Rocks

1289Gabe

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Mar 16, 2020
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San Diego California
My baby leopard tort seems to like rocks. Whenever I take him out, he tries to eat small pebbles and scrapes his beak on the stone pathway (it’s kinda rugged). Is this normal, or should I do something about it?
 
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Crush da Baum

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It could be because of a mineral deficiency. My tort does the same thing. I am trying to fix it.
 

RosemaryDW

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I don’t think beak scratching is a problem, he needs to keep it worn down. If he’s eating rocks though, that might be a mineral deficiency. If someone doesn’t answer here shortly I’d suggest making a post in the Leopard forum. I only know where to point you for Russians and don’t want to give you bad info as to the best approach.
 

Tom

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My baby leopard tort seems to like rocks. Whenever I take him out, he tries to eat small pebbles and scrapes his beak on the stone pathway (it’s kinda rugged). Is this normal, or should I do something about it?
What do you typically feed him? Tortoises need a high fiber diet. Grocery store greens fall short in this department. Weeds, leaves, succulents, flowers and grass should make up the bulk of the diet. If you must feed grocery store greens, it is necessary to add amendments to improve them and make them more nutritionally complete for your tortoise.

The above can usually explain the cause, but what to do about it? Along with amending the diet, you can buy a product called MinerAll from a company called sticky tongue farms. This is a balanced mineral supplement (not a calcium supplement), and it will help correct the imbalances caused by the wrong foods. I'd use it every other day for a couple of weeks, and then switch to once or twice a week for maintenance.
 

ZEROPILOT

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To stop my Redfoot from eating rocks outside (here, its actually chunks of coral) I keep cuttlebone scattered in the enclosure.
They seem to know instinctively when they require it. Because it doesn't always get eaten.
Many bird stores will sell broken cuttlebone peices cheaply. Bird owners don't seem to like the broken ones.
 
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