Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How often do you guys dust your turles food with Vit/Calcium? I am currently dusting on every other feeding but I am wondering if that could be too much? Can any problems occur from them receiving too Vit. powder? I use Rep-Cal Calcium and Vitamins mixed evenly and dust the food with that.
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John Vandegrift

Your first question can't be answered because you don't say what you're dusting. If you feed turtle pellets, you don't need to dust. If you feed a huge variety of bugs, you don't need to dust. If you feed crickets only, you might dust all day and not provide enough. See where this is going?

Your second question can't be answered either because you don't say how often you feed your turtle. Always give full description of your details, because otherwise you might get incomplete or misguided answers.

Those dusts have instructions on their labels. If those instructions aren't arbitrary enough, every turtle keeper in the world seems to have a different opinion on exactly how much and how often to use. I hope that swollen turtle works out for you. I've seen that happen with turtles shipped in cold weather before.

So far all I have been able to get him to eat is earthworms and crickets. He has not taken any fruit, vegetables, or prepared food so far. I have only had him about 1 month but he seems healthy. I offer food 4-5 days a week.
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John Vandegrift

John,

I supply a readily available source of calcium for my turtles in the form of cuttlebone. It is sold for birds but turtles will eat it as well. I soak the cuttlebone in water, then remove the hard backing and put pieces in my turtle pens. They munch on it when they want to. I only suppliment with powder calcium when I use certain protein products like cooked chicken or ground sirloin. If you use pinky mice, you should cover it with calcium as well. I rarely used vitamins since I have trained my turtles to eat a wholesome diet. When I do, I use water soluble vitamins. I soak my turtles in it when they come out of hibernation, and a few time before they go into hibernation.

I read your second message too. Turtles have a way of training us to feed them what they like, instead of what is good for them! Unless your turtles are underweight or growing, you can feed them once every third day. The other two days are for digesting. Plus they will be hungry and more apt to eat a better diet.

Food preparation is important too. If you stick half an apple and a pile of worms with the turtle, of course it's going to eat all the worms and ignore the apple. But if you grate the apple or sweet potatoe, add chopped romaine and a few worms mixed in, the turtle is more likely to eat vegetables and fruits as it digs in for those worms. If all else fails, dip the worms in baby food and sprinkle with vitamins till you can outsmart the turtle, lol!
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Tess
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