REPTILE | PET GAZETTE | 19
DIGESTION, IMPACTION
AND NATURAL GEOPHAGY
IN REPTILES
How all three work together to provide the animals with the overall nutrition it needs to survive
A
s we have seen over the
years that I have been writing
these features, reptiles are
highly developed, sentient
animals uniquely able to
thrive within the ecosystems in which they
have developed. It is by both replicating these
ecosystems in a safe and measured way,
and by allowing natural behaviour to occur,
minus the risk of predation and avoidable
disease, that we as keepers help to ensure
that our captive animals can as equally thrive
in captivity. It is within the three aspects of
overall nutrition that life is sustained and
perpetuated.
If we can grasp that nutrition is all
encompassing, an interaction and usage
of every parameter that exists around an
animal. Be that as an ingestible source, or
within the energy that is contained within
the light, we will be able to create fantastic
systems of care that allow wild-like lives.
Animals encounter minerals in almost every
aspect of their wild lives. Minerals are found
within all food items and they are present as
being suspended in all forms of water, no
matter the state. They are also gleaned in
the wild through purposeful and incidental
www.petgazette.biz
geophagy. Geophagy is the act of eating soil.
Reptiles will often ingest soil as they grasp
hold of food items, be it live or plant matter,
but most will at times also wilfully and directly
consume soil or lick rocks. Both of these
behaviours are natural, useful and very safe
in the properly energised, well hydrated
animal. In both cases, minerals, other trace
elements and some B vitamins enter the
mouth and are broken down within normal
digestion and assimilation.
They are then made use of in the usual
way within the needs and cycles of the body.
Minerals such as calcium and magnesium
are not only used to create and maintain
skeletal health, but they also work in muscle
contraction, organ function, nerve and
brain health, blood chemistry and cycling,
reproduction and digestion. Minerals are
incredibly important, being required in natural
balance in small amounts and at regular
intervals.
The reproductive seasons place an
enormous pressure on the bodily stores of
reptiles, both male and female. Eggs or young
are formed and produced, the rigours of
display and mating have to be tended to and
for most species, all without a cataclysmic
effect on the parents themselves.
In these times, it is indeed more common to
see reptiles purposefully ingest soil and/or lick
rocks. This is the wild form of supplementation,
exactly the same process that we seek to
replicate by using powders. The animal, male
or female will perceive a lack of minerals in
the body or indeed a potential lack and seek
to self-supplement in order to survive.
This is a long-developed technique and
one that cannot be overridden in captivity.
Some species are known to ‘taste’ rocks and
substrate during the courting process, this
is generally thought to be an assessment
of certain secretions left usually by a male.
This activity may not be wilful geophagy, but
particulates will still be ingested and utilised.
Earlier in 2019, I was contacted by a very
well-informed professional keeper seeking
advice. Although, the animal in question was
showing no signs of ill health, it was passing
what they thought to be non-normal stools.
After having the animal checked properly by a
specialist vet with reptile experience we were
able to ascertain that the animal was indeed
in the peak of health, stool screens were run,
all of which came back perfectly clear.
In fact, the positive gut flora numbers were
June 2019