Gravel/Rocks in Digestive Tract - Redfoot

MPRC

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I'm trying to get a general consensus on how people feel about REDFOOT tortoises who eat rocks. I know there are members who have had x-rays done and found that their 'normal' tortoises have bellies full of rocks.

I have a couple of torts who have passed gravel and its usually a small piece here or there. It still happens and they haven't been anywhere near a rock since September.

Today I came home to a flipped tortoise. (She is okay, had a good soak and a big plate of Mazuri and treats) I noticed that she pooped twice while trying to right herself. The first one was normal and the second was runny and full of pea gravel (probably 20 small round pieces). I NEVER see this tortoise eat rocks, but she is outside in the summer so who knows. I was theorizing that in her struggles she emptied her digestive tract.

Should I be concerned that she was full of rocks? Should I be concerned that she is no longer full of rocks? Should I schedule my herd for exploratory radiographs to see what they are full of other than poop? Should I offer some seedy fruits to try to put something other than rocks into them? They love a good papaya. I know that reds eat seedy fruits in the wild and I wonder if I offer more if they might eat fewer rocks when I'm not looking.

Thanks!

 

cmacusa3

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My large female Leopard tort has recently started passing rocks. The last time was 6-7 pea sized, and I've seen one up to quarter sized. I don't have an answer honestly because I've been told they do it for different reasons.
 

Yvonne G

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We've talked about this before. RF and YF tortoises - in fact, most of the forest-type tortoises - eat fruit that contain seeds. If we don't give them these types of foods, they eat rocks instead.
 

Pearly

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I see mine eat snails all the time, no gravel, but i'm not watching them 24/7. Mine also get quite a bit of tropical fruit containing various sizes of seeds. Opuntia pears (both red and white) seeds are just like little rocks. When my torties were lil tiny babies I'd spent so much time picking the damn seeds out so they could eat soft flesh. I thought that seed was big enough to get stuck in their tract. That, and all kinds of tropical fruit that I can only find in few specialty stores here in Austin, dragon fruit, berries and melons are all in rotation with out typical everyday common fruit. During the prickly pear season their poops are full of those little "rocks". Those seeds are that hard! I have dulled few knives on them when dicing the fruit
 

ZEROPILOT

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Always having cuttlebone laying around has helped. But all of my RF still eat pebbles and rocks if they encounter one. I thought it was because all of (MOST) our rocks are pure coral. This place was a swamp a few decades ago. And has been filled in with local rock. Mostly coral and sand.
Most of these are very sharp little irregular shaped things.
I've been dealing with it so long, I had forgotten about it.
I've never had a rock eating issue or problem with any of mine. I wouldn't stress over it.
 

MPRC

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Mine eat the cuttle bone some times and then ignore it for months, but they do have access to it. They also gobble up the seeds from the prickly pears (no way i'm going to try to de-seed that!) and they love papaya seeds and all. - Do you folks suppose I should offer more fruits with seeds or just make sure they aren't munching on piles of river rocks and ignore the little ones they get a hold of? I've never seen them go after rocks, I think they are mostly incidental "Hey while I'm here digging worms/slugs/snails lets eat some rocks and dirt"
 

inkling13

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Generally my two don't have access to gravel/rocks but sometimes they can surface seemingly out of nowhere. This was a photo from last summer, I collected my two in the evening to bring them inside and A'Tuin had this in her mouth. It was too big for her to swallow but she really didn't want to let go. It took a minute but I managed to confiscate it from her. It does make me wonder what they manage to get into outside, no matter how safe we think their enclosures are.
A'TuinRock.jpg
 

theguy67

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Before mine had their outdoor enclosure, they would occasionally eat and pass gravel. Now they have a large pen with a stream filled with gravel. I've never seen them show interest now, nor have I found gravel in their droppings since they moved out. Perhaps something has taken the place of rocks? Or the variety of weeds and grass remove the appetizing nature of rocks?
 

MPRC

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Before mine had their outdoor enclosure, they would occasionally eat and pass gravel. Now they have a large pen with a stream filled with gravel. I've never seen them show interest now, nor have I found gravel in their droppings since they moved out. Perhaps something has taken the place of rocks? Or the variety of weeds and grass remove the appetizing nature of rocks?

I was thinking it may have something to do with the fact that they spend more than half of the year inside "rock free" and eating mostly store foods followed by a Spring/Summer smorgasbord of weeds and bugs and apparently occasional small rocks.

I would have no idea that they are eating rocks if I wasn't curious as to why sometimes their poop floats and sometimes it sinks.....like a rock.
 

BabyJack

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Two of my big RFs eat rocks sometimes. One day i wet a fecal stool with the water nozzle pressure by mistake and saw a white rock while the water break the fecal material. So i did it again some other day to check, and saw another rock. And just in case it is not calcium powder at all.
 

ZEROPILOT

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I've started, as of this weekend to leave the seeds in the fruit.
Today it is Suriname Cherry. Seed and all.
I'm interested to see if they eat less rocks with more seeds...
 

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MPRC

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I'm not familiar with Suriname cherry, does it have a pit like normal cherries?
 

MPRC

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Yes.
Although I'm not sure that it's an actual "cherry", the pit is very much the same

I had a cherry tree at the last house as well as a plum tree. They ate the cherries whole a lot of the time and I've never seen a plum pit come through so I assume they eat around those.
 

MPRC

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I'm always amazed at how well they clean a mango pit.
 

MPRC

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There she goes again, Rambo flipped the other day and passed more gravel. She hasn't been around the black gravel since September 2016. Silly little rockhound. All seems well aside from having to make it so she won't flip again. 1499181065212.jpg
 

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