Tortoise eats soil clumps!

[Lewis12345]

Hi, I've had my new Germans tortoise for a few days now and I have used a substrate for his tortoise table made of topsoil sand and a little bit of limestone grit. Some bits of the soil tend to form hard small clumps, and the tortoise is eating these! Is this normal, as he is eating quite a few?!
Thanks for any response!

 

[Yvonne G]

German tortoise?

Do you have a red light on?

To help the tortoise get minerals so they won't eat substrate, buy a product called Miner-all:

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't like to use any substrate that encourages the tortoise to eat it, and having limestone grit in it certainly does encourage that practice.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Mine will search for and eat rocks if they are looking for minerals that have not been provided.
What Yvonne said.

 

[Lewis12345]

Hahn, I'll have a look for that product and I meant Hermanns tortoise ahaha!
It's odd as he's not eating the actual limestone grit but just the soil clumps themselves!

 

[Lewis12345]

And funnily enough Yvoone I do have a red infrared heat light, but it hasn't been on and he still eats them

 

[Pearly]

Welcome to TFO, I keep redfoots but from what I've been reading sand is generally not recommended for tortoise substrate. Everyone seems to like orchid bark and coco coir. I have thick layer of coco coir mixed with little organic soil on top of 1.5 inch layer of orchid bark and the top is covered with moss. this way I can plant seeds all the time and moss keeps water dish clean, plus I like the looks

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It's likely a mineral deficiency.
Yvonne warned about the red lamps because a lot of tortoises like to eat colorful things and the red lamps make inedible objects look like some good food.

 

[Tom]

That "Pets at Home" substrate should be taken off the market for just this reason. Encouraging a tortoise to eat its substrate to meet its mineral cravings is a BAD idea.

Here are the contributing factors that I typically see with substrate eaters:
1. Use of red or "infrared" bulbs, day or night. Other colored bulbs will do it too.
2. A diet of mostly grocery store greens. This sort of diet lacks the needed fiber and does not have the correct nutrient or mineral balance. This often drives them to eat rocks, bark, substrate or other things to compensate for what is lacking in the diet.
3. Not enough calcium or mineral supplementation.
4. Too much calcium supplementation which causes an imbalance with some other minerals and trace elements.
5. Use of coil type cfl UV bulbs.

Do you have any of these contributing factors?

How cold does your house get at night? If its above 65F, you really don't need night heat.

 

[Lewis12345]

My house goes just below that, bout 64. Since the post about night time heat from Chris I've stopped using the red light and Mr T basks normally in the day and burrows down at night. Typically I feed him a tiny bit of baby gem lettuce, dandelion leaves, occasionally watercress and rocket/spinach. I do use calcium supplement and leave a cuttle bone in his enclosure, but I only supplement about 2/3 times a week.
@Tom yesterday I got rid of pets at home substrate. Since then tortoise hasn't eaten any substrate and does no longer come into contact with sand

 

[Tom]

My house goes just below that, bout 64. Since the post about night time heat from Chris I've stopped using the red light and Mr T basks normally in the day and burrows down at night. Typically I feed him a tiny bit of baby gem lettuce, dandelion leaves, occasionally watercress and rocket/spinach. I do use calcium supplement and leave a cuttle bone in his enclosure, but I only supplement about 2/3 times a week.
@Tom yesterday I got rid of pets at home substrate. Since then tortoise hasn't eaten any substrate and does no longer come into contact with sand

Thank you for the good news update.

So you are using no night heat now and the temp drops to 64F each night? I think this is good info to share. There are many people that believe that anywhere from 75 to 80 is as low as night temps should go for Testudo species. Experience tells me otherwise, and so does Chris, but its good to see real live cases at work. Glad to see things are working well for you, and thanks for sharing your experience with the group.

 

[Lewis12345]

Thank you for the good news update.

So you are using no night heat now and the temp drops to 64F each night? I think this is good info to share. There are many people that believe that anywhere from 75 to 80 is as low as night temps should go for Testudo species. Experience tells me otherwise, and so does Chris, but its good to see real live cases at work. Glad to see things are working well for you, and thanks for sharing your experience with the group.

Thanks for your advice Tom, it has really put my mind at ease to have my tort on a substrate which poses no risk to him and which he seems to enjoy more than the others (it's the first time I've seen him burrow tonight)
Chris' advice on not 'pampering' torts when it comes to nighttime heat was just the reassurance I needed, and I think that a lot of the new owners just need reassurance with matters like that ahaha
Thanks,
Lewis