turtles need calcium? The answer is yes. To maintain health, adequate calcium intake is one of the most important things for turtles. However, what is different from our imagination is that wild turtles can usually get enough calcium through diet, while turtles that are raised often have calcium deficiency. In fact, healthy turtles need to be supplemented with a variety of vitamins and minerals, three of which are particularly important:
-calcium
-phosphorus
-vitamin D3
These three substances are interconnected in the turtle's body and are beneficial to the health of the turtle. play an important role. To put it simply, tortoises need calcium to maintain the normal functioning of their bones, shell and muscles. Calcium participates in many reactions in the blood and internal organs. At the same time, the synthesis of bone and shell also requires phosphorus, and the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the intestine will affect the absorption of calcium. Vitamin D3 (the turtle's body produces vitamin D3 when they are exposed to UV-B light) will help them absorb the calcium they ingest.
1. How much calcium does a turtle need for growth?
We have already understood the importance of calcium, so how much calcium does a turtle need? For this question, we do not have a quantitative answer. The best way for is to provide nutritious foods as much as possible in the turtle’s daily diet, including calcium-rich foods and calcium supplements. During the feeding process, the behavior and development of the turtles should be observed frequently. If the following behaviors or diseases caused by calcium deficiency occur, the feeding methods should be adjusted in time and calcium should be added.
1) Calcium deficiency in turtles
Many breeders are convinced that they have provided enough calcium in the turtle’s food, but this is often not the case. Although we cannot know exactly how much calcium the turtle needs in order to supplement it quantitatively, if the turtle lacks calcium, it will send some signals. If the turtle does not absorb and metabolize enough calcium for a long period of time, it will suffer from metabolic bone disease. The symptoms of are:
-swimming or walking clumsy
-loss of appetite
-carapace deformation
-shell softening
-head swelling or lumps
2) other health problems caused by calcium deficiency and Performance
However, metabolic bone disease is not the only disease caused by calcium deficiency, calcium-deficient turtles can also suffer from anorexia . This is because calcium is not only needed by the turtle's shell and bones, but also needed by the turtle to effectively control muscle contraction. If there is not enough calcium, the tortoise's muscle control and digestion process will slow down. The tortoise will eat less and less, which will eventually cause a significant weight loss. If
are young tortoises that have just hatched, calcium deficiency may cause their shells to develop abnormally and appear irregular deformities. If it is a pregnant female tortoise, the lack of calcium may lead to dystocia, which means that the female tortoise cannot discharge her eggs.
2. How to properly supplement calcium to turtles? Z2z
A variety of foods can provide all the nutrients needed for turtle growth, including various vegetables, protein and some snacks, such as small fish or shrimp. The following are recommendations for several calcium supplements:
1) Provide your turtle with enough green leafy vegetables. In fact, any meat your turtle eats contains calcium, but for most turtles, they may not get enough calcium from protein sources alone. Green leafy vegetables, especially kale, are rich in calcium. Most red-eared Brazilian tortoises seem to like this vegetable. Ideally, such vegetables should be eaten every day.
2) Provide crustaceans such as crayfish. crayfish should not be fed to turtles every day, but like other crustaceans, they are an important source of calcium. Other calcium-rich foods are cockroaches and crickets. Some people also recommend feeding earthworms, but they are too fat, so I think I should eat less.
3) Feed fish forage. In my opinion, the most popular forage fish, such as blackhead minnow, is dangerous for turtles because they have low nutritional value and contain thiamine. However, some species can increase the calcium levels of turtles. Especially: medaka, guppy, mosquito fish, bluegill fish, etc. They are all selectableOptionally, especially if these fish are raised in outdoor ponds or lakes, they can eat insects and other calcium-rich foods, which will give turtles a better calcium supplement.
4) Use powdered calcium supplements. One of the easiest ways to supplement calcium to turtles is to provide calcium supplements. Especially calcium supplements that do not contain phosphorus. These calcium supplements are usually a powder. Most breeders don’t know how to feed water turtles, because if you simply sprinkle it on turtle food and then put the turtle food in the water, the calcium supplement will dissolve and disappear. In the water. The correct method is: Put the turtle food in a plastic bag and add a little water, just to make the turtle food moist, but not enough to make it begin to dissolve. At this time, add a few spoonfuls of calcium supplements, and then shake the bag to let The supplements enter the turtle food, and then let the turtle food dry out, and then you can feed your turtle. This will ensure that the calcium is still attached to the turtle food before the turtle eats the turtle food. How often should calcium supplements be used? For an adult turtle, once a week is sufficient.
5) Provide a cuttlefish bone. There is a chalky shell on the surface of cuttlefish bones. Bird owners often ask birds to peck cuttlefish bones to supplement calcium. Some turtle friends will feed the cuttlefish fractured (this may suffocate the turtle), and can put the entire cuttlefish bone into the turtle tank and let the turtle bite slowly. The advantages of feeding cuttlefish bones for calcium supplementation are: the operation is very simple. You only need to put the cuttlefish bones into the turtle tank. When the turtle needs it, it will eat the cuttlefish bones by itself, and the cuttlefish bones can at least be stored in the turtle tank. One or two weeks. The disadvantage is that not all turtles are interested in it. My suggestion is to at least try them, they are very cheap, if your turtle doesn't like it, you can use the calcium powder method above instead.
3. How do turtles get calcium in the wild?
Most wild tortoises can get enough calcium by eating certain wild plants and insects. Many pet owners generally believe that keeping pets in captivity is better than eating in the wild. Although this may be true for most pets, I found that it is not necessarily true for turtles. Why is this? Because most tortoises feed on plants, vegetation and other easy-to-catch insects, but there are also opportunities to eat crayfish, shrimp or fish. Basically, the tortoise will try to eat anything, especially anything that can move. While turtles in captivity tend to have a single food or few types, many breeders mistakenly believe that tortoises desperately eating turtle food means that turtle food can replace all types of food. The healthy growth of turtles requires a variety of minerals, vitamins and nutrients. Turtle food alone is not enough.
Remember what I said at the beginning of the article, the three kinds of vitamins and minerals that turtles especially need? Calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D3. So, what do turtles eat in the wild? In the wild, they don't just eat kale or turtle food. Instead, they eat a variety of plants, insects and other easy-to-capture prey. Coupled with the fact that they get enough vitamin D3 through the sun and enough phosphorus through plants, this means that many wild turtles actually have a fairly nutritious diet.
On the other hand, even if you provide your pet turtle with enough calcium, it may not be able to metabolize the calcium. There are two main reasons:
-your turtle is not exposed to UV-B light, UV-B Light can promote the synthesis of vitamin D3 and help calcium absorption.
-Your turtle has taken too much phosphorus at the same time. Although phosphorus is an important mineral, it will combine with calcium and cause calcium loss. The first reason for
is easy to solve. Buy a bulb that can produce UV-B light, adjust it to a suitable distance and temperature, and let your turtle be illuminated. The second problem is also easy to solve. Use phosphate-free calcium supplements or cuttlefish bones. This ensures that your turtle's calcium level always exceeds the phosphorus level. Ideally, the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in turtle food should be between 1:1 and 2:1.
Summary: Calcium is an extremely important mineral for turtles. Calcium deficiency can lead to diseases. To ensure the health of turtles, turtles absolutely need to take in enough calcium. Phosphorus and vitamin D3 are also essential. More importantly, while ensuring the intake of calcium, the tortoise must also ensure the absorption of calcium. Try to provide a variety of food when feeding, and appropriately basking or irradiating the tortoise with UV-B light.
