Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 2yo Hermann's tortoise that I keep indoors in a tub. When the weather is nice, I sit outside with him so that he can get expose natural sunlight and eat fresh weeds. However, after he gets his dandelion fill, the little bugger walks over to the house and bites at the mortar. He will actually dislodge chunks and try to eat it. He is obsessive about this and will repeatedly walk over to the house to do this!

My assumption is that he may be doing this for calcium/minerals, but I suppliment him with calcium at every feeding and with vitamins weekly. Do tortoises ingest rocks to aid in digestion?

Jeff

I know mine will pick at small white rocks if he finds them. Isn't limestone some component of mortar? Maybe that's why he tries to eat it.
-----
Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

Why not provide some cuttlebone to see whether that satisfies his need for "mineral?"
Chip off the hard backing and place in his habitat; see what he does!
Kim at TurtleCafe has some GREAT cuttlebone, much larger than I've seen elsewhere.

Link