Biting rock

[henryzou1990]

my five years old magie tortoise always looks for rocks to bite. I feed it calcium powder with food frequently. can any friend tell me what my magie short of? Thanks.

 

[Wolfpackin]

I think that's fairly normal behavior.
It could be seeing if it's edible or using the rock to wear down its beak.

I'd give your tortoise a cuttlebone if it likes to chew on things.

 

[T Smart]

Cuttlebones work great! Also, make sure there are no small stones, which could possibly be ingested.

 

[Tom]

What do you feed your tortoise? This behavior is much more common in tortoises that are fed primarily grocery store produce. I rarely see a tortoise fed grass, weeds, leaves and succulents biting rocks, but I see lettuce and spring mix eaters doing it all the time.

This is not likely a calcium deficiency, but rather a mineral imbalance. Feeding the right high fiber foods helps to fix this, as does adding some "MinerAll" supplementation. Its a powdered product made by a company called "Sticky Tongue Farms". Adding calcium supplementation will make the imbalance worse. You need a balanced mineral supplement.

 

[henryzou1990]

Thanks for all responses.