General Care Discussion :: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:44 pm   X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

In looking for some information on the toxicity levels of nitrite and nitrate for turtles, I've bee deep down the rabbit hole of scholarly articles on RES. I didn't find what I was looking for, but did find some cool stuff, including a 2004 dissertation trying to examine the dietary change from carnivore to herbivore in yellow bellied sliders.

However, I did find a short veterinary article describing the case of a 2.5 year old RES who went in because of eating too much aquarium gravel.

I know some RES don't do this, but if I hadn't switched to sand, this would convince me:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 2-0057.pdf
Tobi a RES born in 2012
1 dog, 1 teenager, 3 aquariums filled with fish, snails, shrimp and a bit of algae
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ljapa
 
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Post Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:51 pm   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

That's no bueno at all. Upgrading my tank to a 60 gal. this weekend. Forsure getting rid of gravel, for good.
CrushTheTurtle
 
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Post Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:03 am   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

Wow, what a great article. That xray is nuts! Maybe we should put this link in the "get rid of the gravel" thread.
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vear
 
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Post Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 1:53 pm   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

vear wrote:Wow, what a great article. That xray is nuts! Maybe we should put this link in the "get rid of the gravel" thread.

That's a great idea! :)
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Into_the_Mystic
 
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Post Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:00 pm   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

That's just why we preach no gravel! Thanks. On the sand. I guess I need to make a vid on how easy it is to clean! I don't think newbies believe me when I tell them its easy to clean.
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1 DBT White Concentric Female/ Lucky
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 11:16 am   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

Kansasslider wrote:That's just why we preach no gravel! Thanks. On the sand. I guess I need to make a vid on how easy it is to clean! I don't think newbies believe me when I tell them its easy to clean.

I agree. I use my fish net and just scoop, sift and toss in the toilet any waste on the bottom. I don't have to do it that often either. Maybe once a month or so.
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Into_the_Mystic
 
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 3:15 pm   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

This shows a great reason why people should not use gravel. I like to use big river rocks. Or even rocks that I find at the beach.
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:40 pm   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

MyTurtleMartina wrote:This shows a great reason why people should not use gravel. I like to use big river rocks. Or even rocks that I find at the beach.

Also not easy to clean and traps debris. Also not highly reccomended for turtle tanks. Depending on how big and how many your talking about. Sand by far gets top marks in my book.
1 Male Mississippi Map/Mississippi
1 Female RES/Slidy.
1 DBT White Concentric Female/ Lucky
1 DBT Male/ Spots
(Housed in the same tank)

300 gallon indoor stock tank, FX6 & FX5 filters. Mega-Ray 100w UVB bulb.
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Kansasslider
 
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:16 pm   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

Kansasslider wrote:
MyTurtleMartina wrote:This shows a great reason why people should not use gravel. I like to use big river rocks. Or even rocks that I find at the beach.

Also not easy to clean and traps debris. Also not highly reccomended for turtle tanks. Depending on how big and how many your talking about. Sand by far gets top marks in my book.


My Mom keep stopping me from using aquarium sand, and she keeps stating its gonna be hard to clean, and I keep trying to tell her its not that hard. If it were only me cleaning the tank than I could put sand in. Although my filters would probably suck in the sand. :/
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Post Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 1:00 am   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

Nice find ljapa! And per suggestions, I've added this into that gravel sticky.

@MyTurtleMartina - The intake shouldn't be that low to the bottom of the aquarium with or without sand.
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steve
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Post Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:28 am   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

@Steve - That is true, but right now I have a baby snapper, and he aint the greatest swimmer. So the filters are pretty low, but once I can get more stuff into the tank I will raise the waters.
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 2:01 am   Re: X-ray of turtle that ate gravel

My res never ate his gravel, but I haven't put sand in either. I find that just river rocks at the bottom make it easier for me to keep him entertained. I can hide treats between them and not have to worry about him kicking the sand up. Plus all I have to do to clean is move the rocks around and sweep a net through the water. The filter is cleaning up most of his waste, but the anachris debris doesn't get to the filter.... maybe I will try it in the future, but not right now
Male res - Biscuit approx 8yrs? about 5.5 inches
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plus 1 comet, he ate 1
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