Russian Tortoise Nail Trim

[Scorpio]

Hello,
I'm planning on trying to cut my adult Russian Tortoise's nails. I've been working with him for a while to make sure that he is used to me handling his nails. I also have some smaller dog nail clippers that I can use. He has some very well defined quicks, so I'm not worried about cutting them. I've seen it done on other reptiles before and assisted with cutting nails on lizards, but I figured I'd ask for any advice that y'all have. Thank you!

 

[Clueless Tortoise]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I personally use a dremel. You can buy a dog dremel or even a regular one. I prefer the dog one though because it's not so high powered and fast. The reason I use that is because they have a nerve under their nails, like a dog, and if you cut it, it will hurt a lot. Also when you cut a tortoise's nails with a clipper, they will be flat and sharp on the edges. With a dremel you can be more precise and get the sharp parts off. Also I want to recommend a food slate. They can bask on it and eat on it, but because its a special type of stone, it helps file their nails so they don't get too long. I use that and its super helpful because you don't have to dremel their nails as much. You can buy both the dremel and food slate on amazon for cheap. Make sure you use the dremel on low so that their nails don't heat up or cut to much off. The dremel can also be used for the beak when it gets too long. Their are tons of videos on how to do both.

Hope this helped a little