How many calcium sources?

[Amy]

Whenever I put cuttlefish in there tank my snails would litterally be addicted to it, it kept there shells in great shape and they seemed to like being on it, but for the past month or so not one snail has been on the cuttlefish, ive changed it and got one to eat a tiny amount but i dont see any of them lyeing on it absorbing it or eating it. I wouldnt normally be concerned but even Pecky who had the nicest shell even dosnt go on it and Tine who was never not on it dosnt go on it either. Also with all there rasping there shells are getting messed up to :/

[Robert Nordsieck]

How about trying another calcium carbonate source? My snails loved egg shells, even tried to hide in them (Calimero snails)...

[coyote]

I agree that trying another calcium source is worth doing. I've also noticed that my snails go through phases of eating a lot of calcium and ignoring it for a while.

I've been using blocks of powdered limestone in the tank, and when given a choice between cuttle and the limestone blocks, my snails all go for the limestone blocks every time.

[Robert Nordsieck]

I also have another idea possibly worth trying: You could mix the substrate of your terrarium with limestone sand (which you can obtain at the zoo shop). Many snails eat earth, which would then supply them with an additional calcium source.

You can also mix powdered limestone with oatmeal and water, which they love.

Kind regards
Robert

[crossless]

Easiest is put pile on substrate and see if snails start to sleep on it and eat calsium from there.

[feelahthetigress]

I have a few extra bits of info. on calcium sources if anyone finds it useful. I actually use calcium pills for my snails (the kind made for humans in the vitamin section of the store). They seem safe enough (just choose the one with no added vitamins - just pure calcium carbonate). The snails seem to like them because they are very soft. The only bad thing is that they melt in humid conditions after awhile... I've also heard that one can use chalk for calcium (the kind used on blackboards). I did further research into this, though, in case anyone is interested in buying a box of Crayola chalk to use. The majority of chalk sold as "kid's chalk" is not actually made of calcium carbonate but instead other stuff like gypsum. There are still chalks made of calcium though. Anything labelled as "dustless" chalk is likely made of calcium while "kid's chalk" or "sidewalk chalk" isn't. This is a good example of chalk that is made mostly of calcium carbonate: www.amazon.com/Prang-Hygieia-Chalk-Sticks-31144/dp/B004LCJ450/ref=pd_sbs_op_2

I hope this info. is helpful for anyone who's having trouble acquiring other sources of calcium.