Turtles eating gravel?

[SimonL]

Just picked up my new 4" Giant Pond turtle, whom I've had for about three weeks, and he defecated a pile of gravel...no just a few bits, but a shockingly large amount. I've sinced moved him into a bare tub...but does anyone else notice behaviour like this?

I have 15 other turtles, all on gravel, and have never noticed this, although I'll sporadically see them picking at the substrate looking for food.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Hmmm....interesting. Can't say I've ever had this issue. Maybe it's not getting enough calcium or something in it's diet.

 

[dirtyblacksocks]

Larger turtles eat substrate to aid in digestion, rocks tumble around in the stomach and break down the high fibers in their diets.

I use crushed coral as a substrate for most of my turtles because of this - it breaks down a lot easier (amino acids will liquify corals in the digestion process), and it adds extra calcium to the diet.

 

[SimonL]

Larger turtles eat substrate to aid in digestion, rocks tumble around in the stomach and break down the high fibers in their diets.

And crocodilians too, but this was far in excess of normal "gizzard stones"

 

[dirtyblacksocks]

Maybe it's an indication of calcium deficiency or parasites?

 

[coura]

It is a rater comon turt behavior even if can come alongside very serious medical troble ship. You did the rigth thing, now in the land side you can put some well dried soft cutlefish bonne for it to nible on. By the way turtles dont relly on stones to "digest" leafy material, their gutts its full of beneficial bacteria that do that for them so its not a behavior you should encorage. Many teorys are out there for the cause of that, from boredom to nutricional defenciacys. Give your turtle more space and interesting things to climb on, sand mixed with peat moss in the land side to burrow and leave aquatic plants for it to nible true out the day

 

[coura]

Larger turtles eat substrate to aid in digestion, rocks tumble around in the stomach and break down the high fibers in their diets.

I use crushed coral as a substrate for most of my turtles because of this - it breaks down a lot easier (amino acids will liquify corals in the digestion process), and it adds extra calcium to the diet.

Im not a big fownd of coral for the next reasons: it creates a too high ph alongside lots of salts and minerals wich many turtles dont like a bit, the botom of the tank can become really hard to clean because of the porous nature of the material and if ingested it isnt as easy to digest as you thing, as turtles chew it can creat sharp edges wich can cause irritacion of the gutts walls and if the turtle is a grownup one it will simply join the peaces together in the gut and form a kind of wet cement insted of digesting (it is a grown up so doesant needs more calcium for its squeleton) and have reall trobble going to the toilet. Also to much calcium is as bad a too low, turtles keeped in such circunstances are prone to kidney problems including kidney stones wich aint a good thing to mess with. I know you have at least one fly and you can use coral as a buffer and its one of the turtles that likes hard and even ligthly salty water but its better to use it in the filter chamber or in another plance in wich the turtle doesant have acess to and use normal river sand as substrate wich also allows the turtle to burrow. Oh and by the way enzimes digest food, aminoacids dont

 

[EricIvins]

Are we talking Heosemys Grandis? If so, I've had quite a few wild caught Grandis and a bunch of other Indo Turtles and Tortoises poo stones by the bucket full. I've even had Matas do it.........What you may think is un-natural, may very well be natural. I've seen it enough to think so........

 

[SimonL]

We are talking Heosemys Grandis, come to think of it, I've seen the big Ambo box I've got picking at the rocks more than most others...

Well that makes me feel somewhat better, thanks Eric.

 

[dirtyblacksocks]

Im not a big fownd of coral for the next reasons: it creates a too high ph alongside lots of salts and minerals wich many turtles dont like a bit, the botom of the tank can become really hard to clean because of the porous nature of the material and if ingested it isnt as easy to digest as you thing, as turtles chew it can creat sharp edges wich can cause irritacion of the gutts walls and if the turtle is a grownup one it will simply join the peaces together in the gut and form a kind of wet cement insted of digesting (it is a grown up so doesant needs more calcium for its squeleton) and have reall trobble going to the toilet. Also to much calcium is as bad a too low, turtles keeped in such circunstances are prone to kidney problems including kidney stones wich aint a good thing to mess with. I know you have at least one fly and you can use coral as a buffer and its one of the turtles that likes hard and even ligthly salty water but its better to use it in the filter chamber or in another plance in wich the turtle doesant have acess to and use normal river sand as substrate wich also allows the turtle to burrow. Oh and by the way enzimes digest food, aminoacids dont

The only turtles I've got much experience in keeping over crushed coral are terrapin's and fly river turtle's. Which both eat coral in nature - and prefer a higher pH, so I guess that should have been explained in my original explanation.

I can understand how keeping something like a mata mata in crushed coral would be a huge mistake, and probably kill the animal.