Feeding and Nutrition :: sulfa block

[princesstee76]

The petsmart people told me to place a sulfa turtle in the water to help fight off disease does this really help and is it safe for the turtles to try and munch on?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Alot of people dont recommend those,they are the little turtle blocks,right? If so,get rid of it.

And another thing,dont listen to pet store clerks,they may mean good.But most of them dont know squat about proper turtle care.

[princesstee76]

Yeah it makes me nervous because one of them keeps trying to eat it

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Im not sure if it will harm them,but someone on this forum said that their turtle ate one of those blocks and the turtle had the worst case of the runs for days,lol.

People dont recommend those things because they dont work,with a good filter and partial water changes,you should be able to avoid diseases like fungus infections.

[SpotsMama]

I had one of those turtle shaped sulfa blocks and my turtle Spot ate a big chunk of it and had the worst diarrhea ever. I thought I'd killed him. Thank goodness he survived but I'll never use one of those again.

[kinetic]

what about the sulfur baths... its a powder that you dissolve in water just deep enough to touch the top of the shell, leave the turtles in there for an hour or so then put them back into their tank... those any good?

[industrial_girl_2000]

Princesstee76 -

Don't use sulfa blocks unless a VET tells you that you need to use one. They really aren't necessary if you keep your turtle's environment clean.

In the meantime, go buy some cuttlebone (for birds, but works great for turts!) for your turts to snack on. When you get the cuttlebone, remove the metal bracket. Then take a sharp knife & peel the hard white/yellow backing from the cuttlebone (the turts can't eat that backing so you have to peel it off). You will know it is the "hard backing" because it will be the side of the cuttlebone that you can't press your nail into.

[marisa]

Long term use of products with sulfa is likely to result in your turtle's becoming drug resistant to it. It won't "hurt" your turtle, but probably won't help him either. The best way to prevent disease is to have a good habitat for your turtle (with proper equipment), keep it clean, and provide your turtle with a healthy balanced diet.

[a71680]

if your turtle is trying to eat the sulfa block its because he probably wants the calcium in it so feeding him cuttle bone would be a very good idea my male slider loves cuttle bone