General Care Discussion :: My RES eating river rocks

[MikeCL]

I got these type here two bags worth

https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Turtle ... B0035HD408

I was walking up to the tank and I've been noticing for a few day she will be messing around with the rocks in the tank.. well she took one about as wide as her mouth and she somehow swallowed it.. I thought the whole point of large was for her not to be able to fit them into her mouth? So what's going to happen now??

[steve]

Yikes! The rocks should be bigger than her head. Hopefully she can pass it. Keep an eye out for other symptoms. Those in the link is your regular river rock with a premium price.

[MikeCL]

I will be checking meanwhile I took all the rocks out

[MikeCL]

I heard from here you can get river rocks from Home Depot? Also what about some sand? I have a bag of fluorite I’m not even sure if I can use that as a substrate.

[steve]

Lots of places sell river rock.. I got some from IKEA last time. Just make sure you clean them first, usually very hot water does the trick (do not boil them though).

Pool filter sand or play sand from the hardware store. It's talked about earlier in this thread.

You do not want aragonite sand (calcium carbonate). This sand will slowly dissolve and buffer calcium into the water raising the PH. This sand is useful in saltwater reef setups.

You want regular silica based sand. If the sand is too fine (sugar fine), when the turtle walks on the sand youll have a dust storm. General purpose play sand or pool filter sand is the best. Play sand needs to be rinsed and sifted for pebbles. Pool filter sand is ready to use as is.

[MikeCL]

I just searched ikea I don’t see any rocks offered on the site

[MikeCL]

What about fluorite?

[steve]

IKEA doesn't list a lot of things at their garden section, but dollar stores should have some too. Florists/garden centers/hobby shops are other locations, but that might be more expensive.

[MikeCL]

I will check around

[JDora]

Why not boil the stones? I boil anything I put in my tank (rocks, pots for the plants, everything), is that bad?

[steve]

Boiling it can cause an explosion if there are air/liquid/gas trapped in them. People do pour boiling water over rocks, but don't have it over or in your stove/oven.