Urgent Care :: Rocks in poop...but no rocks in tank??

[TurtleMomma64]

Hi my husbands turtle turned 3 in September and has been a healthy turtle, but lately we have noticed hard rock like balls in her poop. She does not have any rocks in her cage and hasn't had any since well over a year ago because she would eat them. We are worried they may be eggs?? But we doubt it because they are odd shapes..not perfectly round. She doesn't act abnormal or sick. The "rocks" lets just call them, are very hard. My husband even tried to squeeze them with pliers and they didn't break. Could it be that she has been eating her poop and just re-eating the rocks from over a year ago and we are just now seeing them?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!

[dumbork14]

Hello! What's her set-up like? Do you have a floating ramp? A picture would help.

[papoopeepoo]

Yes, it is possible that she is re-eating the rocks after she passes them. The only way to be sure is to watch closely and make sure to remove all the hard things before she can get to them. It's is not uncommon for folks to think their turtle is not pooping because the turtle immediately eats whatever comes out, and the owner never sees anything. My turtle normally poops shortly after eating so just hang out a while and see if you can catch it.

[TurtleMomma64]

I have attached a pic of her tank. Does this help?

[TurtleMomma64]

Also these are what we have gotten out of her tank.

[apondfortimmy]

Yep, those look like rocks.
Were they the color of the rocks you had in the tank before?

[TurtleMomma64]

Ha to be honest its been so long since we had the rocks in the tank we really don't remember what color they were! I can't think of anything else they would be so I'm sure thats what they are...its just alil hard to believe we are just now noticing them after they have gone thru her system for over a year! As long as its nothing to worry than I'm good...my main concern was what eggs look like after they have been in her too long?? I know they calcify so i didn't know if this would be something to worry about.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

They would be just hard white lumps if calcified. I would say its just rocks. Nothing in the tank looks like its missing any chunks from it from turtle bites?

[jenaero]

It appears that she had eaten gravel in the past, has expelled it, and eaten it again. I had a couple of rescues that apparently ate a lot of gravel. I keep all my tanks bare on the bottom, and gravel still appears occasionally, even after I've had them over a year. Just keep scooping it out as you notice it and you'll eventually get them all.