Natural Cuttlefish Bone for Reptiles, Tortoises, Snails, Birds and Small Animals, 4-6 inch, Twin Pack

Product Information

When feeding a tortoise cuttlefish, it is important to ensure that it is prepared properly. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to safely feed cuttlefish to your tortoise:

Shell softening is a grave issue for tortoises. It is because these creatures use shells for multi-purposes. For example, whenever tortoises meet a predator or danger, they use shells as a shield. Again, retracting to the shell is also a way of stress relief for them. A report claims that baby tortoises with metabolic bone disease may not make it to life. Even if they survive, the hatchlings grow up with a deformed body and experience premature death. For Mediterranean and Russian tortoises, ensure that one end of the tortoise housing is heated to around 27-34°c and the other end is cooler at around 17-22°c allowing your tortoise to choose its preferred temperature. Basking lamps should be kept at least 6 inches above the basking area, we recommend around 10 inches. The night time temperature may drop to around 14-17°c, this is fine as it would naturally do this in an outdoor environment. For non-hibernating tortoises, please see individual care sheets.

Nutritional Mineral and Vitamin Supplements

With little to do, the tortoise may be bored. Tortoise is food motivated, and having cuttlebone available is a way to keep them occupied as they chew on it. How to prepare cuttlebone for your tortoise Instead, offer the tortoises calcium twice or thrice a week. Also, make sure the supplemented calcium is at a safe ratio with phosphorus (1:1). Before You Go… Extra Salt: Many keepers add extra salt to the cuttlebones. This is an optional step. If you want the cuttlebones to be salty, just add a few tablespoons of salt to the water. Let the bones soak in for 30 – 40 minutes.

Leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and endive, are high in fiber and should be fed to tortoises. Mediterranean tortoises like leafy greens and may occasionally eat animal materials, such as a small lizard or a bird’s egg. However, they can’t tolerate fruit and are best fed a diet of high-fiber plants. Leafy greens can include fresh parsley, dandelion or collard greens. Cuttlefish Yes, while too much phosphorous in their diets is problematic for tortoises, not enough would be a problem too. Given that nearly all vegetation has plenty of phosphorous content – you’re unlikely to have any problems getting enough phosphorous into your tortoise. The real problem is too much phosphorous. Others Cuttlefish also contains other essential minerals and vitamins that are beneficial to tortoises. These include iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, and selenium, all of which play vital roles in various bodily functions. Additionally, cuttlefish is a good source of vitamin B12, which is essential for the production of red blood cells and proper nerve function.

Diet

In addition to cuttlefish, tortoises also require a diet that includes a variety of leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, and occasional protein sources such as insects or boiled eggs. This diverse diet ensures they receive all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to support their growth and overall health. It is essential that your tortoise has a full spectrum light that produces UVB and UVA. UVB allows the tortoise to synthesise vitamin D3 helping to prevent or reverse metabolic bone disease and ensure normal shell growth, promoting long health. UVA increases feeding, mating and other natural behaviours. These are all fundamental to the normal development and health of basking reptiles such as tortoises. You can even find cuttlefish bones on beaches. This is if you live where they are common. They generally litter the shores in large numbers. Once you have collected these, I recommend boiling them for about 5 mins before offering them to the tortoise. Rinse & Boil: The first step will be to rinse off the cuttlebones with fresh water. It will wash away any debris. Next, boil the bones for at least 5 minutes.

There are other minerals that may/may not be important (our understanding is not entirely clear) including zinc, boron, strontium and manganese. However, given that these would only be required in trace quantity, it is very unlikely that your tortoise has a shortage of these minerals in their body or their diet.Here is why you should use cuttlebones as a calcium supplement for your tortoises, 1. For Healthy Bone Growth