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Calcium

Posted: 11 Nov 2019, 16:17
by Misty666tortoise
Ok my tortoises don't eat the food with the vitamin or calcium supplement on, I've heard you can get calcium vitamin drops to put in the water, can I have any advice in getting them to eat it, cheers πŸ˜ŠπŸ˜ŠπŸ‘πŸ’πŸ’

Re: Calcium

Posted: 11 Nov 2019, 17:28
by lin
Hiya.
Fussy, aren’t they :lol:
Have you tried leaving the cuttlefish bone you get for birds, in the garden to go wet and manky looking. Most tortoises like it when it’s wet and lost it’s smell. Also A tiny pinch is all you need, per kilo of tortoise weight with the supplements so if you offer a teeny piece of thin cucumber with the supplement sprinkled on it and folded in half, it could work.
What methods are you trying Misty?

Lin

Re: Calcium

Posted: 11 Nov 2019, 18:00
by Misty666tortoise
I'm just trying it shaken in a tub to cover the food lightly, but they really just turn their nose up at it, I feed them a handful of wild grown plants so when they don't eat it it's like 50% of their diet so it's to much for them to miss out on, I like the cucumber trick I might give that ago.🐒πŸ₯’ Cheers πŸ‘

Re: Calcium

Posted: 11 Nov 2019, 21:36
by lin
Hi Misty.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Lin

Re: Calcium

Posted: 12 Nov 2019, 08:24
by Nina
Which supplement are you using? Nutrobal is the best but it also has a smell that tortoises don't like. For some reason i find that if I wet one side of a leaf and sprinkle a bit of nutrobal on it and then turn that upside down and offer it to the tortoise, they will often eat it -- but not if the nutrobal is on the top. Some people say that keeping it in the fridge helps, but if after trying lots of things they still won't eat it then we could recommend another product (Rep-Cal for example). See our list of supplements here: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tor ... cpr_tXgq9s

Nina

Re: Calcium

Posted: 12 Nov 2019, 12:16
by Misty666tortoise
I have cutle fish and my Hermann's tortoise doesn't mind giving that ago it has bite marks all over that other than that I have advanced nutri-cal, which my vet recommend as he has five tortoise all in their 20s so I I've been asking him for advice on most things, it's just it's a alot to make an appointment for just a fussy tortoise πŸ˜† they are due for another check up soon just to keep on top of their health as both were rescued, I just want to say it's great being part of this I know i can get advice and make sure they are happy tortoises 😊😊🐒🐒🐒🐒

Re: Calcium

Posted: 12 Nov 2019, 14:09
by lin
Aww, thank you Misty, that’s so nice of you and it’s also good for us to have you here caring so much for your tortoises. It makes our job much easier - lol.
Let us know about the cucumber of folded leaf, if it works or not and I am sure your babies health checks will pass with flying colours.

Lin

Re: Calcium

Posted: 12 Nov 2019, 22:40
by Nina
If you wet his leaves, you can scrape a thin layer of powder off the cuttlefish with your fingernail, and it will stick to it. Just trying to think of how to get more calcium in them!

Nina

Re: Calcium

Posted: 14 Nov 2019, 10:04
by Misty666tortoise
At the time all i had was grapes i peeled it and they ate it so I know when I get cucumber they should do it fine, they only had half a grape each, I didn't find it on the don't have list of food so I guessed it was ok for half, I only ever feed off the green list I swear by that and pick all their food from outside put it in an airtight container in the fridge and it last up to 3 days,I have to chop it up fine so their get a bit of everything, I must pick about 9-10 maybe more different plants for them, 🐒πŸ₯’πŸ€πŸŒ΅πŸŒ±πŸŒΊπŸ˜Š

Re: Calcium

Posted: 14 Nov 2019, 10:41
by Nina
Hi Misty,

It sounds to me like you are providing a really good diet, and you are going to have very happy and healthy tortoises!
Re the grape -- that was fine to do, but in general we don't advise feeding grapes because of the sugar content (theirdigestive systems don't cope well with the natural sugars in fruit).

We have two entries for grapes -- one for the vine (leaves) https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... c0tq9Xgq9s and one for the fruit https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... c0uMdXgq9s , so you shouldn't really feed grapes to non-fruit-eating species, but in the wild tortoises do encounter fallen fruit on the ground (and of course they love it -- think babies and chocolate), so there is no harm done with the occasional lapse :) especially if you are trying to get some medication or supplement into them.

Cheers,
Nina