Does eating small stones every now and then offer any health benefits?
I have noticed my horsfield sometimes eats a small stone every now and then i know this is fine as long as they are passed which they are I was just simply wandering if eating these has any health benefit to tortoises. I thought it might clear out their system or something. I was wandering if someone could tell me if there is any health benefit to this?
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I would be worried if i knew my torts were eating stones, as if they dont pass they may cause serious problems to the tort
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My thbs eat stones, one in particular goes out looking for them constantly!! I caught her yesterday trying to eat a huge one! I now break up bits of cuttlefish to resemble stones and place them in her fave hunting ground and she happily eats them instead
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My theory is that they are either looking for calcium -emmajh's suggestion is a great one - or the stones are an aid to digestion
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My horsfield elvis used to do this all the time, he loves white ones so probably is a calcium thing tho he has never bothered with his cuttlefish fish even tho I always give him some
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one of my torts passed a huge stone the other day, it was a brown one with jagged edges
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...Ouchie :o
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My torts never ever bother with a cuttle fish in fact they trample in! But if I break it up to stone size pieces some big some small and leave it outside in the pouring rain and mud they are quite happy to eat it then!
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Well I guess they do in the wild as there's no-one there to tell them not to! I guess they actually eat all manner of stuff in a rough mediterranean/ Afghan etc terrain. I mostly leave them to it unless it's obviously sharp or jagged. My 4 year old spurthigh passed 14 medium sized stones leading up to hibernation last year! Because I know she has this habit I always give her fibre pellets in the weeks leading up to it as this smoothes the passage!!
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