So someone ate a rock...

[hnnhflns]

I have a baby sully that is about 1 1/2 years old. I take him on little walks to get some sunshine for both of us and sometimes we stop for a little rest along the way. Today he was nosing around in the dirt and before I could grab it he swallowed a small pebble. I have been doing my reading about them swallowing rocks but I am super paranoid about something happening to him. Is there anything I can do or feed him to make him pass the pebble quickly?

I swear the constant worrying about him is going to give me some sort of complex.

 

[AmRoKo]

I think you just need to keep him hydrated and give him high fiber type foods and maybe even stuff high in water content like iceberg lettuce and cucumber and he should pass it, but someone more experienced with this will probably chime in here soon.

 

[dmmj]

I personally would avoid lettuce, and cucumbers, you don't want him to get spoiled. The best thing you can do for now, is to hydrate, a general rule of thumb, if they can swallow it, they can pass it. You might also want to increase the amounts of higher fiber foods.

 

[Tom]

He'll probably pass the pebble, but we should examine WHY he ate one in the first place. Do you feed mostly grocery store foods? Do you use a calcium supplement? Mineral or vitamin supplement?

 

[hnnhflns]

He is offered a mix of veggies everyday. It contains lettuce, spinach, a little carrot, mustard greens, kale, cucumber skins ( he is spoiled but not that spoiled). He is also allowed to roam around in grass for a few hours a day (we live in an apartment complex while I am finishing up my degree) but doesnt always eat all of what he is offered or he is picky and only eats parts.

A vet friend of mine has me adding a few bits of mauzuri a couple times a week for hia vitamins and calcium. But again the problem is that he doesnt always eat it all. I have started offering him cuttlefish bone because he stopped eating veggies sprinkled with vitamins

I recently discovered that he really likes prickly pear cactus but I can't always find it.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Mine ate a small rock recently... she is an adult, so it was a little bigger, but it passed fine and came out a few days later during supper!

 

[hnnhflns]

Since he ate the rock he has pooped 3 times. No rock yet, but he is alert, eating, and moving around like normal. No squeaking or noises when pooping, so I guess that is good...

 

[ZEROPILOT]

My pair of adult red foots eats chunks of rock or coral in the soil every so often. Especially while breeding. I also think that it is a calcium deficiency thing. Get some calcium supplement and sprinkle it on his favorite food every once and again. It's not very expensive and even a small bottle of the powder can go a very long way. Especially being kept indoors, he may not be metabolizing calcium very well.

 

[hnnhflns]

Yeah, my vet friend told me that he needed more calcium and we have been working on it. He is getting prickly pear cactus several times a week. The really strange thing is he always turns down food with the vitamin powder, even pumpkin or his lettuce treat. I have been doing research for good ways of getting vitamins in, and I found this link: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/calcium-rich-gel-food-for-supplementation.34944/

I was wondering if anyone had good luck with that.

He is still eating well and very active. He is alert and focused when I am around. I am guessing that means he is doing fine and I don't have to worry yet.

 

[Moozillion]

You can order prickly pear pads online- I think I've gotten some from Carolina Pet Supply (online- I live in Louisiana!). I also got a ROOTED pad of prickly pear- it grows easily in many climates. I think I also got that from Carolina Pet Supply.