Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I woke up this morning to find my year old RES biting her basking dock. When I went in for a closer look I noticed that a big chunk is missing.. Is this going to hurt her? The dock is made by Zoo Med, and I'm worried that the material in it will make her sick. I don't understand why she is doing this, because I give her a variety of food already and I can't imagine she is still hungry enough to eat her own basking ramp! Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions on a different, more substantial turtle dock to try out? Thanks.

I know that they tend to eat gravel when they have parasites. So if its something your interested in taking care of maybe you should have him checked out by a vet.

Is the chunk missing large and are you sure it's not in the tank? I've heard of others having this same problem. I had one of these docks and it broke in two. I use an inverted coated wire basket with a piece of reptile carpet and large cork as a basking platform. It's sturdy and there's plenty of room underneath for swimming.

Here's a picture of my set up.I salvaged the bracket from the dock to hold the ramp which is actually a part from an old filter. The water level was low when I took the picture. It's usually about a inch lower then the platform. This is a 100g tank by the way.

The chunk that she's eaten is pretty large, almost half her size maybe? And it's definitely not floating around in the tank. It's been a few days and she hasn't eaten any more of it and she hasn't shown any signs of getting sick from it so I hope she'll be okay. The picture you included is very helpful! I'm going to consider making a ramp like that as well, but for now I think I might take the dock out during the night since this is when she seems to be most mischievous. Thanks for your help!

Keep a close eye on her for signs of impaction. If she appears ill get her to a good reptile vet immediately. I'd get that dock out of there completely as soon as possible.

I don't know how big your tank is but I know some people have used milk crates turned on their sides. That's another item you can find in the organizer department at Target, Walmart, etc. The basket I use is a closet organizer item from Home Depot.