Feeding and Nutrition :: egg consistency and turtle diet

[mackadocious]

one of my girls is gravid again and she has laid at least 3, maybe 4 eggs in the past 2 weeks.....the 1st seemed relatively normal consistency shell to me, somewhat soft, but they'd succeeded in cracking it and it was pretty white....the 2nd one i found not 20 minutes later had a MUCH softer shell....we were moving and i picked it out of the tank (no water) and threw it out onto the pavement and it made a dent in it but didn't crack....i then poked it and it still didn't crack...it was also much more grey in color almost transparent.....

is this an indicator she's horribly depleted of calcium??....i know they need more when they're gravid regardless, though i admittedly haven't made it to the store yet to pick up any more cuttlebone....

comments/suggestions??

[marisa]

Horribly depleted, I don't know. But it certainly sounds like she needs more calcium in her diet. Cuttlebone is not the only source of calcium---try dandelions, the soft bones from canned fish like salmon (rinse them well first), as well. She's also get calcium from snails (the shells) and minnows if you occasionally offer them. It's also good to have some non-phsophorus powdered supplement on hand in case you run out of the cuttlebone again.