Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, Vic Morgan! Kory was telling me about using Tums for calcium?!?!?! He also told me that you were the man to ask about it. So, Here I am asking about it. LOL, can you help me out? Or has anyone else heard of or tried this? Thanks! S.D. ~Sandy Oaks Tortoise Rescue~

Yep,Its just calcium carbonate.The fruit flavored has some sugar but its very little and may lure them into eating some.It crushes up easy and you may find a deal on some or just have it around when you neen it.A baby Mt.tort.will also eat off a big chunk of cuddle bone if you leave one in.Sometimes I soak them (the c-bone) in gator Aid for a day.A hatching Mt.Tort.will lean over and bite the egg shell of their hatching buddys egg before its even out of the egg.So,After they hatch I clean the egg shells off and feed it to them.The eggs kind of just crumble into a dust.Turnip greens have the best useable calcium,but thet dry out VERY fast and they dont like them much.I have always woundered how they get the calcium they need for everything is so low in calcium.The newest information on diet in the wild is that they eat Coloasia ssp.and other types,maybe it has a lot of Calcium? Idontno!Something they never see in the wild is Cacti,its full of calcium so I feed it and they like it fair.They dont get much from dusting,its better if they eat something with digestable calcium in it.Most importantly to know is that the animal must have UV for the calcium to work.Now for the kicker..Look out a Vita lite can burn a Mt.Torts eyes,so you have to use a low rated one and filter it through some pegg board or lots of plants.Even outside in natural Sun,it HAS TO BE SHADE or its DEADLY."you know it just ant easy"R.Starky. Vic

Hey quick question...
I looked up Sandy Oaks Tortoise Rescue on the web but couldnt find anything, can you tell me a little about it, such as where its located and what kind of torts you have residing there. Was just curious.

Thanks,

Grape