Urgent Care :: My turtle ate some rocks! What do I do?

[Blapple]

Okay I just finished vaccuming the gravel in my RES's tank, and when I put him back in he immediately started eating his rocks. He ate a few of them so I took him out of his tank. He digs around in his rocks all the time but I've never seen him eat them before. What do I do? Will they pass through his system or do they have to be surgically removed? I have an extra tank I can put him in until I can get larger rocks for his cage, so is it okay to just set it up with new water or should I transfer the water from his current tank to the new one? Help please!

[emma]

first of all, you should get all the rocks that are bigger than his head out of his tank. Then, they might just go through him, but i dont know.

[megcornell]

You shouldn't have gravel in the tank at all. Not only can it get eaten as you've found out, but it impedes the filter from getting the tank as clean. REMOVE ALL THE GRAVEL ASAP.
You can replace it with a few large river rocks or leave the tank bare bottomed, but do not put new in, now that your turtle has shown a preference to eat rocks I wouldn't temp him.
As for the eating, once you take all the gravel out, put the turtle back in his tank or in the other tank you have. You're going to have to watch him to see if he poops over the next few days and if he's still eating. If it's just aquarium gravel, chances are he'll pass it because it's so small. Once he does just scoop it out so he doesn't re-eat it.
If he stops eating or doesn't have any bowel movements you'll need to take him to the vets for an xray to see if the gravel is stuck. It can be deadly so you'll really have to make sure you watch him closely for the next few days.

[untsmurf]

I agree with Meg 100%. Take all the gravel out now. Then watch him. If he poops, then the gravel he ate will appear on the bottom of the tank. Watch for it carefully and remove it ASAP.

[Blapple]

UPDATE:
Instead of moving my turtle into a new tank for the time being, I went ahead and took all of the gravel out of his existing tank. So now I just need to know if I should take him to the vet, or if the rocks will pass through his system. I really need some help!

[Blapple]

Thanks for all the help guys! I hope he's okay. I'd hate to have to take him to the vet, but I will if he needs it. New question. Now that I don't have any substrate in my tank, how do I keep the plants from floating?

[untsmurf]

What size gravel did he eat? If it is the normal fish gravel, he should be able to pass it. But if it's larger gravel and he doesn't poop for a few days then you should take him to the vet.

As for the plants, I had the same problem when I decided to take out my river rocks. I took some really small rubbermaid bowls (ranging 1-3'' long) and poked holes in the bottom, then I put 1-2 plants in each bowl and weighted them down with some big river rocks. This way, the rocks are too big to be eaten and when I clean them I just have to take out the whole thing and run water over them. I think it was GreyGoose that I got the idea from, but I'm not sure.

[Blapple]

He ate normal fish gravel. It was pretty small, but I'm worried because I don't know how long he's been eating it. He's always had the same kind of gravel (I change the gravel periodically but it's always the same size and color ever since he was a hatchling) and I've never seen him eat it until today. He liked to dig in it and I would watch him do it and he's never eaten the rocks, just little bits of leftover food.

[SpotsMama]

Unfortunately yours is a familiar story. People don't think their turtles are eating rocks because they don't see them do it, but then the turtle gets bored and starts eating rocks or maybe they are eating them when no one is around to see.

If he stops pooping or loses his appetite or starts acting lethargic, then you'd better get him to a vet right away. They can x ray to see if there are rocks inside and if there are, they can administer a laxitive which sometimes helps.

It can take months for a turtle to poop out all the rocks, so you'll have to keep a close eye on the bottom of the tank for a long time so that if he expells some gravel you can remove it quickly before he eats it again.

[grey goose]

I just went thru the same thing last week. Don't panic just yet, clean out the bottom of the tank completely, plants and all. If they are live plants, just put them in a container for now.
Feed him normally, but keep an eye on him and watch for the gravel in his poop. If he stops eating, becomes lethargic, or shows signs of anxiety, he may be in trouble......get him to a vet.
Beaker (just over 6" SCL) ate this rock:



But she passed it two days later.
Good luck.

[Blapple]

Update:
His tank is totally clear of gravel. A few minutes ago I noticed a small pile of rocks at the bottom of the tank. I got them all out, but there were more rocks in the pile than I saw him eat. I guess he's been munching on rocks for a while. He's acting normal so maybe he's okay! He does look pretty bored without his rocks to dig in. Poor baby.

[megcornell]

Chances are he may have eaten gravel before, so it's really good you got it out when you did. Even small gravel can bind together in their digestive tracks and cause big problems. The fact that the gravel is passing is a great sign though!
If you think he's bored, go ahead and add a few large river rocks. My turtle loves to push hers around the tank and "redecorate".

[untsmurf]

I agree with Meg, a couple of big river rocks should give him enough stuff to play with. Just keep looking out for little gravel.

[Skadica]

I use sand for my tank, but it takes a lot of work to clean clean and is not recommended if you don't want to double the amount of work in cleaning your tank.

[Blapple]

Update:
Thankfully the rocks are passing though his system. I've collected a lot from the bottom of his tank. He ate a bunch!