Tegus strange cravings

[Guest]

So I take my 6 moth old B&W tegu out back regularly and let her walk in the grass but I noticed she has a strange liking for small pebbles and shells, i mean really small . On top of that I have a lot of rabbits which run through my yard and leave their little droppings behind, she actually goes crazy and tries to eat them, she then gets frustrated when I block her and tries to dig under my handâ?¦ Just curious but what can give a tegu a liking for those types of things?

 

[Guest]

Its my uunderstanding that the small pebbles may aid in digestion to some extent?. It was on a different listing not too long ago. And turns out many of them do it. I know mine does. As for rabbit droppings, unsure?

 

[Guest]

While tegus don`t have a gizzard like a bird [to my knowledge] One of the things I used to find long ago were gizzard stones from dinosaurs ...

It seems they used to eat stones to help break up their meals ...

I for one would rather have my tegu eat small stones [I have chickens and they know just what size they need .. ] Than eat substrate trying to make up for it ..

Funny about the rabbit turds [I have many rabbits also ] Rabbits often reeat their turds ..I guess the first time through dosn`t get all the goodie out of it and it is nothing to be concerned about ..

The other day I brought in several flower pots full of dirt to thaw out ..The dogs thought it was prime rib ..

I think animals eat dirt and turds trying to get enzymes or what ever for their digestion they just feel starved for it ...

 

[Toby_H]

My Tegu has actually shown preference of certain stones over other types (same size)...

He will eat any size "chalk rock" which is made up mostly of calcium carbonate. At first I suspected this meant he needed more calcium therefore I increased my powderings, though his desire for chalk stone didn't decrease...

He also shows interest in limestone pebbles ('pea gravel' size) but shows no interest in sandstone. He has also on a couple of occasions shown odd aggression towards lava rock. Picking it up, shaking it and 'tossing' it... but not attempting to eat it...

As a general rule, less sophisticated animals (such as reptiles) are more in tune to their 'nature' and know odd ways of fulfilling their needs. Yet I am still leery of letting my Tegu eat a rock...


As for the rabbit turds, those things taste awesome... you should try some yourself!