Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was collecting up the tortoises to bring in from cold weather and while in a holding container, a medium size phayrei pooped out a large amount,(quart container)of small rocks.How he was not compacted,sick,or dead I dont know.He would have had to stay at it for a while.The rocks were covered with dirt from a small old failed drain field system at one end of a pond.What is up with this? I have cought him before,so thats why they were covered with dirt.Seems like he does this in secret,I'm digging them up tomorrow.Vic

Hey Vic,

It could be that the rocks help the tortoise process the food it eats as it passes through the digestive tract. Birds have to eat gravel to help them digest their food and maybe the tortoise is doing the same thing.

I had a Star Tortoise eat huge amounts of Aspen shavings once which did kill it. I thought it was too small to eat the shavings, so I was keeping it on them because of the nice color contrast. I never saw it eating any of the Aspen, but when I had a necropsy done, there was nothing else in its gut! Who could have figured a tortoise would do that to itself?

If there is no other answer, maybe these two have/had some kind of psychological problems!!! HAHA!

Bill Zovickian

Thanks Bill,I'm sure i can find a government program I can put him in,for it has an extreem under bite.Perhaps it has T.E.R S.(tortoises eating rocks syndrome)All seriousness a side,it was a huge amount.Now that hes in for a few days i'm going to soak him until it looks like the rocks are all out,then exray.Right now I have EVERYTHING inside including 19 adults that are between 45 and 80 lbs many being 65-75 lbs. I'm earning my money now.You dont get the pay check without doing this too.Its a good time to weigh/exam.them up close and personal.Only danger is if I had a fire I'd loose everything,so I sleep lightly and little.Maybe I'll see what my collection adds up to in pounds! I love the sound of a huge tortoise's toenails on the side of a metal cattle tank as it climbs up and falls.Vic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder)

in all seriousness i hope he's doing okay! whenever i take mine outside for a walk i have to keep an eye on her, because she seems hellbent sometimes on swallowing rocks, dog poop, cigarette butts, etc. etc.... maybe it's a tortoise thing...