My 9 month old Sulcata is eating dirt :/ Is this normal??

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KellyBooAngelEyes

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She is on a diet of leafy greens, cactus, and prickly pear fruit, we give her repti-cal twice a week and on occasion we give her a small piece of apple or a bite of a strawberry. They vet told us to give her chopped carrots, but she seems to have a problem eating it.

But the issue is that she has been eating her dirt in her enclosure. Is this normal?

She is just getting off of antibiotics that we had to get her for an upper respiratory infection that she had when we bought her.

She's more active and seems to be fine other than the dirt eating.

Should we be concerned?
 

dmmj

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It is common for a tortoise to eat dirt, which is why we always recommend something easily digestible, as long as he is well hydrated everything should pass fine.
 

KellyBooAngelEyes

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dmmj said:
It is common for a tortoise to eat dirt, which is why we always recommend something easily digestible, as long as he is well hydrated everything should pass fine.

Thank you! I was so worried that she was doing it out of rebellion or something.

She throws fits sometimes. Usually when we take something away from her, or if she's hungry and we make her wait.

We try to keep her on a regular feeding schedule.

Good to know we aren't doing anything to cause this. :D
 

wellington

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Be sure to have water available that she can get in and out of and soak her in warm 85-95 degree water every day for 20 mins. to 1/2 hour don't let the water get cold. Also make sure she stays warm. I posted on your other thread but i'll post here also, read the threads at the bottom of my post.
 

Tom

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Sometimes they will do this when there is a mineral deficiency. Yvonne recommended "MinerAll" to me when one of mine kept eating small rocks and pebbles and this product stopped it. Sometimes when we only supplement calcium we end up causing an imbalance in the other minerals and trace elements. I think in most of the time when they intentionally ingest dirt, rocks, and such it is because they are trying to compensate for this mineral deficiency/imbalance that they perceive.
 

JoeB

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Tom said:
Sometimes they will do this when there is a mineral deficiency. Yvonne recommended "MinerAll" to me when one of mine kept eating small rocks and pebbles and this product stopped it. Sometimes when we only supplement calcium we end up causing an imbalance in the other minerals and trace elements. I think in most of the time when they intentionally ingest dirt, rocks, and such it is because they are trying to compensate for this mineral deficiency/imbalance that they perceive.

I was just going to start a thread about this today!!! I’m so glad to hear Toms torts eat dumb things too. I let my 4 year old out of her outdoor enclosure this weekend to explorer more of the back yard and graze. I watched her as she starting trying to eat dirt and rocks. The rock she choice may of fit down her throat but I couldn’t see it making it passed or heaven forbid it get stuck in her throat. I was close enough to pull it away from her mouth as she was maneuvering it to swallow, but she has a good hold on it and gave me a hiss as I pulled it away. Needless to say she was put back into the safety of her grassy weedy enclosure. Do you think she would have eaten it???
 

dmmj

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While you don't want them eating rocks, a general rule is if they can swallow it they can pass it, but it should still be avoided if possible.
 

Tom

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KellyBooAngelEyes

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