Hey guys, for the past few weeks i saw my turtle(red eared slider) biting small rocks which is in my tank, i tried to stop it by giving a cuttle bone as i thought it may be because its trying to get some calcium or some other minerals.....
is there any way i could stop this?
It's recommended to go bare bottom with red ear slider. They will accidentally eat the gravel when searching for any food at the bottom of the tank. It's also easier to clean their tank when there's no gravel.
If you must have gravel go with river rocks or something that is too large for them to swallow. Larger substrate do trap poop though...
They do this to aid in digestion much like bird's and crocodiles . They seem to know which ones they can swallow and pass and which ones to spit out so i wouldn't worry too much about it.
I've owned turtles for a very long time, I've never seen on accidentally eat something, they might grab a rock in error but if that's not what the were after they'll spit it out. When they eat rocks it's intentional. I've heard that a calcium craving will make them eat more rocks but i dont buy that but i can't say for sure because mine always have some calcium available in the form of cuttel bone or crushed shells if they want it.
Mine go into ponds in the summer that have river sand/pebbles, and every year when they come in for the winter a handful of pebbles appears in the tanks. I've never had a problem with impaction from it. I keep them in bar bottom most of the time indoors because it's easier to clean though.
