Habitat - Indoor :: Gravel in tank?

[Chibi_Sephiroth]

i have gravel in my tank am i not supose to have it?

[RunninWideOpen]

your turtle may or may not eat it, but i wouldn't take the chance. i learned the hard way. now i only get big rocks that are way bigger than their head.

another plus with the bigger rocks is the tank is much MUCH easier to clean.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Don't keep gravel in the tank. There was a sad report from someone on this board about a year ago about her turtle dying from eating it. The turtle stopped eating, she took it to the vet, vet did an x-ray, and the x-ray showed that the turtle's stomach was completely filled with gravel. There was no room for food. Don't take a chance.

Plus, like tohmit mentioned, it is much easier to keep the tank clean when there is no gravel in there because the gravel traps poop particles & food which makes the water murky.

[myahs_mommy]

I keep a few river rocks (they are pretty big, like 3 or 4 inches each) in for my turtle, she likes to play with them, and it does make it alot eaiser to clean if there are not alot of rocks and I dont have to worry about her eating them.

[RunninWideOpen]

I got my river rock at the Dollar Tree really cheap. I got 5 bags of it and it was perfect, and it only cost me $5. The pet stores had the same bags for $3.50 each.

[myrtle1123]

I have gravel in my tank and they are pretty big not like huge but they are not tiny. They are big enough for Myrtle so she doesn't mistake them as food.. i haven't caught her eating any.

[RunninWideOpen]

If they're not bigger than her head you need to be careful. The gravel I had in there before was about 1/2 inch diameter and bigger. There's no way they could have confused it with food, but I caught my Squirt trying to eat one one day. I had to literally pull it out of her mouth.

You never know when Myrtle may get bored and decided to start goin after it. I will only put stuff in there that is completely impossible for them to eat if they try.

[SpotsMama]

Keep an eye on the gravel in Myrtle's tank. As she grows she may get to the point where she tries to eat it. Also, if pieces of gravel break off and she eats them not only can they stop her up but they can cut her inside. Another post on here was from someone whose turtle suddenly started throwing up blood - lots of it. Turned out she'd eaten some small, sharp pieces of gravel.

Just keep a close eye out.

[myrtle1123]

Okay I will go and swich it with bigger rocks I dont want Myrtle to get sick or die..

Thanks Tohmit