Odin pooped out a pebble

[Odin's Gma]

We spent the entire afternoon outside during which he had a blast! Eating everything, "running" around and playing in the sprinkler but during his evening soak he pooped a big (relative to his size) pebble, (in front of his back left foot)
Should I be concerned? Should I remove all the pebbles from his playpen?

(I scooped out the massive amount of turd before I took the pic, because no one needs to see that.)

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, better to be safe than sorry. Get on your hands and knees and go all around where you put him outside and pick up anything small enough to fit into his mouth. They're just like toddlers when it comes to tasting everything.

But if he does happen to eat a small rock, remember, if it was small enough to go in the front, more than likely it's small enough to come out the back. Just keep him well hydrated and there shouldn't be a problem.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Mine seek out and eat rocks unless there are cuddlebones around.
I agree. Get rid of rocks small enough to eat and look into some mineral supplements.

 

[Odin's Gma]

He has a cuttlebone that he never touches.

When I picked them out I honestly thought they were too big for him to swallow, I am just shocked that he managed to get it down!

 

[christinaland128]

Sometimes they reject the cuttlebone and then you reintroduce it a couple months later and they like it. So try again another time. Also, I use this for a calcium supplement, they like it because it smells like blueberries....http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0004E85CW/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
ZEROPILOT is suggesting a supplement because (correct me if I'm off) torts tend to eat rocks and dirt when their body is needing some minerals. Nothing to worry about, just keep that in mind.

My Redfoot ate a pebble outside last week.

 

[Tom]

Pebble eating is fairly normal. I see it more in tortoises that are fed mostly grocery store foods.

There is a product called MinerAll, made by a company called Sticky Tongue Farms, that tends to curtail the rock eating. You might give it a try.

 

[Odin's Gma]

torts tend to eat rocks and dirt when their body is needing some minerals.

Is there any way to tell what minerals he may be lacking? I will grow him anything he needs! *tort grandma panic*

Pebble eating is fairly normal. I see it more in tortoises that are fed mostly grocery store foods.

He has had grocery store food exactly 3 times in 11 months. Twice we gave him a bit of strawberry and once we gave him mustard greens. I have grown everything else.
Obviously I am missing something. I will check the lists of tort superfoods here and see what I could be missing.

There is a product called MinerAll, made by a company called Sticky Tongue Farms, that tends to curtail the rock eating. You might give it a try.

I have to run into work for a few hours but I will hit every pet store from here to work on the way home!

 

[Odin's Gma]

He has had grocery store food exactly 3 times in 11 months.

Oops, that's a lie. We also give him grated carrot roughly once a month, so more like 14 times.

 

[christinaland128]

I'm sure you're feeding him just fine, sometimes they just eat weird things like human toddlers, lol.

 

[christinaland128]

I'm going to try that stuff Tom suggested.

 

[Odin's Gma]

I couldn't find it, so I picked up another kind, details here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/supplement-ingredient-questions.119620/

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I have had no experience with "minerall" but it must be good stuff.
I use REPASHY and find that it is eaten without fuss. Some of the white powder supplements tortoises clearly don't like....
My RF CLAN also live outdoors and eat primarily garden grown food.

 

[Tom]

Is there any way to tell what minerals he may be lacking? I will grow him anything he needs! *tort grandma panic*


He has had grocery store food exactly 3 times in 11 months. Twice we gave him a bit of strawberry and once we gave him mustard greens. I have grown everything else.
Obviously I am missing something. I will check the lists of tort superfoods here and see what I could be missing.


I have to run into work for a few hours but I will hit every pet store from here to work on the way home!

You will probably have to order the MinerAll online. Its unlikely that any pet stores would stock it on their shelves, but certainly possible. I would call instead of driving all over.

What foods are you growing for your tortoise? What is the main diet most days?

And don't be alarmed. As I said, its pretty normal for them to eat a rock now and then. If every soak has a load of gravel on the bottom of the tub, then you might have more of an issue.

 

[Odin's Gma]

.

What foods are you growing for your tortoise? What is the main diet most days?
.

I don't even know where to begin, I have gone more than a little overboard with that.

First link is all of the indoor stuff , which he still eats because we drop the trays right into his enclosure and he grazes freely

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/gmas-indoor-winter-gardening-and-sulcata-brag-thread.112815/

This link is his new outdoor playpen with even more variety

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-mighty-odins-first-outdoor-habitat-playpen.118155/

As far as main diet I can't really say, he grazes freely in his indoor enclosure all day and the trays are all randomly seeded, mainly a variety of grasses and clover with a smattering of at least a few different veggies / flowers / weeds in each. The outdoor playpen is mostly grasses (crabgrass, buffalo, a few fescue types, blue grama, ryegrass, bluegrass and catgrass) and weeds (clovers, chicory and dandelions) with a bunch of new plants and herbs and flowers coming up. His favorite the last few days seems to be petunia leaves and dandelion flowers when we are outside, but he manages to taste pretty much everything each time. We also give him hibiscus leaves regularly along with a few other houseplants like aloe, spider plant, christmas cactus and african violet.
I have somewhere between 30-40 different seed packets / bags of the grasses and weeds mentioned above along with veggies and flowers, and some of them are mixes....

Like I said, I went a little nuts.

 

[Tom]

Like I said, I went a little nuts.

That's not nuts. That's AWESOME!!!

I doubt that diet is your issue.

I would not worry about this one pebble, but the MinerAll is still a good idea, and won't hurt anything.

 

[Odin's Gma]

That's not nuts. That's AWESOME!!!

I doubt that diet is your issue.

That's a relief! Not that I wouldn't be more than happy to keep growing new things (i'm going to either way) but it's good to hear that it isn't something that I have to scramble and quickly find tort safe plants rather than continuing to start things from seed and being patient.
Speaking of more gardening, I am snagging some opuntia pads from my Mom's very old plant that she has never used anything icky on, and a couple of sempervivum babies from her also, and I have started a lot of sempervivum and some agave from seed, but it is taking forever!
So, there is a even more variety to come!

 

[Tom]

Variety is GOOD!

There was a presentation on the flora of South Africa (...a little ways off from sulcata territory, but telling none-the-less.) at last years TTPG conference. Or maybe it was 2013... Anyway, he told us there are roughly 3,000 different plant species in the Southern CA area. He showed us lots of examples and explained that in a similarly sized area in South Africa there are 22,000 species. And counting...

 

[Odin's Gma]

Variety is GOOD!

There was a presentation on the flora of South Africa (...a little ways off from sulcata territory, but telling none-the-less.) at last years TTPG conference. Or maybe it was 2013... Anyway, he told us there are roughly 3,000 different plant species in the Southern CA area. He showed us lots of examples and explained that in a similarly sized area in South Africa there are 22,000 species. And counting...

It's hard to even wrap your mind around that. No wonder sulcatas love variety!

I gotta buy more seeds!