Malti is a South American redfoot tortoise.
She is also a reptile, and like all reptiles, she needs a little help to get sufficient calcium and then to absorb and use it to grow strong healthy bones and shell.
I’ve been keeping parrots since I was eight, so I’m no stranger to the odd white disc-shaped calcium supplement called the “cuttlebone.”
I just never knew it wasn’t just for parrots. As it turns out, Malti loves her cuttlebone just as much as my parrot, Pearl, loves his cuttlebone.
Since the cuttlebone is packed chock-full of calcium (courtesy of its donor, the squid-like cuttlefish), all I have to do is plop a fresh disc down into Malti’s habitat every so often and my work is done.
She will seek it out on her own when she needs calcium, and as she crunches and chews and scrapes off the white powdery supplement, she also gets a natural beak manicure at the same time.
And remember…..
