General Care Discussion :: eating poop... yes, poop!!!

[TitanRES]

Hi everyone,

My turtle is quite a happy little 2" RES. He eats his Baby Reptomin, ZooMed hatching feed, cuttle bones, green leaf lettuce. He's also basking normally. He loves to bask.

He also loves to eat his own poop!

Right after he drops, he would immediately dive to find his doo and eat it right away!!! Sometimes when I see him poop, I would run to get the fishnet to net it out, only to come back to see that he's already on the bottom chowing down his poo!!!

IS THIS NORMAL!!!!??? I'm feeding him well 2-3 times a day about the size of his head as posted in the basic care section.

Has anyone else observed this from their RES?

I now wait by the tank after he eats to immediately net out his poo as a short term solution...

[Kemul]

Based on some previous posts, RES do eat their own poop sometimes.

I don't think it's something to worry about. It's good if you can net it out before being eaten, but otherwise no harm done.

[TheComputerGremlin]

All RES eat their own poo, it's perfectly okay. Also, since it breaks up easily, they aren't consuming as much of it as it seems, a lot of it ends up in the filter or at the bottom of the tank as scraps. But this is why we don't give our RES kisses and we wash our hands after all handling.

Some RES are slower at eating it so their owners can grab it out easily. One way to help prevent the re-eating is to feed in a separate feeding container, wait until the business is done, and then remove the RES and clean up the poo. But honestly, I've only seen one poo dropping in the year now that I've had a RES, I feed in the tank, and I don't care if she wants to eat it.

[TitanRES]

Thank you guys. It's definitely a relief to hear that. I hope he grows out of it soon.

[robind]

He probably never will. It's a pretty normal thing to do.

[bradmeisel]

when i first saw chimpy eat poo I gagged. But now it doesn't bother me as much although my girlfriend tries to get the poo ouit with a turkey baster but usually the turtles are too quick.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

So,ALL turtles eat their own poop?

[bradmeisel]

I think so. I think they are scavengers.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Ok,I was just wondering.I've never seen my turtles eat their poop.

[mikee]

Yep! They do eat their own poo and any other turtle poo in the tank. That is just being a turtle. I have had them for many years and they do. m.

[marisa]

Mine would eat poop where they were small, but as they grew did so less and less. Now they just leave it for me to clean up.

[Dein211]

i'm prety sure that rolo eats er own poo. for some reason she never lets people see her poo. lol i have maybe seen one or two of her poos. if thats your thing then.. what ever lol i'll stick to my little debbies ;D

[cchipres]

Yes, they eat their own poop.

[zoologist]

turtles eat their own poop because their bodies don't process all of the nutrients. the poop still contains valuable nutrients so they eat it up to get them.


Cchipres, turtles don't squak. also... "water box"? Would you mind posting a picture of your tank set up on a new topic?

[Sassamo]

turtles eat their own poop because their bodies don't process all of the nutrients. the poop still contains valuable nutrients so they eat it up to get them.

Thats what I was going too say, other animals eat their own poo too. Rabbits accually make a kind off poo in the evenings they eat. Makes you glad humans digest our food so well