# Sulcata eats inedible objects



## BugMom (Apr 16, 2012)

Hi I'm new here. I have six tortoises total, 3 desert, 2 Russian, 1 sulcata. All rescues and all kept in separate pens by species. This spring I'm trying to introduce my sulcata to the outdoor pen, but she is trying to eat everything! She is grazing on the grass, hay, and dandelions that are in there. But she's also eating (or trying to eat) rocks, the wood side on the pen, her house, a concrete tortoise statue. Her indoor pen had natural dirt with some rocks from the yard. She did not eat weird stuff indoors. I'm scared to leave her outside that she might become impacted. But she's too big now for the indoor enclosure. I'd appreciate any advice. She is 4 years old and her name is Phoebe. She was given to me by a teacher that mistakenly thought she would make a good classroom pet. She had a respiratory infection when I got her, but was treated and has since been in excellent health.


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## dmmj (Apr 16, 2012)

Your post made me laugh, sadly sulcatas sometimes just love to eat stuff. the only real way to avoid it, is to remove the stuff he is trying to eat. If you look around you will see a lot of posts about sulcatas who have tried and or eaten plastic bags, mardi gras beads, styrofoam, and lots of other stuff.


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## JoesMum (Apr 17, 2012)

... And mud and poop seem to be a regular part of their diet!


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## RV's mom (Apr 17, 2012)

dog poop and stones were RV's faves.. She would get mad at me when I'd try to scoop doggie poo away from her mouth...... 

like " HEY! I'M TRYING TO EAT HERE..."

as for advice, agree with the above.. try to remove harmful items as you can, shield from others. 

teri


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## dmarcus (Apr 17, 2012)

Hello and welcome to the forum...


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## Katherine (Apr 17, 2012)

Welcome! Sorry to hear about your Sulcatas new bad habit. Although it can seem funny that a tortoise would want to eat statues, Mardi Gras beads or rocks; it is actually dangerous, serious, and not a laughing matter at all. I have seen a 40lb Sulcata die from a gravel impaction after 'grazing' a gravel garden bed unbeknownst to his owner. If it is an option, I would definitely recommend you remove any ingestable but inedible things from the outdoor enclosure while trying to determine why this is happening. I would worry less about large statues and her house and things that are not likely to break free into pieces she could swallow. Do you use any supplements and what is your tortoises diet like? Often times tortoises trying to eat inedible items are attempting to fill a void in the diet for calcium or minerals, sometimes they are trying to wear down their beak, sometimes they a having a hard time visualizing an item as food or not due to eye problems or lighting, sometimes they are just plan silly. It would not hurt to reassess you diet and make sure the tortoise is getting everything it needs, if not then a calcium and/or mineral supplement may be able to curb this habit. Goodluck, and again- Welcome to forum!!!


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## Yvonne G (Apr 17, 2012)

Hi BugMom:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

What would you like us to call you?

and may we know appx. where in the world you are?

I'm starting to think that giving a tortoise antibiotics has a lot to do with them eating substrate or whatever. You said your tortoise had a resp. infection. Did he get a round of antibiotics? If so, you may have to help him get his good gut flora and fauna back. You can give him pro-biotics, or find a sulcata you know is clean and healthy and let him eat some of that tortoise's feces.


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## Jacob (Apr 17, 2012)

welcome to the forum!


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