Russian tortoise beak problem

[Cristín]

Hi I'm really worried about my Russian tortoise Simon. I got him in feb 2012 in a pet shop where the woman claimed he was around 5, I'm not so sure though.. His beak is worrying me, it looks as if some if it is about to fall off.. He eats dandelion, clover, escarole, radicchio, romaine henbit, and other various weeds. He gets a calcium supplement once a week and has access to UVB light in his enclosure. His substrate is 50/50 loam playsand and I bathe him twice a week.. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.. This link has some pictures of his beak, sorry if they're not very clear.. Any advice would be great thanks x

 

[Jacqui]

Hi! Yes, his beak if a little long. Sounds like he eats okay correct? If so you could see if it would wear down natually by feeeding him on a tile, flat rock or unglazed terra cotta plant saucer. Also feeding tougher foods like weeds is helpful. Even making him rip the food he gets and feeding the harder stems along with the leaf portions would be to his advantage. Another option is to trim the beak. It's not hard, but I recommend the first time having a Vet show you how it is done.

 

[Cristín]

Yes he's got a ferocious appetite! Oh thanks very much I'll try that straight away.. Appreciate it

 

[biochemnerd808]

You can gently file his beak with an emery board. Just do it a little bit at a time, and bit by bit it will get back to normal. I posted a little video on my tortoise blog (link is in my signature) that gives instructions on how to do this. I also have beak trimming instructions on there, but you may want to just try with the emery board first.

Then to prevent it from getting long again, feed on a flat rock.

Good luck!

Hi I'm really worried about my Russian tortoise Simon. I got him in feb 2012 in a pet shop where the woman claimed he was around 5, I'm not so sure though.. His beak is worrying me, it looks as if some if it is about to fall off.. He eats dandelion, clover, escarole, radicchio, romaine henbit, and other various weeds. He gets a calcium supplement once a week and has access to UVB light in his enclosure. His substrate is 50/50 loam playsand and I bathe him twice a week.. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.. This link has some pictures of his beak, sorry if they're not very clear.. Any advice would be great thanks x