maybe small crickets if your turtle prefers only live food right now. Fluker's Calcium Fortified Cricket Quencher provides calcium for "gut loading". You feed the crickets the quencher prior to feeding the crickets to your turtle so they eat the calcium and your turtle eats them. Just a thought...

[marisa]

If you make the pieces of cuttlebone small and (really) thin so they'd crunch up easily, your turtle should be able to nibble on them. If your turtle won't eat cuttlebone, you could get some plain calcium carbonate or calcium gluconate tablets (in the vitamin section, no other vitamins or minerals added) and break up a few into small pieces and see if your turtle will nibble on them.

If your turtle likes fresh food, rather than lettuce, try feeding dandelion greens. They're much healthier and have a good calcium/phosphorus ratio.