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I never took off the hard shell-like backing for my turtles!! I never knew you should nor did I even think about it. Have I done something wrong? My girls are 1yr, 3yrs, and 5yrs old. If they can't digest it do they just poop it out? They are in a 300gal pond outside, so if they just poop it out, I don't know about it. They LOVE cuttle bones! I slice them in about 4 1-inch slices. I give them a cuttle bone about once every two weeks. That's how long I've noticed it takes for them to chase the pieces down and eat it all up or for the rest to dissolve. The plecos like it too. (They are 15" long and I have two.)

Just make sure to take it off from now on. If you've been doing it for 5 years it's probably passed just fine but why risk it now that you know.

Just curious, have you ever drained your pond to see if they left it behind?

I wonder if the backing came off on it's own if the piece stayed in the water for any length of time. Some people do soak cuttlebone in water to make it easier to take the backing off.