We as pet owners try to feed our pets the best foods that we can, but these animals may eat things that they shouldn’t be eating, an example of this is your pet turtle eating sand
This article is a look into why your pet turtle may be eating sand
Table of Contents
Why is my turtle eating sand?
If your pet turtle eats something that it isn’t supposed to you may wonder if you are feeling the animal enough or if there is something wrong with the animal.
Here is why your pet turtle may be eating sand:
Exploring/foraging:
Turtles forage in the wild, if you’ve just brought your turtle into your home then the animal may follow its instincts and forge as a way of finding food.
Your pet won’t only look for food on the surface it will also forage for food in the sand and eat the sand.
What to do:
If you find your pet foraging and eating sand then you can immediately distract the animal by offering it a tasty treat.
Also, make sure that the animal has easy access to food so it knows that it does not have to dig in order to find food.
Leaving strong-smelling food in your pet’s enclosure should also help, these animals have evolved to be attracted to strong-smelling food.
It’s hungry:
While turtles don’t eat that much, they won’t allow themselves to starve.
If they aren’t fed enough they may try to eat anything they can get their hands on, including inorganic compounds like sand, in order to get more calories in.
The animal will go to great lengths to avoid suffering from hunger pains, even eating sand
What to do:
You’d need to make sure that you’re feeding your pet as much food as it needs for its species and size. It is generally recommended that you feed the animal enough food that will fit in its head, per feeding.
Boredom:
Another reason why your pet may be eating sand may simply be because the animal is bored.
Boredom can strike in captive turtles because they are stuck in environments that look the same, and they can’t go anywhere
These animals are used to exploring different environments in the wild, if they can’t explore they will eat out of boredom and may even eat sand
What to do:
These animals thrive in complex environments with lots of objects to interact with.
You can keep your pet from being bored by adding toys to the enclosure and rearranging the enclosure from time to time.
This new environment will be fun and exciting for the animal and it will stop eating sand
Tip:
Regardless of the reason behind the animal eating sand it is recommended that you replace the sand with a new substrate. You can use eco earth or orchard bark as a substrate.
The more sand your pet eats the more of a chance that your pet will develop impaction.
Impaction happens when inorganic matter blocks the animal’s digestive tract. If this happens, and if it is left for a long period of time, the impaction may kill the animal.
Keep your pet well hydrated if you find that it is eating sand, doing this should help the sand pass.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Is My Turtle Not Responding To Touch?, Why Is My Turtle Neck So Long?, Why Is My Turtle Not Using It’s Back Legs, Why Is My Turtle Tank Cloudy?, Why Is My Turtle Not Growing?, Why Is My Turtle Not Eating In Winter?, Baby Turtle Is Not Eating, Why Is My Turtle Limp?, Why Is My Turtle Not Pooping?