long beak

[meticulous86]

What is the most gentle, natural way to wear down a tortoise beak? (Is that the right terminology?) I'm sure I could take him to the vet, but I don't want to scare the little guy.

It is really over-hanging, and I think bothers him while eating. He has to open his mouth REALLY wide! It was like this when I purchased him.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[dmmj]

If it is not keepig him from eating you can feed him on a piece of rock or slate, if it is preventing him from eating you can use a dremel it is a little irratating but it does not hurt.

 

[Meg90]

Honestly, going to the vet is the kindest thing you can do for one that is badly over grown. The tools they use are dentistry grade stuff--the dremel makes very little noise (just a gentle whirring sound) and does the job in a few minutes. The beak is formed from Keratin, the same thing human fingernails are. As long as the trim is done correctly, and not too much is taken off (so that no nerves are touched) it is painless. When I took my rescued boxie in, she didn't even flinch.

Once it is trimmed by a professional, and you witness the process, with the right tools, you could do it at home. After its trimmed as well, to keep it nice and short, feed on a slate tile, feed WHOLE food items (don't chop or cut his greens, make him bite off pieces) and offer a cuttle bone. All of these should contribute to a nice healthy beak, at a natural length.

 

[chadk]

Once it is too long, you really need to have it trimmed. Too long usually means it is making eating difficult and it extends down past the lower jaw (chin) area. But if you post pics, we can tell you how bad it is.

I have trimmed my little sulcata when I noticed there was a slight crack on one side of his slightly long beak. I did not want it to spread higher and cause any serious issue. Think of a long finger nail starting to crack and spit - not a big deal until it starts reaching the flesh -then OUCH!

I also trimmed a new tort that came to me with a long beak.


The hardest part is being able to carefully grab, and carefully hang on to, the torts head. Two people make it easier, but I did it by myself with these 2 smaller torts (russian and young sullie). I used good finger nail clippers, cutical scissors, and a finger nail file \ emmery board to fine tune and remove sharp edges and risk of splitting.

Then look into the diet, exercise, and be sure you are not over-supplimenting. Most often I see overgrown beaks in torts or turtles that are raised in small glass tanks and feed a poor diet. I don't think you'll find overgrown beaks and nails in the wild very often, or in good natural outdoor pen setups where torts and dig and chew on various things. My torts chew on dry mazuri pellets once a week (they get moist pellets as well), and always have cuttlebone, and various weeds and grasses and greens with different textures and stalks.

 

[goodsmeagol]

I trimmed my friends with a Dremel tool as well.
Once you have a friend secure the body and head(allow the head to extend, and then hold the base of the skull gently but firmly).
Once the tort is not moving, it is easy to use the tool.
It is a 2 person job, I see no way to hold and dremel by your self.
A vet looked at my work via picture, and said I did an alright job, he could have taken it a bit further up. But now the tort is eating whole foods off slate, and it seems to be holding well and trimming it self slowly.