Perlite Ingestion

[apocalypse910]

I recently purchased a bunch of reptile-safe plants for my tegu enclosure. Most of them are air plants but one plant in particular came potted with a bit of soil around the roots. I transferred it, as is, into the enclosure.

Since I planted it I've been noticing destroyed leaves nearly every day - wasn't too worried about it as tegus aren't famed for their compassion for plants. I've seen him digging and biting at the plant and never really worried about it. Today I started paying closer attention - He is frantically digging at the roots of the plants until he finds a bead of perlite which he then immediately eats. My husband observed the same behavior a few days ago but didn't realize it was perlite he has been going after.

A few questions - Why the hell is he specifically hunting perlite? I'm digging up the plant tonight, but do I need to worry at all about toxicity from what he ate. A few forum posts said it was toxic but I couldn't find any reliable information. The composition looks pretty inert. I assume it carries an impaction risk but he couldn't have consumed much and he has had no issues pooping despite the fact that he has likely been consuming it for a while now.

 

[Logie_Bear]

Perlite is a type of volcanic rock. Its completely sterile, but since its volcanic rock, its essentially like eating little spheres of glass. I've heard of reptiles ingesting rocks to aid with digestion. Perhaps that's why he's digging them out?

Question of concern would be, are you positive it is perlite or is there a chance that its fertilizer? A lot of potted plants will have those in the soil (which would definitely be a toxic concern).

 

[frost]

i would dig all of that stuff out of the enclosure.even if it is just perlite it still isnt good for him to be eating, and im guessing that he is injesting as many as he can.

 

[apocalypse910]

i would dig all of that stuff out of the enclosure.even if it is just perlite it still isnt good for him to be eating, and im guessing that he is injesting as many as he can.

Yeah - I dug up all the plants last night and removed the soil they came in. He definitely isn't happy that his little perlite stash is gone but it can't be great for him.

What confuses me is that there are plenty of similarly sized pebbles in his cage that he completely ignores - I've never seen him go after anything except waxworms with as much enthusiasm. I can't imagine they taste like much - he does seem to bite down and crunch them so maybe it is the texture that he likes.