Why is my tortoise eating his substrate?

[CaggyQ]

Hi everyone,

So today I caught my little one year old Russian tort eating his orchid bark substrate. Immediately I gave him some of his tasty greens out of his bowl (in his vivarium with him) and he started to eat that. I’m a bit worried about impaction, and I’m wondering why he might decide to do this and how can I make sure he won’t do it again?

Thanks so much everyone!

?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings…. There are probably lots of reasons. Maybe it grabbed a piece by accident? And was just sampling it (and got busted). Are you feeding right on the substrate on a large piece of flat slate or a sunken terracotta dish? Are you feeding enough? Are you offering any “trace” minerals via something like Miner All? Offering a cuttle bone?

➡️ https://www.stickytonguefarms.com/
➡️➡️ https://www.chewy.com/caitec-featherland-paradise/dp/337982

So…. lots of possible reasons, but maybe it was a quick sample/mistake.

 

[CaggyQ]

Thank you so much for your reply! He has a cuttlebone and he gets his calcium regularly (although he’s very fussy with that; I add in a little bit into his baths to make sure he’s getting enough). He has been super active and I’m about to get him a bigger vivarium. I did spot him once trying to take a chunk out of his cave too. I’m just worried he’ll hurt himself with that behaviour!

 

[Tom]

Thank you so much for your reply! He has a cuttlebone and he gets his calcium regularly (although he’s very fussy with that; I add in a little bit into his baths to make sure he’s getting enough). He has been super active and I’m about to get him a bigger vivarium. I did spot him once trying to take a chunk out of his cave too. I’m just worried he’ll hurt himself with that behaviour!

What do you feed him? Is it mostly grocery store greens?

Where is Donegal?

 

[CaggyQ]

What do you feed him? Is it mostly grocery store greens?

Where is Donegal?

I feed him butternut squash, spinach, kale, rocket, pumpkin (when in season), dandelion (when they grow), dark leaf and red leaf lettuce, and carrot tops. The more variety, the more excited he is to rummage around to find his favourites. Also, I meant to say he eats from a large terracotta dish!

Donegal is in Ireland, so at times it can be tricky to get certain tort-approved veggies and outdoor greens because of the cold. ??

 

[Tom]

I feed him butternut squash, spinach, kale, rocket, pumpkin (when in season), dandelion (when they grow), dark leaf and red leaf lettuce, and carrot tops. The more variety, the more excited he is to rummage around to find his favourites. Also, I meant to say he eats from a large terracotta dish!

Donegal is in Ireland, so at times it can be tricky to get certain tort-approved veggies and outdoor greens because of the cold. ??

Your tortoise isn't getting enough fiber. Grocery store foods are not the best diet for them, but they are necessary for most people for at least part of every year. If you must use grocery store foods, you need to add in some amendments to add fiber, variety and correct the imbalances.

All the diet info is explained here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[CaggyQ]

Thanks so much for your reply, I really appreciate it. I meant to say he does get a lot of endive and escarole too, but I’d love to grow more food for him myself. Im not quite sure what’s safe for him to eat outside. I just want to get the best mixture! I’ve always been concerned about impaction and that’s why I didn’t include hay pellets… but I know he’d love them because he’s curious and alert all of the time. There’s no stopping him at the moment!

 

[Tom]

Thanks so much for your reply, I really appreciate it. I meant to say he does get a lot of endive and escarole too, but I’d love to grow more food for him myself. Im not quite sure what’s safe for him to eat outside. I just want to get the best mixture! I’ve always been concerned about impaction and that’s why I didn’t include hay pellets… but I know he’d love them because he’s curious and alert all of the time. There’s no stopping him at the moment!

Soak and crumble up the hay pellets to mix in. Start with a tiny tiny amount the first few times. Hardly any at all.

Post pics of your local weeds here, or take samples to a local garden center for ID help. It takes some effort to learn them all, but that is by far the best food for your tortoise and its also FREE! Growing your own is good too if you can find a source for weed seeds. I often collect and plant my own weed seeds that I find all over the place. Sometimes I don't know if a particular area is chemical free and safe to feed weeds from, but I know that if I just collect the seeds and grow my own, they will be totally safe.

Many ways to do it.

 

[christinaland128]

What kind of bulb are you using for heat? If you use a red bulb, it makes everything appear to be red and they will sometimes eat non food items out of confusion.

 

[Lyn W]

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good beginner's guide to what is safe or not.
I buy a product called Readigrass (Pets at Home online) which I grind up finely in a blender and mix onto wet leaves to add fibre.
You can now buy Nutrazu online (UK version of Mazuri) I'm currently trying to add it to my torts winter diet but he's not too keen on it.
Opuntia pads (online) are also a good source of calcium and fibre and my tort loves it, but it does cause runny poop so I ration it.