Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i know it was posted not to long ago but i cant find what was answered but i noticed one of box turtles eating some pebbels in the pen, when i bought the top soil it had tiny rocks, should i take all the dirt out and get a different brand of soil one with no rocks mixed in or is it ok to have them in any help would be great

That was my post about my turtles eating pea gravel, and I think the consensus was it was OK.

Depends if the pebbles are really rocks or perlite. Wild box turtles are sometimes x-rayed with pebbles in their stomach and gut. The problem is impaction due to low fiber diet and no or little exercise.

If this is soil store bought and have lots of jagged pieces of pebbles-then yes, buy something with less rocks or cover what you have with a thick layer of leaf mulch and garden soil.

Every year I pile all the maple leaves from the yard and grass clippings from summer into a big pile and augment the soils in the pens after a fall and winter of composting.
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

As a follow-up, I was just changing the water bowls in the boxie enclosures and found that the bottom of the bowl in the overnight Eastern enclosure had about a dozen and a half little pebbles at the bottom. So, I guess my one Eastern juvie is still eating the pea gravel, but thankfully, passing it just fine.