Calcium and vitamin D supplements for aquatic turtles (FRT)?

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lix.ma14

Hydrolycus Armatus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2011
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Ontario, Canada
Just wondering if there are some good calcium AND vitamin D supplement/foods that I should feed my turtle. I am noticing that my turtle is constantly sloughing skin from the head and shell. It leaves a whitish scar after the sloughing. The peeling never seems to stop.

My fly river turtle has a diet of Zoo Med turtle pellets, worm pellets, carrots, and talapia. I just don't know what else I can put in the diet that can prevent the constant sloughing of skin. i open the blinds every morning to let as much sunlight as possible but in Canada, the days are getting shorter and dark so my turtle isn't getting too much sunlight. Also, new apartment building were built right in front of my house's window so even less sunlight is coming in!

Should I add a UV lamp instead? I heard the UV light does not penetrate the water well. IDK that to do.

What kind of food has plenty of vitamin D in it? If not, what supplements can i get for the turtle that he will eat?


as for the calcium intake, I bought cuttlebone but I have trouble attaching it to a rock. i tried toothfloss to tie the calcium block around but my turtle is able to chew through it. Are there any SINKING calcium supplements?

Turtle is active during the morning and night.

Any comments are welcome. thanks
 
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when my frt's skin wasn't looking so good, i added marine salt to make the water slightly brackish. i also added dr. turtle/reptomin turtle blocks that release calcium and anti-fungal/bacterial additives into water. i put those in my sump. most foods have vitamin d in them, especially turtle food. as far as uv lamps go, the fluorescent ones will not penetrate the water or glass covers. i've heard that only mercury vapor lamps are powerful enough get the uv rays to penetrate into the water column. just make sure your water is warm and clean. it takes a while for the skin to get better.
 
VNCNT said:
when my frt's skin wasn't looking so good, i added marine salt to make the water slightly brackish. i also added dr. turtle/reptomin turtle blocks that release calcium and anti-fungal/bacterial additives into water. i put those in my sump. most foods have vitamin d in them, especially turtle food. as far as uv lamps go, the fluorescent ones will not penetrate the water or glass covers. i've heard that only mercury vapor lamps are powerful enough get the uv rays to penetrate into the water column. just make sure your water is warm and clean. it takes a while for the skin to get better.
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much appreciated! What specific foods (other than pellets) contain an abundant of vitamin d? As for the dr reptomin blocks, does the turtle ingest the calcium via the water?

Do you use the mercury vapor lights for your FRT?
 
i mainly feed algae wafers and fruits. my frt used to eat zoomed tortoise food, but doesn't like those anymore. i don't believe any of the additives from the blocks get ingested at all. maybe just absorbed. i don't use mercury vapor lights. i'm only using t8 fluorescent bulbs as lighting. one 6500k ful spectrum bulb and a 50/50 10,000k/actinic bulb. i've read that uv provided by light is not essential for frt's since they don't bask and generally stay a little deeper in the water column.

with all that said, clean and stable water chemistry is of the utmost importance.
 
VNCNT said:
i mainly feed algae wafers and fruits. my frt used to eat zoomed tortoise food, but doesn't like those anymore. i don't believe any of the additives from the blocks get ingested at all. maybe just absorbed. i don't use mercury vapor lights. i'm only using t8 fluorescent bulbs as lighting. one 6500k ful spectrum bulb and a 50/50 10,000k/actinic bulb. i've read that uv provided by light is not essential for frt's since they don't bask and generally stay a little deeper in the water column.

with all that said, clean and stable water chemistry is of the utmost importance.
Click to expand...

How long do you keep your tank lights on each day? Do you have them on for vitamin D for the turtle. my main problem is finding a good sourse of vitamin D for my turtle since it is needed to absorb calcium.

what PH is your tank water? Any current pics of your FRT?
 
My FRT gets vitamin D from flounder fillet pieces I feed him. I also keep a bottle of NatureMade vitamin D liqui-caps that I occassionally inject into pieces of fruit to get him the vitamin D he needs for calcium absorption.
 
Oddball said:
My FRT gets vitamin D from flounder fillet pieces I feed him. I also keep a bottle of NatureMade vitamin D liqui-caps that I occassionally inject into pieces of fruit to get him the vitamin D he needs for calcium absorption.
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Does talapia have a good amount of vitamin D? For the naturemade lqui caps, where can i get them and what do they look like?
 
Salmon has the highest amount of vitamin D (264% RDA). Next comes fresh tuna (52% RDA) and flounder (46% RDA). There are a few other species ahead of flounder but, their natural oil content (sardines, mackerel, anchovies) make them a maintenance nightmare for aquariums.

The liqui-caps can be found anywhere in places like grocery stores, large department stores and drug stores. They're in the supplements displays.

D3.jpg

Tilapia contains some vitamin D but, in lower levels (32% RDA) than the fish previously mentioned.

D3.jpg
 
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