about substrate on the bottom

[peep2339@aol.com]

i used to have like a sandy surface on the bottom and some rocks. with the sand my db got like white patches on his “knees”. when i had the rocks in he didn’t get the white patches but he seemed to eat them?? people said earlier that they ‘munch’ on them…..is this ok or normal. thanks sarah

[modelgrafx@aol.com]

Sarah, My dbts chew on small rocks but I don’t think mine swallow them. A couple of years ago one of my males broke the middle out of his bottom beak. It finely grew back though. Vickie

[Chun-Ming Chew]

Hmmm, not sure whether the substrate has anything to do with the white patches on the knee area. However, it is common for dbts to munch on substrate and don’t think this particulary harmful. According to some, it may even be a good source of calcium… Maybe someone else has a definite answer on this one. – Chun

[greentrees]

2 cents- I used to have all my turtle tanks on undergravel filters and many of my turtles used to eat and pass gravel. I got rid of the undergravels for 2 reasons: first, because they were impossible yet time-consuming to clean, and second, there was discussion with other herpers about possible impaction (clogging up with rocks). Turtles do it in the wild, but that doesn’t mean it’s good in captivity. Alson, they’re probably getting lots of extra germs that grow on the rocks. -Rick Chun-Ming Chew wrote:

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