Feeding and Nutrition :: Cuttlebone question

[cooleststan]

ok, first of all, my turtle is only about 1.5 inches

RIght now I am scraping flakes off of the cuttlebone by myself and throwing a few flakes for him, he eats them right away!
but should I just leave a small peice of cuttlebone floating in the water? Wont this make the water dirty?

also, when I feed him lettuce/raddichio I just throw iti n the water, he seems to have a hard time eating it though. should I rip it up into tiny bitesize chunks for him?

[DavidY]

I just feed chunks of cuttlebone once a week for my turtles but they're older. For your little guy, putting in a several flakes 3 times a week should be good. Also you should tear the lettuce into smaller bitesized pieces to make them easier to eat. You could also attach larger pieces to a veggie clip attached to the tank glass to make it easier for him to tear pieces off of it.

[cooleststan]

hmm ok thanks. I find it fun to watch him try to bite off chunks of lettuce though, it seems liek its very good exercise for him
is this stressing him out or not? I probably will just shred it up for him tommorow.

[Tenodera]

Oh no, it's probably FUN for the turtle to shred things up. Serra enjoys it even more when she rips it all up...lol

[WyredHardware]

Same with Kokoro. I shredded it one time and she lazily ate it. When i got a veggie clip and put in a leaf she would play with it and even take a rest on top of it.

[Tenodera]

I don't really "feed" cuttlebone. I just chuck it the entire piece into the tank after I got off all the hard backing. That way, she can eat it whenever she likes...

It's getting smaller now.

[kmichael55]

I also just throw in large chunks...it disappears quickly

sidenote- kevin your sig changes so often, so "oscar" (jumping spider hehe i forgot what you named yours) is gone and now you have ladybug larvae...interesting, i never thought of them in pre-stages, what do they look like???

[marisa]

If you're turtle is interested in cuttlebone at his tender age, that's good. I'd keep a few small, thinnish pieces floating in the tank and replace them as needed/daily if he eats them.

[urbancleopatra]

I cut off two small pieces for the kids and throw em in while I'm feeding them.

[Tenodera]

I also just throw in large chunks...it disappears quickly

sidenote- kevin your sig changes so often, so "oscar" (jumping spider hehe i forgot what you named yours) is gone and now you have ladybug larvae...interesting, i never thought of them in pre-stages, what do they look like???

LOL I set the spider free...It's so boring in my apartment I raise a whole bunch of critters since we don't have any room for any more big pets.
Here's a photo I took of em

(Not very good, I know, I was rushing...lol)

Egg-->larvae-->pupae-->ladybug

[cooleststan]

can too much cuttlebone be bad? Im just worried he will overdose on it, thanks lol

[Tenodera]

I'm not sure. If you leave it in his tank for him to eat it whenever he wants he probably won't overdose on it, that is, iIF they can get overdosed

[cooleststan]

how do I get rid of the hard backing on the cuttlebone? I cant get it off!

[Tenodera]

You can use a small knife and dig it in by the side and push up. That's how I did it.., but it flung pieces of it everywhere...lol

[kmichael55]

oooh, so those are ladybug larvae, i've seen them and thought they were some weird beetle... very cool!