possiblity of ingesting stones!

[fuzzhc]

As I came into the room today I happened to catch my bosc swallowing something which im scared was a stone! He had dug into a patch of grass I placed in a while ago, not realizing it contained stones. This was bad husbandry on my part which I feel awful for and im now stuck on what to do!

Now there is the possibility that it could have been a worm, fruit beetle grub or even beetle if there are any left in there.

If it were a stone he had ingested would he regurgitate it or could he pass it? And are there any signs I should watch out for? Or should I take hin for an xray or leave it due to the amount of stress? I did feed him 2 mice afterwards just to be on the safe side and make sure he doesnt do it again.

Oh and hes roughly just under 2feet in size.


Here is a picture of the ones I pulled out along with a 10p coin for a rough scale ( if I can upload correctly this time)

[infernalis]

It will go right out the back mate....

[fuzzhc]

Phew! Thanks again mate. Thats another panic over for now lol I really do worry too much sometimes

[infernalis]

considering their diet in the wild, I would think the odd pebble to be quite "normal".

I have seen video clips with rather substantial snail shells in the poop, so I can't see a small stone causing much problem.

[fuzzhc]

Aye, suppose. As they tend to pick up mouthfulls of dirt when eating id imagine they would get the odd pebble. The ones I picked out were roughly the size of his mouth id say so hopefully no harm done. He has done the toilet since but im guessing that was last nights meal lol.

On another note my gfs sister just said she will sell me her bosc enclosure so will be picking it up either tonight or next week. Will get some pics up when its build

[jarich]

It happens fairly frequently with reptiles and is called lithophagy. Its generally considered a habit to help aid in digestion. Its more common in turtles, but lizards do it as well.

[Pirarucu]

I think the question was whether it could have eaten a rock on accident, but that's an interesting thought, that they might purposefully ingest stones..

[fuzzhc]

Originally Posted by jarich

It happens fairly frequently with reptiles and is called lithophagy. Its generally considered a habit to help aid in digestion. Its more common in turtles, but lizards do it as well.

I actually wondered about this myself but was too scared to ask incase it sounded rather ridiculous. When I was alot younger I was really interested in dinosaurs and vaguely remember reading that they often done this in aide of digestion.

Would probably explain the massive crap he done not too long after haha!

Hes still alive and kicking so no harm was done

[Pirarucu]

Originally Posted by fuzzhc

I actually wondered about this myself but was too scared to ask incase it sounded rather ridiculous. When I was alot younger I was really interested in dinosaurs and vaguely remember reading that they often done this in aide of digestion.

Would probably explain the massive crap he done not too long after haha!

Hes still alive and kicking so no harm was done

More than just dinosaurs do it. Lots of contemporary animals do, reptiles included.

[Gungirl]

A lot of Birds do it to help break down food also.. very common to see.

[infernalis]

I was watching a show today on Nat Geo (They had a all day "Nat Geo Wild" marathon) showing all kinds of animals eating dirt on purpose for nutrients.

[fuzzhc]

Learning something new every day

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by infernalis

I was watching a show today on Nat Geo (They had a all day "Nat Geo Wild" marathon) showing all kinds of animals eating dirt on purpose for nutrients.

Hi Wayne, it`s thought by some that one of the reasons varanids often rub their prey in the substrate is for the minerals and trace elements (apart from it being a very efficient way to subdue the prey).