Feeding and Nutrition :: chewing on dock

[sesame]

sesame's appetite has grown lately! i feed him about 10 pellets a day but he doesn't seem to be getting fat, and i give him some red leaf lettuce every day. but lately he bites off pieces of his floating dock! i don't know that he's actually consuming any or much of it, he isn't sick or anything, and there are little pieces floating around in the tank. i just got a new dock thinking that might help and he's back at it. is there any way to curb this behavior? i just cut up some cuttlebone to give to him but he's still attracted to the dock after several pieces. any ideas? help!

[jenaero]

Try offering one large cuttlebone. I use the whole thing. It may be more noticable to him that way. Turtles have a sense of what they need in their diet. I'd be surprised if cuttlebone didn't work. If cuttlebone is still new to him, he likely won't take it right away. It took my girls about a week before they figured out they could eat it.

[Chrisbarnett]

Cuttlebone for sure. Just give it some time.

[bigG]

The first time I gave my RES cuttlebone, she just nibbled at it and chased it around the tank. Now, when I put a whole piece in the tank, she will chomp on it and it may only last a week. I usually only give a few large chunks every couple of days.

[sesame]

i have been giving cuttlebone and he eats it up real quickly. a few bite sized pieces will be gone by the end of the day if not in a couple hours. i'll try bigger or whole pieces tho so maybe he'll go for that instead of the dock. is there such a thing as too much cuttlebone?

also i've been trying to give him more lettuce and carrot. how much carrot is suggested? is about a half or whole baby carrot each day too much?

my big concern is, is the eating the dock a problem? i'm assuming he doesn't digest the pieces of dock he consumes. should i be worried about this? or just hope it subsides?

thanks!