Russian tortoise nails

Tyanna

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I wouldn't paint them, no. You would cut them very carefully like a dog but only if they're extremely long and NEED to be cut.
 

Yvonne G

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Russian tortoises, compared to other species, seem to have longer nails. There's no need to cut them. And, in my opinion, tortoises should be treated like the wild animal they are, and not dressed up like one would dress up a puppy. Can you paint the nails? Yes...it's not harmful, however, again, in my opinion, you demean the animal if you do this.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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I've never had an issue with nails-too long... as long as you have a rough surface (rocks) available, they should trim down naturally.
I would NOT paint them! Nail polish (and regular paint) and toxins that can harm animals. They sell nail polish for dogs, but that dogs, not tortoises. Also, polish usually smells nasty, and it might irritate him. It may also irritate his skin :)
 

annster

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Thank you! Don't worry I won't paint them.., I just thought it might be cute. As for the cutting, the nails are probably an inch or so long so I might just cut off the tips unless there's a big issue with doing so.
 

Tom

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Please post a pic of the nails, so we can give good advice. Tortoise nails are very hard and need to be cut carefully. Dremel might work better and you can do a little at a time.
 

smarch

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Yes you can technically do both. I've never painted my Nank's nails (then again he's a boy so that would be extra silly) but I still never understood how you'd let the polish dry, you'd have to hold the tortoise until it dried, unpleasant experience for both parties, plus good luck getting the legs still long enough to polish and not end up with it everywhere. I'd never do it, I don't like the idea even for myself :oops:
As for trimming ONLY if theyre very long, I'd post a picture here before considering it. That being said I did trim Nank's nails once, when i'd first got him. They were quite long so I just trimmed the tips off a very small bit. It was hard, extremely hard, if you've ever trimmed cat or dog claws you know about the "quik" (or however that's spelled, I've seen multiple different spellings) Well its the same in a tort, but torts claws are dark, its very had to actually see it, I had all the lights possible on in the room and still had trouble, I literally barely trimmed off anything I was so afraid of nicking it. And unlike cat claws their nails are hard! I've always trimmed my cats claws with a toenail clipper, so I rinsed it and used that, I didn't have problems actually trimming but it was definitely harder than cat claws. The most important thing to remember if you do it is VERY small amounts of nail. But let the people here see an image first to know if you actually do need them trimmed, because its a very stressful thing to do for both of you.
 

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