Feeding and Nutrition :: HELP!! So confused.

[JenniferandPaws]

OK - I know this is probably a really dumb question.. but Cuttle bone.. What am I supposed to do with It? I've gotten conflicting answers..

I went out this evening and bought our turtle Premium Cuttle bone .. Can someone please explan to me what I am supposed to do?

[scripta_elegans]

Sure! Not a dumb question at all. 1st you need to peel the hard backing off, usually a short knife works well. then you cut or break it into head or less size chunks for your turtle. Thinner helps them bite it more easily if you can manage it. Then toss a few in, and the turt will eat them hopefully!

[lotsofpets]

Make sure the hard backing is off (the part you can't sink your nail into) and then just break into bite-sized pieces and put the pieces into the tank. They will float for awhile and then eventually sink, but will still be okay.

[JenniferandPaws]

Wow. and It's not too hard for them?
Thank you so much for answering so quickly!

[JenniferandPaws]

OK Now I see It's soft ... She's looking at It like It's from another planet, LOL

[scripta_elegans]

The backing part is, but the rest of the cuttlebone seems not to be. It's sort of like the texture of a smarties candy i think.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Unfortunately my turtle won't eat the cuttlebone (she sinks her jaws into it, then spits it out) so I am going to have to grind it up & add it to her food. I have a small morter & pestle (little ceramic bowl with a ceramic stick that pharmacists use to grind things) so I plan on using that to smoosh the cuttle into a fine powder that will be easy to mix into her food. There are many times that I feed Sheba mashed foods (like sweet potato) with a spoon, so I think this will work fine.

[steve]

Kristen, you might want to give her Rep-Cal Calcium instead of crushed cuttlebone. You'd get a high concentration of phosphorus-free calcium. Cuttlebone is good for trimming the beak too, and Sheba won't have any of it, then I would go that route... less messy too!