All Turtles Message Board

twoturtleterri · Guest Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 3

I am about to bake my two RES very happy (once they adjust) moving them from a 10 gallon to a 30 gallon. I have been using river rocks, that I bought a Lowes and when I got this larger tank it had about 10 pounds of stone in it. My question is, this is very small stone, the type you would use in a fish tank and I don\'t want to risk my \"smart\" turtles eating it. Would they? Should I risk it? I can use the rest of the 50 pound bag and the stones I have collected until I hear something.

Petunia89 · Level 2 Joined: 08 Sep 2003 Posts: 66

I wouldn\'t use the gravel, I was using larger gravel thinking that it was ok since most of the rock was bigger than the turtles head. Well they happened to find the smaller pieces and of course ate it. Thank goodness they pooped it out, but it could have caused major problems for them. Stick with the river rock, or nothing at all (that is what I am doing for now), I know it doesn\'t look as pretty but it sure makes cleaning a lot easier!

Heather · Level 3 Joined: 18 Mar 2002 Posts: 108

River rocks are the best to use if you use stone @ all in your tank. I find not using any helps keep your tank cleaner and is more easier to clean. Besides that I had a mishap w/a stone accidently finding its way under my 29 gallon tank during cleaning and I filled it w/water and left for few hours. When I came home I found water pouring through my living room ceiling. The weight of the water pushed on the stone and cracked the bottom of my tank!! OUCH!
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Zippy & Skyler ""MY"" son's two RES'

Tinkerbell · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 300

I don\'t use anything just to avoid any problems but if i did i would use smooth river stones. If you use the gravel type stone your turtle can ingest it and most likely will which could result in your turtle having an intestinal prolapse (which is where the turtles intestines come outside of the body).
Smile

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I love my Eastern painted turtle soo much his name is Squirt:)

l8or g8or · Moderator Joined: 13 May 2002 Posts: 397

I don\'t use anything on the bottom of all my tanks either. I have gift wrapping paper that I have lamintated, and then used a spray adhesive to adhere it to the underside of the tank. Now it \"appears\" to have rocks on the bottom & looks great! You can see the paper here: http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL36/882719/1958064/42323705.jpg

Tinkerbell · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 300

Lilypad · Level 3 Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 164

I use only a few river rocks in my tank. It gives the tank a natural look and my Red ear slider Lilypad( Lily for short) seems to love them. She lays on them and corners food between them. I would only use smooth stones that can not fit into your turtle\'s mouth.