Cuttle bone for turtles?

Question

I have a red eared slider, I was wondering if it was okay to put a cuttle bone in his tank. We recently had a yellow bellied turtle at the pet store i work at and we had one in his tank floating in the water. Does this work or does anyone know?

Answer 1

I worked at a university with a herpetoligist (specialist in reptiles and amphibians) and now at a pet store. We usually offer cuttlebones to our turtles. Just some basics:

1) Cuttlebone is an internal structure of the cuttlefish (small squid) and does contain calcium and trace elements.

2) Cuttlebone shouldn't be used to relace a good diet or vitamin/mineral supplement.

3) The primary use for cuttlebones is to keep the turtles' beaks trimmed.

4) Don't leave them sitting in water or they get NASTY!! (it's better to put them in the dry basking area).

For more info on RES: http://www.anapsid.org/reslider.html

Answer 2

Cuttle bone is not the best option for turtles. A good varied diet that includes good quality turtle pellets is far better.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 3

There is different types of Cuttle bone. You want to get the one made for turtles. They like to bit on it and rub on it as well.

Answer 4

A lot of people have found that the sharp backing is dangerous -- can cause cuts and, in rare cases, choking.
You can put calcium in the water...also, snails have too much calcium, do not forget it !! you can mix snails, with calcium, and some sticks, and give it to your turtle...
...then you are going to see how good it is !!
Do not forget give it vitamin A, UVA 8 hs a day....it is too important !!!
bye and good luck !

Answer 5

Yup, fire ahead with that one, but remember to make sure that he's getting plenty of supplements to his diet in addition. An RES won't get all his calcium requirements from the cuttlebone alone.