New Tort

[Jessicap]

Okay I couldn't resist! I purchased the "blonde" greek. HE seems in good health, other than beak and nails being too long. Any suggestions on how to trim the beak? I put some stones and cuttle bone in his enclosure along with an upside down tile to feed him on which I figure will help some. The previous owner has had him for about 5 yrs, said he special ordered from a local petstore. Said it came from somewhere in Arizona, thought it was CB but could not be positive, but he did have him dewormed. He was alert and active, no runny eyes or nose and tail appeared clean, poo looked normal. So now I get to start learning all about the T.G.?(think G), I have had to restrain myself from wanting to spray down his enclosure... lol. So different than my redfoot. Figure he will give me some great training for my baby when she gets here.

So this is him... I will have to take some new pics soon. Want him to settle in a little before disturbing him

 

[Torty Mom]

What a cutie!! What baby are you talking about? Are you having a baby?

 

[jeffbens0n]

Greeks should have some humidity you can spray his enclosure. Not as humid as your redfoot though!

 

[TortieLuver]

Congrats! It's always so hard to resist. Tortoises are an addiction...you can't just have one (lol).

 

[MaggieL]

He is a cutie!

 

[Jessicap]

What a cutie!! What baby are you talking about? Are you having a baby?

lol...no not having, getting a baby from CGKeith. A baby Greek Ibera - she is beautiful. I have to wait until it is warm enough for him to ship her. Until then he has been nice enough to take VERY good care of her and answer ALL my questions. (yes you should be feeling very sorry for him... lol) Keith has been AWESOME.

Keith had posted pictures of her just before Christmas.

 

[LadyGreek]

Congrats on you new Tortie!!! Such a cutie!!!!

 

[jrholls]

That's a gorgeous tortle Congrats

 

[tortoises101]

Congrats on the new tort. She looks gorgeous!

 

[coreyc]

Nice looking tort congrats more pic's please

 

[RianSeeking]

Congratulations!

 

[oscar]

Congratulations on your new addition. When one of my greek tortoise beak was getting a little long I took a flat stick and put 120 grit self stick sandpaper on it. The tort let me hold his head and I filed it like you would do your fingernails. Don't know if that is what others would do but thought the tortoise was not stressed to much from me doing it.

 

[GBtortoises]

I've tried most manual methods of filing beaks like sandpaper, files and so on. They all take a long time to get the beak down to where it should be. The longer the procedure takes, the more stressful it is to the tortoise. The quickest and least stressful solution to trimming a thick beak down like that one is to use a small sanding drum on a rotary tool (Dremel style tool). Sanding discs and or cutters do just that, they cut. A drum sands and if you nick the cheek or something it doesn't result in any injury, just a scuff. It's best done with another person to help. One person to hold the tortoise firmly, the other to do the sanding. The head has to be drawn out. I do this with a hooked dental probe that I hook behind the beak and gently pull the head out. A healthy, strong tortoise will resist, don't force it, just keep firm pressure and pull steady and slow. The helper needs to be ready to grasp the neck behind the skull in order to keep the head extended. It's best to have the tortoise rested in a towel in the helper's lap. It's likely that the tortoise is also going to expel some wastes in an attempt to get free. Use good lighting to see what your doing and start out slowly sanding from the center of the beak back to the edges. It doesn't have to look perfect, once at a reasonable length the beak will even out over time on it's own from use.

 

[Jessicap]

I've tried most manual methods of filing beaks like sandpaper, files and so on. They all take a long time to get the beak down to where it should be. The longer the procedure takes, the more stressful it is to the tortoise. The quickest and least stressful solution to trimming a thick beak down like that one is to use a small sanding drum on a rotary tool (Dremel style tool). Sanding discs and or cutters do just that, they cut. A drum sands and if you nick the cheek or something it doesn't result in any injury, just a scuff. It's best done with another person to help. One person to hold the tortoise firmly, the other to do the sanding. The head has to be drawn out. I do this with a hooked dental probe that I hook behind the beak and gently pull the head out. A healthy, strong tortoise will resist, don't force it, just keep firm pressure and pull steady and slow. The helper needs to be ready to grasp the neck behind the skull in order to keep the head extended. It's best to have the tortoise rested in a towel in the helper's lap. It's likely that the tortoise is also going to expel some wastes in an attempt to get free. Use good lighting to see what your doing and start out slowly sanding from the center of the beak back to the edges. It doesn't have to look perfect, once at a reasonable length the beak will even out over time on it's own from use.

Thank you soooo much! I think I will give him a few weeks to get use to the move but this will be very helpful. Thank you.