How do you use repti cal? woldn't it wash off as soon as the food with the repcal powder goes into the water

Question

i Have a red eared slider turtle and its 1 year old and its starting to get a soft shell i have a heater and a uvb light so i decided to treat it with repti cal. I was wondering if it wold wash off the insect when you put it in the water. Any suggestions

Answer 1

I answered you before with the reptical and soft shell, I think.

Anyways, just put the insects on the land part of the set-up. The turtles will go on land, snatch the food, and drag it into the water (by getting it into his mouth first, some will get eatten before he hits the water) There is no way to keep all of the calcium on it, but some of it will clump to the insect.

Also try feeding some minnows or feeder goldfish- their bones have quite a bit of calcium and are a good way to give him a boost in calcium.

If you keep a tank of insects (whatever the type) you can sprinkly repti-cal on their food, so they eat it, right before you give it to the turtle.

Answer 2

The best way to treat soft shell in a Red-ear Slider is to use other techniques than dipping food in Repti-Cal.

You can try foods higher in calcium naturally like shrimp, krill, and other 'fish foods', or 'gut loaded' worms and crickets. Some cuttlebone, if it eats it, will help as well.

I don't know what foods you are using, but soft shell is often the result of the wrong diet- too many veggies or low-nutrition flakes or pellets. Also avoid any kind of water block.

You may want to check http://www.redearslider.com or http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for other help.

Answer 3

Get a bird cuttlebone for them. The calcium won't deteriorate in the water and he/she can chew on it as often as he/she likes. You can also scrape some of the cuttlebone off onto any veggies you may give your slider. ReptiCal is great, but it does wash off in water. Cuttlebones are a good and inexpensive alternative; I use them with red ears and with my Greek tortoise. Hope this helps.