I wasn't sure where to put this...it may even belong in Study Hall.

re:http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=455780

I've been raising this turtle now since January and I've since moved him to a 40gal tank as he's grown. He's about 4.5 in. in length now.

My questions regard his diet and the ammount of calcium that he needs. I've read, but I dont have the knowledge to know if the stuff I've read online is legitimate. So here are a few things I'd love to have confirmed/dispelled:

1) I've read that Plaster of Paris is basically Calcium Carbonate and that I can make some of this in to a calcium block that he can eat from, adding any needed powdered vitamin supplements into the mix prior to it becoming solid. Is the plaster really just limestone and could it be used for this purpose?

2)Calcium Carbonate is also the primary compound that makes up your standard sea shell. True of False?

3)He tries to eat everything that's in the tank. I have PVC pipe with holes drilled for his water heater, but he's eaten (or sampled extensively) every floating object that I've tried to use for his basking area. To that end, he now has a several rocks piled up to create a basking area. One of the things that he has munched on from time to time are the sea shells that I've put into the tank. If #2 is True, is he getting his needed calcium via the shells (eating as he needs), or is this more of the routine behavior of try-to-eat-everything-in-the-tank?



[Edited on December 2, 2007 at 12:06 PM. Reason : next ed. will be grammar]

12/2/2007 12:04:41 PM

what kind of turtle? slider? box? painted?

just buy a turtle calcium supplement
found at any petstore or petsupplies website

we give ours crickets once a week that were gutloaded with calcium supplements. (i keep the crickets for my lizards but found the turtles really enjoy them as a snack)

12/2/2007 12:30:58 PM

Its a male yellow bellied slider. The thing is, he wont eat anything that has the calcium powder dusting (go figure). I thought about the idea of a food chain source of calcium (crickets), but I dont think hell need that much protien. How often did you feed them a calcium loaded cricket?

12/2/2007 7:20:01 PM

once a week, sometimes twice. The students like to watch them eat.
They prefer live crickets but will often eat dead ones too.

if you're provided proper lighting (UVA & UVB) and diet then you shouldn't worry about it.

I wouldn't recommend the plaster of paris. I heard that cuttlebones (calcium supp given to birds) can be offered.

I'm not a turtle expert. I just have 3 sliders in my classroom (that I inherited from the former ag teacher). Most of the info you're looking for can be found online or in a book.

Melissa Kaplan is a good source - http://www.anapsid.org/mainchelonians.html

[Edited on December 3, 2007 at 3:17 PM. Reason : s]

12/3/2007 3:13:31 PM