Reptile & Amphibian Forums

has anyone ever caught their tortoise eating crap? my redfoots seem to have an appitite for poop...gross. my leopard would never. why do they do it? how do i make them stop?

they are almost three years old.

Yes mine do..I have 2 Sulcatas and 1 Marginated. When I let my Sulcatas out in the big back yard I have to go on doggie poop duty and they always seem to find 1 or 2 pieces that I've missed. They have also been known to eat their own and others.
The best way to avoid it is to clean it up which isn't always possible unless your on poop duty 24/7.

There's something tasty inside I guess. LOL

Unfortunately coprophagy (or eating of feces) is a nasty practice of tortoises. Some say it is a way they reabsoarb nutrients. The best way to stop it is to clean regularly.

yeah, i always clean as soon as i see. it sucks though. all of a sudden my cute little tortoises arent so cute with a mouth full of crap.

My torts also try to eat their feces if left in their box. But like many of you I tend to remove their feces as soon as I find them. But I have just finished three books by Richard Paull (http://www.greennaturebooks.com/) and he was reporting that even since he started to keep a guard dog in his outdoor tortoise pens – their egg production increased beyond his expectations.

I think it is because the dog excrement is very nutritious and full of all sorts of bacteria. I am not suggesting feeding your torts on excrement – but there might be something there. The issues with dog doo doo is that it may contain poisons such as Ivermectin used to kill worms in mammals (Including dogs and humans) but toxic to Tortoises. But more common is the parasites from other tortoises or animals that can contaminate your much loved pet tortoise.

Oh good to know, that means I don't have to pick up dog poop anymore!! LOL JUST KIDDING