Found in Poop

[MrJorgensen]

So, I've had my 6 year old, 12 inch (shell length), Sulcata for about a week and a half now. I found the marble sized object in his poop yesterday. It doesn't seem very heavy, not the density of a marble, but still very hard. The people at the pet store where I rescued him from let him roam around the store. I've watched him very closely in the yard, and he sleeps inside in his tortoise table. Could this have stayed in his gut or intestines since being at the pet store, or do I need to tell the neighbors to not throw stuff in my yard? Or, better yet, do I have a magical pearl producing tortoise?

Seriously though, I want what is best for my tort, and finding this in his poop made me freak out a little bit.

 

[shellysmom]

Ummmm.... does your tortoise like to play Hungry Hungry Hippo? Because that's exactly what it looks like that's from. It's always possible that the marble was ingested a while ago, was having trouble passing out of his stomach, and your changes in husbandry helped it pass. I think I would freak out, too, if that came out of my tort, lol. And yes, tell your neighbors to stop throwing things in your yard. That's not cool.

 

[Tom]

Most likely from the pet shop. I have seem my tortoises eat things and then seen it in the poop as much as 7 weeks later. And this was when they were about the same size as yours.

 

[Yvonne G]

Are you sure your tortoise is male?

It looks to me like it might be a petrified egg. Can you cut it open?

The stones they get from urates (not being hydrated and eating too much food high in oxalates) are more rough-looking, not smooth.

 

[MrJorgensen]

Are you sure your tortoise is male?

It looks to me like it might be a petrified egg. Can you cut it open?

The stones they get from urates (not being hydrated and eating too much food high in oxalates) are more rough-looking, not smooth.

Yeah, he's a boy. He's started to show his "manly" parts. It seems like it is something that was manufactured, just not a marble. There are small indentions on it, but I'm not sure if they are natural or if it might have been from him biting it before he swallowed.