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If a turtle eats gravel can it throw it up? I had a plant potted in gravel in the tank, with mesh covering the gravel, and my turtle managed to chew through the mesh and swallow a nice big hunk of gravel while I was watching. Can I make it throw up? Or just wait for it to come out the other end "naturally"?

You will have to wait for it to poop out, and make sure you get it quick before it's ingested again.

I'm so glad I read this! We just got our turtle a week ago from Pet Smart and they told me to put gravel in the bottom! ugh! As soon as I get home today I will scoop them all out...should I put anything on the bottom to replace it? Or is just the plain glass bottom ok? they also told me to only put 2-3 inches of water in the tank but I noticed that was incorrect after looking at the pics on this site! Where do they get their info from?!

you could put and on the bottom or keep it clean and the more water you have have is the best you should have gallons of water not inches

Thanks for posting this and all the feedback on this topic! I am a new RES owner and my tank has gravel, which I plan to replace. Thanks for again for posting this!

I used to have gravel in my tanks too. I got a new turtle recently and had gravel in there until someone pointed it out in a picture I posted. I had thought he was too little to eat any, but I've been finding small pieces of stray gravel in his tank.

A bare bottom is much easier to keep. I just scoop out the poop with a net whenever I see it so the tank doesn't look yucky.

so, the best way is, put rock bigger than your RES, so impossible for them to eat, or never put rock at all...

watch out for the pet store guys....
please don't get me wrong here... yes they are there to help you...but they might not know enough about turtles....

since i joined this site... i became much more aware of how to keep my turtle healthy than any other place...

thank you redearedslider.com !!!

Update: Mr Pink FINALLY pooped out that piece of gravel he swallowed on feb 10th! That's a good 2 months its been sitting in his system. Stupid turtle.

Thanks for the post. I removed mine some time after joining the forum and having people tell me to do so but I'm often tempted to put it back in, but if it's this serious then I definitely won't!

Yeah i bought some small gravel the first time and they where to small and he ate a bunch of them.
Few weeks later took him to the vet and they found them in his stomach.

wow... so glad i found this site/forum! i had NO clue how to care for the turtle i saved. Tomorrow i will take the gravel out! I have been given the absolute worst care instructions from websites & pet stores.. Thank you all for such great advice and information.

nattymama wrote:wow... so glad i found this site/forum! i had NO clue how to care for the turtle i saved. Tomorrow i will take the gravel out! I have been given the absolute worst care instructions from websites & pet stores.. Thank you all for such great advice and information.

Yeah the people at the pet store told me to get the gravel!
But luckily i was able to return it cause one of the lady's told me the gravel won't harm my turtle and will be good for him.

Ranger The Red Ear Slider wrote:

nattymama wrote:wow... so glad i found this site/forum! i had NO clue how to care for the turtle i saved. Tomorrow i will take the gravel out! I have been given the absolute worst care instructions from websites & pet stores.. Thank you all for such great advice and information.

Yeah the people at the pet store told me to get the gravel!
But luckily i was able to return it cause one of the lady's told me the gravel won't harm my turtle and will be good for him.

Yeah the pet store here has gravel in there turtle tank and they said it was fine :S

That would suck if someone bought a turtle that had already ate the gravel!