'Beak' trimming???

[gerberwoman]

View attachment 24810hi! i just rescued my first ornate box turtle and a frind who works in turle rescue says his beak needs trimming. how in the world does one trim a box turtles beak?! even if the vet has the right tool, how would the vet get the head immobilized? i dont want to torture this guy!
attached is a pic. thoughts?

 

[dmmj]

Yes the poor guy needs a trim
If the vet is gonna do it, they will be able to hold the head without hurting it.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

He definitely needs a beak trim. I would have the vet do it, but have him/her show you how to do it so if needed you can do it again. (I like to use a ped-paws instrument.

 

[gerberwoman]

i have a pedi-paws, perhaps with the help of one of the turtle club members i can do it without the $60 office visit charge! it's been an expensive month getting little bernie all set-up!

 

[Kristina]

It is less torturous to get the trimming done, so that he can eat without difficulty. It isn't all that hard to grasp the head and quickly trim the excess. (I don't recommend doing it yourself until you have more experience, but I do all of my own trims and it is relatively easy.)

 

[dmmj]

Most CTTC chapters offer beak and nail trimming for around 5 bucks ask yours if they do it.

 

[Saloli]

You know I don't think I have ever had to trim a turtle or tortoise beak. I wonder if that has to do with diet or if there is another cause (I've never thought about it).

 

[pryncesssc]

You know I don't think I have ever had to trim a turtle or tortoise beak. I wonder if that has to do with diet or if there is another cause (I've never thought about it).

I know a lot of people that hsvent had to trim beaks , they say it is because of the foods they are fed and feeding them on a stone and using cuttlebones etc

 

[terryo]

I've never had to trim a beak either. I think it has a lot to do with them being outside too, and also feeding on a flat stone. I got a large terra cotta saucer (that goes under a plant pot) and my son took the rim off with a tool that he uses to cut tile, so it's almost flat, with just a small lip. It's great for feeding and keeping a trim beak. Cuttle bone helps too.

 

[Saloli]

Mine get deer bones like in the wild as I figure the closer to natural the better. What size is the saucer?

 

[pryncesssc]

Mine get deer bones like in the wild as I figure the closer to natural the better. What size is the saucer?

Do you keep meat on the bone , or just the bone ?

 

[Saloli]

They are weathered basically after the carrion beetles and desmid ( not sure if I have spelled that correctly) and the other detritivores and saprophytes are finished with them they are pretty clean. They chew them as needed but sense they get a good amount of calcium and phosphate in their food they don't do it much.

---

I used to hunt (I never used guns or compound bows just single draw) and some of my family still does. When I did I would or some one else would clean the animal and the bones would then be left out, if they were not used for something else ,for the dogs. They would often just sit there after the dogs were finished so I figured one day I would see if the turtles (original group not the one with me now) would eat them I figured they might. They didn't at first but eventually the were gone.

 

[gerberwoman]

Well, THAT didn't go very well. Bernie, the box turtle, who is a recent rescue and my first, didn't get mad, he was even a little curious about the Pedi-paws but there was no way I could hold him still.
No damage done, I'm a sure and steady hand with things like this, but it will take more experience than I've got to trim that beak. Bad news is a vet visit is $60 and then the beak trim itself is another $40, and I've already spent $700 over there this week getting my poodles teeth cleaned and some extractions ( not my fault, she's a rescue, it's the second time in the 9 months I've had her here that I have had them cleaned!) Good news is there is a member of CTTC who is a Box turtle expert and I think I can get her to give me a lesson, or three, and help Bernie's beak. In the meantime, he is eating fine, and I've been told it's not really very overgrown. Hope my forum friends here agree and that it can wait a few weeks more...

 

[Mky2k]

Sorry guys, I know this is off topic, but I can't view the picture. Is there anything that I need to click or enable?