Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I put my two yearold box turtle in a 150 square ft. pen during the day on warm days. She will eat dirt rocks and things I consider unhealthy. I've fed her beforehand and offer healthy bugs in that area but she still does this. Should I be concerned about this?

just make sure theres little gravelly rocks there. box turtls realy love to eat little bitty pebbles. it doesnt hurt them. in fact wild bts eat lots of junk like that. ive seen them doing it. and if you get a sick or hurt box turtle and keep it to heal it up, it will defecate pebbles even if you know it never had pebbles while you had it. they eat them in the wild. i havent heard a real good reason why they do it. maybe helps grind up plants or something like that. but anyway, dont worry about it as long as the rocks are little bitty ones.

I've heard of turtles doing this when they may not be getting enough calcium in their diet... no personal experience, though.
Have you considered offering a diet a little more rich in minerals? Dark leafy greens (NOT SPINACH!) can be a good source of calcium: try collards, turnip greens, romaine lettuce or kale.
I'm not aware of any indication that stones are used as a digestion-aid, as is found in birds...doesn't mean it doesn't happen, though.
When I feed mine, the mixture includes protein, vegetables, greens and a little fruit.
Good luck
Stephanie

Animals that eat dirt and rocks are suffering from mineral deficiencies that require immediate supplementation. Attempt to give your turtle fresh vegetables and greens (fruit is usually not good enough). Before you give insects to turtles, allow them a couple of days to munch on greens and vegetables so that they are gut-packed and full of nutrition. The various sprays and powders that one can put on turtle food can certainly help, but the best course of action is to truly provide a well-balanced diet.

if you read research about box turtles you find out that all box turtles eat gravel. we dont know why but its not a problem and not a sign of anything bad. box turtles with cuttlebone and good diets still eat gravel.

I can see how box turtles would end up eating a fair amount of dirt, sand, or finer particle stuff that would adhere to whatever they're eating at the time. When I see the word 'gravel' I envision something a little larger than grit, and the original post did mention not eating other foods at the same time.
Did the research you're speaking of make mention of whether the turtles graze on sand/rock or what have you, or did it say anything about incidental ingestion?
Lots of questions, but now I'm curious.
I've heard of stray dogs eating rocks, in an effort to fill empty bellies.
Did you get my e-mail, by the way? Contact me off-list.
Regards'
Stephanie

its realy the best book on box turtles and has all that good stuff from research with real wild box turtles. so when they do studies with looking at stomack contents, they find out that box turtle eat gravel and alot of it! not just a little that sticks to foods. they even found gravel in stomacks of turts that dont live where theres alot of gravel. like there picking up every litte piece they can find. like its importatnt to them or something. nobody has any idea why they do it but bocx turtles eat a whole bunch of gravel in the wild. its totaly normal. the only time you get worryed about it is if the turtle wont eat foods but just eats gravel. then it might be something like pica or needing calcium. if they eat lottsa kinds of foods and eat gravel, then there isnt any problem. its normal

I do, and now I'll be re-reading a chapter or two...
To everyones' credit though, I think the original post was to the effect that the turtle in question was snubbing food and chowing down on gravel, which isn't a good thing.
Unfortunately we can't subject our little chelonian friends to modern psychological therapy techniques and inquire as to their motives...
Not being a smart alec, just an effort at wit.
Have a good weekend!
Stephanie

While it is not abnormal for many kinds of animals to occassionally eat rocks and dirt, especially when it is around or sticks to legitimate kinds of food, no well-fed creature should be eating an abundance of these materials.

As always with these postings, it is difficult to tell whether the original poster was worried about a couple of rocks one or two times, or a bunch of rocks over many many weeks. If it is the latter case, I stand by my original advice. If it was only a rock or two, who knows? Turtles are turtles.