Feeding and Nutrition

I got the two pack of cuttle bone - which of course the pet store owner only associates with birds - and I have no idea how much I'm supposed to put in each tank. I just broke one of the 5" pieces in half and threw each half in each tank. But I'm not sure that's what people are 'doing' with it. Maybe I'm suppose to put in smaller pieces? Will these large chunks I threw in there just get slimy or fall apart before being 'useful?'

I could use some guidance now that 'Y''all" talked me into getting this stuff (y'all being whomever told me to :-)

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I just peeled most of the hard backing off of a whole piece and threw it in to the tank. He nibbles at whenever he feels like it. It's been in there for a couple months now, with significant bite marks along both sides, there is probably half of it left now, and has started floating again. Probably time to remove the rest of the backing, as the bites out of it all go right up to the edge of the area that I left the backing on.

I don't have the patience to peel the hard backing off. So once a week I just cut a couple pieces out of the soft side and throw it in the tank. Small pieces so he won't choke and can chew threw them. He eats them right away. It's only a supplement to green leafy veggies which have calcium in them and turtle pellets which also have calcium in them. I bet the guy or gal at the pet store looked at you funny when you said you needed cuttle bone for a turtle. :lol:

Nah, He's cool - he's somewhat humble as a new owner of the store and he 'seems' to take it all in stride. I'm glad I asked you because I threw in this big whompin 3 inch piece in each tank and I don't think the turtles have a clue what to do with it because they try to bite it and it floats away :-)

(duh...) So thank you. So now they both like carrots and broccoli (I used the stem part - because the to part seems like it would just go everywhere and clog up the filter but I might be wrong. Let me know. Maybe the 'value' is in the dark green top part (having trouble finding a term for that part - it's like the canopy of the tree...). Let me know what your thoughts are and thanks again.

How 'big' are the pieces you cut out and how many - I'm sorry for asking for so many details but I don't have a clue :-)

I found that for veggie pieces my turtles seem to prefer VERY small bits - like smaller than your pinkie nail for sure. Is that ok? And is that the same for the cuttle bone?

I just did what you said - very small bits and they ate them all up - well- the larger female did but the male is taking his time but also seems to have no problem eating it. I'm giving them tiny, 'rice' sized pieces because I was worried they might choke as you said.

I take the backing off and kind of "mince" it, it all breaks apart in different sized pieces. I double cut the bigger pieces with a knife and just toss them in, my turtles chomp on it and it breaks apart. They look so cute when they chomp on it and it looks so easy for them to break apart.

When I was learning about cuttlebone and looking it up, I found this video where this guy would take off the backing and toss the entire thing in his pond, the turtles would just bite at it until it was gone. I think he might have been a breeder because these turtles were huge RES and in a really huge pond and there were tons of them. He picked one of the pieces up and it was all half gone with little bite marks everywhere.

I think as long as it doesn't have the backing and not large sharp edged pieces it's fine. I once threw a piece in that was a little too big and had a jagged edge, my turtle tried eating it all in one bite and then I saw her scratching at her throat like it got stuck, she was fine but ever since I have been way more careful and double cutting.

Yeah, all is cool with cuttlebone. It was cool looking at the photo on Wikipedia of what a cuttlefish is... very interesting animal.
So I'll just do it once a week and give them a bunch of tiny pieces each. It's easy if you have a sharp, sturdy knife to cut the skin off (at least I found it easy).

Glad your trying new things. Bet your turtle is too. Carrots are good occasionally, lots of vitamin a. Broccoli should only be used occasionally though. It has some kind of acid (can't remember the name of it) in it that prevents the absorption of calcium. Try romaine lettuce. You want leafy greens. It's good your turtle let you know he's open to the idea of veggies by eating his carrots and broccoli.

Thank you! Glad you told me about broccoli. I'll start in on some leafy greens tomorrow - one person said they 'clip' it somehow to the wall of the tank? I don't know how that is accomplished - and if it's actually necessary. Do you put in big leaves- or cut it up small like the carrots?

I clip it using these. http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Nutrition-Feeding-Frenzy-Seaweed/dp/B001EUG8BU/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321415595&sr=8-1-spell

definitely not for me. I am moving as far away from anything with suction cups as I can. They don't last and I end up annoyed. and it's yet another thing to buy after spending a kings ransom on these two tanks recently. there must be a simpler, easier way or an alternative that doesn't involve suction cups :-(

They have magnetic ones as well, but I haven't had any issues with the suction cup aside from him being able to pull it off the glass occasionally, but with the clip attached, it just ends up on the bottom, so no big deal.

this can't be the only way people feed their turtles leafy green vegetables - before this 'invention' I'm sure there were other ways?

I just throw it in the tank. My turtle has no problem eating it that way. Lettuce floats. Any other veggie that doesn't float like carrots, he finds when he does his tank floor check.

Do you throw in a whole leaf, or part of a leaf, or what?

Feeding and Nutrition :: Cuttle Bone: How on earth do I portion it out???????

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