I have 2 turtles. Does it make a difference if there is gravel in the tank or not? I'm just curious, because I've seen most of the tanks without. What's your opinion?
2007-12-29 15:33:03 · 8 answers · asked by deannelca92 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Gravel is a bad idea if it's a size your turtles can swallow. Sometimes they can pass it in their feces, but if they can't and it causes an intestinal blockage, it will need to be removed surgically, or it will kill your turtle.
It's safer for your turtles to either use rocks large enough that they can't fit them in their mouths, or to go without. Without also makes it easier to see debris right away and keep the tank clean.
http://redearslider.com/eating_digestive_behavior.html - see under constipation and impaction
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/housing.htm - see under substrate
2007-12-29 16:03:02 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no gravel turtles eat it and get intestinal compactions and die.in my turtle tank there is no gravel just a filter and a heater and a zoomed turtle dock.if you must have something in the bottom of the tank get sand or huge gravel like at least 3 inches(because turtles do grow) across so they cannot fit it in their mouth.
2007-12-30 00:03:29 · answer #2 · answered by Adrian B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well i dont know much about turtles and you poseted this in the fish section, and a turtle is a reptile, i think, haha. But I know with fish that they get scared because the bottom surface is a mirrored surface and turtles are scared as it is. Get some gravel its cheap, all you do is clean it and put it in the tank lol.
2007-12-29 23:37:33 · answer #3 · answered by Kyle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They prefer gravel. Also provide a rock to climb on to get completely out of the water.
2007-12-29 23:41:32 · answer #4 · answered by Buzzy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
gravel will be ok unless your willing to clean it more i guess. depends on how large your turtles are. if you have bigger turtles, get larger gravel. i would put one side with gravel and one side just water so they can swim in.
2007-12-30 03:34:26 · answer #5 · answered by jonathan 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't put gravel in my tank. I have 2 basking rocks and 2 basking lamps.
2007-12-30 00:11:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd go with gravel, or maybe a slate tile in his water area sealed of course, just plain glass will accumulate lots of noticeable debris.
2007-12-29 23:40:25 · answer #7 · answered by Tara 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any tank is cleaner & easier to maintain with no substrate. There are few species that actually need it.
2007-12-30 02:02:27 · answer #8 · answered by Tolak 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋