General Care Discussion :: Turtle ate small rocks, she's pooping em out!

[matildatheturtle]

Matilda's previous owner (whom we rescued her from) had small gravel in her small tank. She's a 3 yr old and 8" long was in a 29 gal tank. So a week after having her we found several tiny rock pebbles which must be from the old tank and we assume she ate the rocks and is finally excreting them through her stool. Otherwise she's a happy active and seemingly healthy RES. So my question is: what are the possible effects that could result from this? Is there anything that we should be looking out for? Has anyone else had this happen? Thx!

[SpotsMama]

If you're lucky Matilda will pass all the stones and be ok. Be sure and pick up the rocks from the bottom of the tank or she'll just keep eating them again and again.

You've probably seen the threads on here about turtles who ate gravel and it filled up their stomachs or got stuck in their intestines. Most of them don't survive. The turtle would stop pooping if this happened and gradually get sick. There was one instance also where the turtle ate gravel with sharp edges and there was a lot of bleeding. No mistaking it if that happens.

It's very good that your turtle is pooping it out. This can go on for a long time. I think someone on here found gravel in the tank from a turtle that hadn't been around gravel for a couple of years. So keep a constant watch for more gravel.

In case there's something large in her stomach that might get stuck in her intestine in the future you should think about getting her x-rayed.

If a rock does get stuck, the remedy is laxatives that the vet would administer. Hopefully it won't come to that!

[industrial_girl_2000]

Matilda's previous owner (whom we rescued her from) had small gravel in her small tank. She's a 3 yr old and 8" long was in a 29 gal tank. So a week after having her we found several tiny rock pebbles which must be from the old tank and we assume she ate the rocks and is finally excreting them through her stool. Otherwise she's a happy active and seemingly healthy RES. So my question is: what are the possible effects that could result from this? Is there anything that we should be looking out for? Has anyone else had this happen? Thx!

I've had this happen too.....many yrs ago when I had gravel in the tank with my turtles. Thank goodness my turtles were bigger too & I removed the gravel after 8 months because it made the water permanently cloudy, no matter how many water changes I did. After the gravel was gone, I started to notice an occasional gravel rock on the bottom of the tank & realized that the turtles were pooping them out. It took a coupla months, but eventually no more gravel pieces were found & life has been good ever since. That was over 10 yrs ago & my big baby Sheba is still with me (she's 9" adult RES).

[marisa]

As long as she's pooping them out, she should be OK. I know of someone who counted as they came out and were found, and eventually counted nearly 100 tiny pieces.

[GunnerMan]

Why do res like to eat gravel? It seems I have seen more post on here about not having gravel in their tank then I can count. I don't understand why?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Because it can get stuck in their stomach's and can cost you litterally hundred's and hundred's of dollar's worth of vet visit's, and xray's. And most turtle's who have gravel and are unable to pass it (poop it out) dont survive (there have been alot of thread's of turtle's dieing because of it)

DONT USE GRAVEL.

Read this:


http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... +ingestion

There are more thread's, look them up yourself.

Hope this helped,

[DavidY]

Yea, there's some really sad accounts of peoples turtles that just stopped eating after a while. When they got x-rayed their stomachs were completely full of gravel. Within a few days the turtle would wind up dead. Most of the people thought there was no way that their turtle was eating the rocks...until it was too late. That's why everyone here is really jumpy when we hear about or see gravel in their turtle's tanks.

[SpotsMama]

Gunnerman, you would think turtles would know not to eat gravel, but they keep doing it over and over. Maybe they're craving calcium or maybe they're bored. Maybe in the wild they live in ponds with muddy bottoms so they don't have access to great expanses of gravel like they can get in an artificial environment. I don't think anyone really knows why they do it.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I think it's thought to aid in digestion. Tortoise trust say's some species do it almost 'religiously' but how I see it, sure...some of of the rock's can pass with no problem, but some wont..do you realy want to risk that? I dont.

[TXGUY]

I'm glad I join this website , I'm lerning a lot,
OK if gravel is a potential problem for RES, what would be the best to put on bottom of our tanks?? I have a 20 gall, thank, with gravel
and now i know i need to remove all the gravel, because my "Donatello" is doing same thing as yours is: EATING GRAVEL,
water sand from aquariums will be ok??????????????? or big rocks ????????? or WHAT ???????

help please hugs to all ALbert, FTW TX

[N4784N R4613]

You really don't need anything on the bottom at all! Unless you like the look. With a bare bottom it is MUCH easier to clean, and the filters work WAY better!

[SpotsMama]

If you want something on the bottom of the tank, why don't you put a few river rocks down there? They are quite safe, pretty and turtles like to play with them. You don't have to cover the bottom with them, just put a few in to add interest.

Sand can be awful! There are some on here that have apparently made it work - at least for the short term. But others have had disasterous experiences - water that got so muddy you couldn't see the back of the tank. And hard to clean.....!!!

[TXGUY]

HI all, well i removed all the gravel from my tank and put some river rocks in one area and white water sand on ather area, it looks cool , will see how this work, but while ago i notice that my turtle was showing something on his tale, like trying to .poop , it was very dark and large but it came back to his tale, it can be a problem of he is lstock up or is something else, what you all think, or is his male part ?
And if he is lock up what can i do , i can't afford to see a VET.
he still eating and acting ok so far

[N4784N R4613]

Lol, At least now you KNOW you have a boy. ...
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... sc&start=0

[TXGUY]

oh mygoodness, THAnks so much R4613 i looked up your pics, YEs it is the same thing i saw on my turtle, so i guess i don't have to worry for been stock up with rocks