What do you think? He has slate, rocks and his habba hut in there to file them down on but they appear quite long still?
Also, I'm unsure whether he's eating the calcium off his cuttle bone and I've heard that torts can OD on calcium so I'm a little worried about sprinkling it on his food?
Other than this, he's doing brilliantly, growing healthily and putting on weight nice and slowly
His Herbiseed seeds are growing so looking forward to having them to feed him
Oh and one more thing I've noticed is he tries to bite my nails sometimes, why is this?
(12-15-2011 03:44 AM)MissPauffley Wrote: [ -> ]What do you think? He has slate, rocks and his habba hut in there to file them down on but they appear quite long still?
Also, I'm unsure whether he's eating the calcium off his cuttle bone and I've heard that torts can OD on calcium so I'm a little worried about sprinkling it on his food?
Other than this, he's doing brilliantly, growing healthily and putting on weight nice and slowly His Herbiseed seeds are growing so looking forward to having them to feed him
Oh and one more thing I've noticed is he tries to bite my nails sometimes, why is this?
Hi Laura
They do not look too long to me. Tortoises need a certain length of nail to help them when digging. You will find in summer when he is outdoors, he may dig more and will wear them down a little bit more. I have some russians with very short nails, where they have dug their tunnels, but other species always tend to be a bit longer. Females need fairly long back claws to enable them to dig nests and arrange the eggs too
Do you wear nail varnish? If so, this is very attractive to tortoises as they love bright colours. If he is biting your naked nails then maybe he is just a bit odd
Thank you, Sue. Yeah I do sometimes but even when I don't he tries to have a little nibble. Strange creature. What about the calcium? Should I just leave him to it?
Can someone answer my calcium question?
(12-18-2011 07:12 PM)MissPauffley Wrote: [ -> ]Can someone answer my calcium question?
Oops sorry, missed that bit. You would have to give a tort a heck of a lot of calcium for him to OD on it. The kidneys just excrete any that the body doesn't need within reason. You mention calcium on his cuttlefish! Do you give him a supplement on his food? He needs daily supplementation of a calcium with D3 content while he is still growing. Cuttlefish alone is not a good enough source and also is quite high in phosphorous which he doesn't really need extra of.
Hope this helps
He has Nutrobal as a supplement and the cuttlefish is always in there for him... I'm just a little concerned as his shell is fairly spongy still or is this normal?
(12-18-2011 09:48 PM)MissPauffley Wrote: [ -> ]He has Nutrobal as a supplement and the cuttlefish is always in there for him... I'm just a little concerned as his shell is fairly spongy still or is this normal?
When you say spongy Laura, do you mean all over? It's normal for the plastron to have a bit of a spring to it up to around a year or so, but not noticeably after this. Does he have nutrobal daily? I've seen some forums suggest so many times a week, but this should be for adults, not growing tortoises, they need daily to grow best. Is he growing fast, as this can be a need for greater supplementation?
Sorry its Arkvits I give him everyday. No, the carapace. His plastron is relatively firm. He gained the 5 grams he lost when I got him and he's now between 38-41 g.
Ill measure him when I get home later
(12-19-2011 12:44 PM)MissPauffley Wrote: [ -> ]Sorry its Arkvits I give him everyday. No, the carapace. His plastron is relatively firm. He gained the 5 grams he lost when I got him and he's now between 38-41 g.
Ill measure him when I get home later
Try Nutrobal or Nekton MSA Laura. Arkvits are really only for maintenance. The carapace should not have any give to it at all. How old is he? With a problem like this you need to go to town on the supplements. Nekton MSA has a flavour that torts love so may be a better bet than Nutrobal to be honest.. Make sure his uvb is up to date too. Usually this is not too important if supplements are given, but in your case I would get a new one ASAP.
Hope this helps
Okay, will get right on that. He's about 3/4 months now. His uvb bulb is only 1 month old so I don't think its that. Thank you Sue, as I said ill get those vits asap.