Tortoise calcium supplement?

Question

My russian tortoise isn't eating it's calcium thingy. I heard there was some type of succulant or cactus that could substitute a calcium supplement. A list of calcium-rich plants or the name of that cactus would be appreciated. Also, what happens if a tortoise doesn't get enough calcium, besides the beak growing?

Answer 1

Typically if you provide a well balanced diet for them with lots of fruits and veggies and a little bit of Repti Cal. I have a 30 pound Sulcata tortoise that I have never given calcium to. He has a pen outside that he is allowed to free roam once the weather gets nice. When the weather gets cold I use a UVB / UVA light to allow for proper calcium absorption. Giving to much calcium could cause an impaction and that is very expensive because the impaction is removed by laser. But the more sun you can provide him the better off he will be. Just make sure you do not use a glass tank. Dog fence buried acouple of inches in the ground works good or you could build a pen using  2x4's and plywood. Just make sure you bury it several inches in the ground because tortoises love to dig

Answer 2

you can use rep cal ( for calcium) and if its beak grows to much you can get a tortoise/turtle bone to help gnaw down beaks and to get calcium if it doesnt get enough calcium its shell will get soft, it could become inactive, and possibly die!  or you could buy a UV so you tortoise can absorb calcium or put it out side dont keep it in a glass tank keep it in a predator - proof escape

- proof screen cage if you put it next to a window it wont get calcium because that is filterred sunlight only unfilterred sunlight

will give your russian tortoise the best result possible.

Answer 3

A lot of tortoises will not eat calcium bones, cuttle bones, etc. Most will get adequate calcium in their diet as long as it is rich in the grasses, hays, and dark leafy greens they prefer.

Lack of calcium does not make the beak grow, but makes the bones soft and messes with the skeletal and nervous systems. Lack of calcium can easily cause death.

Calcium metabolism is not a simple thing, however. To use calcium correctly, a tortoise needs...

1. Vitamin D3 to 'unlock' the cells to let calcium in. D3 can be made in the skin if the animal get about 15 minutes of UVB radiation a day (special bulbs, or sunlight that is not passing through glass or plastic) OR D3 can be in a vitamin supplement, or in some food items (but not in foods a Russian would usually eat.)

2. The right ratio of calcium to phosphorous. Most common human foods have a lot of phosphorous in them, which is OK to a point- phosphorous helps make bones tougher and a little resilient while just calcium makes brittle bones. We talk about Calcium:Phosphorous Ratios (Ca:P)- how much of one there is compared to the other. With tortoises, we want a Ca:P of 3 or 4:1. You can find lists of foods with good Ca:Ps on almost every tortoise care site or google for it.

3. They also need magnesium, other vitamins, and other minerals to make good use of the calcium- the easiest answer is a varied diet and an occasional dash of a good vitamin mix.

By yourself a small container of reptile calcium supplement- with Vitamin D added if your tortoise is indoors without a good UVB lamp, without it if it has the sun or lamp.

Add a light sprinkle onto every other meal or so.

Try http://www.russiantortoise.org for a great list of high-calcium foods and other care info.

Answer 4

Try these tips:

Bones require a specific ratio of calcium and phosphorous (in humans a ratio of 1:1 is ideal for absorption......most say 2:1 for bone growth). This is provided by diet and Vitamin D3 helps us use the calcium. Recent research shows that D3 is also very important for immune function and is of benefit in auto-immune disease and as a preventative measure for cancer (research abstracts available here). In the past, the focus has been on this ratio. And indeed too much phosphorous is a problem. The typical tortoise diet is abundant in phosphorous and low in calcium. This has been shown to be a major contributing factor in   Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) and Pyramiding. The most common recommendation has been to dust all food with calcium carbonate powder. While on the surface this appears to be a logical solution, its flawed and can have serious health consequences.

Two other minerals play critical roles in calcium metabolism...magnesium and boron. Research shows these are very important in preventing osteoporosis in humans. Boron is only needed in trace amounts but is important. However a 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium is very important. In Humans research is showing that if magnesium levels are too low,  high amounts of calcium or vitamin D supplementation can lead to calcification of the soft tissues or to kidney stone formation. It is possible that prolonged high amounts of calcium (higher than a 2:1 calcium-phosphorus ratio) and supplemental vitamin D can lead to abnormal calcification of long bones in children or to hypercalcemia (high blood calcium levels) and soft tissue calcification in adults, as well as a decrease in bone strength. Recent research using leopard tortoise hatchling show this to be a real problem for tortoises as well.

To counter act this and to get the calcium/phosphorous ratio to a healthy 2:1 , its is often recommended to dust all food with calcium (usually calcium carbonate). While superficially it does seem to have benefit, it has its own problems. Too much calcium results in secondary deficiencies of zinc, copper and iodine, mal-absorption of essential fatty acids, and formation of calcium-containing bladder stones. Lack of calcium results in soft shells that often accompany pyramiding.

This research focuses on the hazards of over supplementing with calcium carbonate. It is generally known that too much calcium results in secondary deficiencies of zinc, copper and iodine, mal-absorption of essential fatty acids, and formation of calcium-containing bladder stones. However this recent research project tries to quantify the amount that is needed.

Now grow your own tortoises from seed! Why incubate eggs and waste all that time when you can...oh, wait. Never mind. A great pasture seed mix! This is a mixture of seeds specially designed to grow your own tortoise food. Our mix is custom blended several times a year and includes a variety of grasses (including Bermuda which is native to Africa), millets, clovers, mixed greens, and other non-toxic tortoise favorites which vary with each season. Not what you would want to grow a lawn with (especially since we try to put dandelion in when we can), but great eating for your tortoise. The seed mix should be sown onto prepared soil and slightly raked in. Keep well watered until established. Could also be grown in pots or flats if you don't have an outdoor place to grow weeds. We plant these year round here, and should grow year round except where there is snow. Sold in packets or by the pound. One packet will sow about 2-4 sq ft. of space. This seed mix is excellent for all types of tortoises - we also include dandelion seeds when available.Our seed mix is top quality not pre-bagged foraging mix sold for cattle and deer - we make it ourselves and feed it to our own tortoises.Never feed your tortoises prepackaged tortoises food like Pretty Pets, ZooMed, or Mazuri - these will lead to health and shell problems!!!!

Answer 5

You might try dusting the food that your tortoise likes with bonemeal.

Answer 6

the cactus you need is a prickly pear (opuntia) you have to de-spine them but these can be easily burnt off with a lighter, they are packed full of calcium and tortoises love them, you can also grate a cuttle bone over your tortoises food, i usually prepare the food the night before and put it in the fridge, the calcium covers the food but the tortoise does not notice it as much as if it is freshly grated as the water from the food dissolves the big lumps but all the calcium is still there, i feed my tortoises prickly pear and they go mad for it, if a tortoise does not get enough calcium then it will suffer from poor shell growth and can even get metabolic bone disease, the joints can become stiff and swollen and the tortoise is generally in poor condition, if the shell becomes misshapen then you can not reverse the effects,  best of luck honey