Habitat - Indoor :: peebles or sand

[jeggy]

ok, so we all know it's not a good idea to put rocks smaller than our res' head into the tank cause they can eat it.
but they eat it, correct me if im wrong, to aid in digestion.
impaction is when they eat a rock thats too big for them to swallow or pass correct?
so what if i put sand in my tank? the sand would be small enough that if they do eat it, it would pass fairly easily.
i just hate the look of a bare bottom tank. and i dont like the looks of large rocks either.
let me hear what you all think about it.

[marisa]

RES in the wild do occasionally eat a pebbles, and one explanation given for them doing this is that it aids in digestion. They are, however, free to roam, and I wonder how many pebbles they actually eat before they move on to forage for more food, escape predators, whatever. This, to me, is somewhat different than a turtle captive in a tank that has the bottom covered with small pebbles and not much to do, who is either hungry, looking for calcium (one reason why at least captive turts are thought to eat rocks) or is trying to get at some morsel trapped in those rocks. The changes of getting impacted from eating them would seem to be greater (you're right, impaction is when an object is unable to be passed, usually because it's too large).

I have heard of people using sand, although to me cleaning would be a pain/nearly impossible. I don't know what kind of filters they're using (would the filter be damaged if sand were sucked into it?) and maybe someone who does have sand could address those issues.

Just as a thought, why not have rocks that are a little larger than your turtle's head (can't eat them) and not so many that they're inches deep on the bottom (i.e., just enough to cover the bottom.

Or, you could put some sort of background on the bottom of the tank (under it). Nothing on the bottom, but the bottom wouldn't appear bare.

Or, you could use larger flat pieces of slate to cover the bottom of the tank...

[jenaero]

River rocks are a good idea. I think that's what most people here use. I've heard of geckos and snakes getting impactions from ingesting sand so I'm guessing the same could happen with a turtle....

[steve]

Are you thinking of it as roughage? Since your turts are eating pellets and veggies, its unnecessary. Someone printed a graphic to put under the tank to make it look "natural" and I think river rocks are a great addition to the tank.

[jeggy]

background paper under the tank is a great idea. i was actually thinking about that while i was at the pet store today but it wouldnt add texture.

peices of slate on the bottom of the tank sounds a lot better but also a lot more expensive. but i'll try to come up with something along that line.

thanks for the reply marisa, steve and jenaero.