Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

My boyfriend has a young sulcata tortoise and we saw him eat a big rock the other day. The rock was nearly the size of a lima bean, and the tortoise is only about 5 inches long. We're worried he might become impacted by it. Is there anything we can do to prevent this from occuring? Should we be feeding the tortoise right now, or would that make matters worse?
He swallowed the rock three or four days ago, and hasn't eaten a whole lot since. We also haven't seen him poo. Otherwise, he is acting normally enough. Any help would be appreciated!

My Sulcata did this just a few days ago under supervision, I wonder how many he's eaten while I'm not watching.

The general rule of thumb is that if it can go down, it will come out. You may see him pass it in his poop within 4-5 days.
Keep feeding him as usual and it should pass. If however he starts to act different and you don't see it pass than a vet visit might be a good idea.

I believe there is a thread under Tortoises on a leopard tort eating rocks..go check it out.

C

Tortoises can die from ingesting stones (The books are full of examples). My suggestion to you and anyone reading this thread is to remove all stones from reach of your Tortoise. I think the issue is the stones they normally ingest in captivity are silica stones and in the wild it is normally lime stone. (Limestone will break down a little in the stomach acid). The fact they have eaten stones in captivity suggest they would do this in the wild - and it is probably a good bet if it can go in - it can go out. (On its own - if more stones are ingested the combined impact could be blocked digestive tracks).

In your case I would let the little guy go - if he is quieter than normal - then I would take him to the vet where they should x-ray and give you some advice what to do.