Should I be worried?

[Tortuga_terrestre]

My CDT yearlings have been eating big chunks of the orchid substrate. All three have a healthy appetites....I feed them outside of there enclosure to avoid swallowing this stuff. Are they going to digest it??? I dont see any traces of it there stool.

 

[Laura]

there was a post about this exact thing earlier today.. if your torts are eating thier substrate.. the thought it.. they are hungary.. not being fed enough or are lacking something in the diet. Minerals, calcium, vitamins...

 

[Tortuga_terrestre]

I just read Yvonne's thread on this exact topic. I try to give them a balance diet. Their diet consist of Spring Mix, Dandellions, Hibiscus Flower and leaves, Rose pedals and they graze freely in there outside enclosure. Oh yeah..I sprinkle calcium on their food every other day..Maybe I should put a cuddle bone in the enclosure. Are the chunks going to stay in their digestive system???

there was a post about this exact thing earlier today.. if your torts are eating thier substrate.. the thought it.. they are hungary.. not being fed enough or are lacking something in the diet. Minerals, calcium, vitamins...

 

[egyptiandan]

Eating substrate could mean your tortoise is hungry, but more likely it's looking for bacteria to aid in digestion.
Hard to say whether the bark will be digested, but I would imagine not. It may take weeks to come out though.

Danny

 

[dmmj]

keep em hydrated, that should help in passing the bark eventually

 

[Tom]

Mine aren't doing that Walter. I wonder what's different. I'm feeding a similar diet. Mine do have cuttle bone, but don't touch it. You've seen my set-up. What is different about yours, I wonder? Cory hasn't mentioned this either. Don't feel accused or attacked or anything. Just wondering what is making them do this.

 

[Tortuga_terrestre]

I house 3 yearlings in a 20 Gallon Tank (I know its small, Im building a new enclosure). In the enclosure their is a hiding place and a flat rock under a 75 W Infrared bulb and a 18' UVB fluorescent light. I soak them twice a day and feed them outside their enclosure. They are currently in their outdoor 8x8x8x8 enclosure...They graze on weeds all day. Im considering dumping the substrate and using plain clean soil... I can plant dandellions in the soil..Im sure something will grow with the UVB light on for 12 hours a day.

Mine aren't doing that Walter. I wonder what's different. I'm feeding a similar diet. Mine do have cuttle bone, but don't touch it. You've seen my set-up. What is different about yours, I wonder? Cory hasn't mentioned this either. Don't feel accused or attacked or anything. Just wondering what is making them do this.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I have a yearling that is doing the same thing. I saw a large turd in the clean water so I pulled it out and it fell apart as I did, and it was full of the small sticks of substrate, and I mean really full. That's really all that was in this turd, sticks. It really has me worried as I have never had this problem before and I feed really well. I am making sure to keep him well hydrated but I want to know why he is eating his substrate...

 

[Tom]

I house 3 yearlings in a 20 Gallon Tank (I know its small, Im building a new enclosure). In the enclosure their is a hiding place and a flat rock under a 75 W Infrared bulb and a 18' UVB fluorescent light. I soak them twice a day and feed them outside their enclosure. They are currently in their outdoor 8x8x8x8 enclosure...They graze on weeds all day. Im considering dumping the substrate and using plain clean soil... I can plant dandellions in the soil..Im sure something will grow with the UVB light on for 12 hours a day.

Mine aren't doing that Walter. I wonder what's different. I'm feeding a similar diet. Mine do have cuttle bone, but don't touch it. You've seen my set-up. What is different about yours, I wonder? Cory hasn't mentioned this either. Don't feel accused or attacked or anything. Just wondering what is making them do this.

Try swapping out the infrared bulb and just use a regular incandescent flood and your 18" tube during the day instead. Use a CHE for night if you need it. I wonder if the bulb is making things look "funny" to them. Can you post a pic with that bulb in use during the day?

 

[herpgirl24]

Mine munches on the moss in his tank, he can be right next to the greens and still eats the moss. I switched out to a MVB bulb today and he was all over the place eating the grass that is planted in there, the grass that he has pretty much ignored.

Maybe it is all in the lighting making things look different to them.

 

[Tortuga_terrestre]

Here are the pictures of my enclosure.

I house 3 yearlings in a 20 Gallon Tank (I know its small, Im building a new enclosure). In the enclosure their is a hiding place and a flat rock under a 75 W Infrared bulb and a 18' UVB fluorescent light. I soak them twice a day and feed them outside their enclosure. They are currently in their outdoor 8x8x8x8 enclosure...They graze on weeds all day. Im considering dumping the substrate and using plain clean soil... I can plant dandellions in the soil..Im sure something will grow with the UVB light on for 12 hours a day.

Mine aren't doing that Walter. I wonder what's different. I'm feeding a similar diet. Mine do have cuttle bone, but don't touch it. You've seen my set-up. What is different about yours, I wonder? Cory hasn't mentioned this either. Don't feel accused or attacked or anything. Just wondering what is making them do this.

Try swapping out the infrared bulb and just use a regular incandescent flood and your 18" tube during the day instead. Use a CHE for night if you need it. I wonder if the bulb is making things look "funny" to them. Can you post a pic with that bulb in use during the day?

 

[Yvonne G]

I know some folks become upset when they ask one question and they get an answer to a different question. I'm sorry if you're one of those, but if I see something I think might be wrong, I feel I have to speak up.

If your UVB light is the flouerescent tube on the left, then you are losing quite a bit of the UV value due to the screen. Screens with that fine of a mesh effectively filter out the UV rays.

Someone on a different thread also said that the light you use might make food look not like food. I'll try to find it. So your light might be making the bark look like food.

 

[Tortuga_terrestre]

Thank you Yvonne for the advice. I plan to go to Home Depot tomorrow to get a flood bulb..They spend most of their time in the outdoor enclosure anyways, but in this unpredictable weather... I appreciate your constructive critism..thats what TFO is about =)

I know some folks become upset when they ask one question and they get an answer to a different question. I'm sorry if you're one of those, but if I see something I think might be wrong, I feel I have to speak up.

If your UVB light is the flouerescent tube on the left, then you are losing quite a bit of the UV value due to the screen. Screens with that fine of a mesh effectively filter out the UV rays.

Someone on a different thread also said that the light you use might make food look not like food. I'll try to find it. So your light might be making the bark look like food.

 

[Tom]

Yeah that red bulb is making it look all funky in there. I've got a source for 100watt MVBs for about $26. I think its important with these little hatchlings. Call me.

 

[Tortuga_terrestre]

This is my new setup; the smaller ballast is the night light.