Need advice, vet trimmed beak right off!

[October]

Ya know, if the beak was brittle and came off, fine. Things happen and it could have happened to any of us. But that doesn't excuse the fact that they sent him home like that without a word and changed the story once the boss got involved. Trying to claim there's no pain because there was no blood is very uneducated and just, well... dumb. I know it hurts alot to clip my fingernails too close. I would definitely lodge a complaint with someone and leave appropriate reviews on places like yelp.com and whatnot.

I hope he starts eating again soon. Good luck!

 

[Angi]

I would try the baby food soak also. A jar of baby food carrots mix with water in a soak dish. He may drink while in the soak. Poor little guy. I don't know how things work in Canada, but in the U.S. the doc. would be worried about a law suit. I don't believe in suing people without a very good reason, just saying he would be thinking about it and covering his @$$.

 

[Angi]

I would try the baby food soak also. A jar of baby food carrots mix with water in a soak dish. He may drink while in the soak. Poor little guy. I don't know how things work in Canada, but in the U.S. the doc. would be worried about a law suit. I don't believe in suing people without a very good reason, just saying he would be thinking about it and covering his @$$.

 

[Yvonne G]

Just to show you how much pain they can feel in their beak:

I sometimes use a horse hoof trimmer to "bite" off sections of beak on my Manouria. This is a BIG tortoise with a VERY hard, thick beak. The tortoise in question had his upper beak flaring out on both sides. So I took ahold of a little section of the flare on one side and was just getting ready to squeeze the tool and cut the beak, when the tortoise jerked at the same time. This caused the beak to split all the way up the middle to his nose. Tortoises usually only make vocal noises during copulation. When the beak split, this tortoise screamed. It was VERY painful for him. And wonder of wonders (says she with much sarcasm), the beak didn't bleed!

Since your vet doesn't realize that a turtle can have sensitivity in their beak, I think its time for a new vet. It doesn't have to bleed in order to be sensitive.

 

[african cake queen]

Holy cow! I would be pissed off if our vet did that.

me too!

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

What about sending a picture to the owner via email. It sounds like the vet is covering her own butt. This is unbelievably sad! So sorry!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Shame how they're handling this. Doctors are much less likely to get sued if they apologize.

 

[african cake queen]

Ya know, if the beak was brittle and came off, fine. Things happen and it could have happened to any of us. But that doesn't excuse the fact that they sent him home like that without a word and changed the story once the boss got involved. Trying to claim there's no pain because there was no blood is very uneducated and just, well... dumb. I know it hurts alot to clip my fingernails too close. I would definitely lodge a complaint with someone and leave appropriate reviews on places like yelp.com and whatnot.

I hope he starts eating again soon. Good luck!

i agree, and if the top just broke off , why would you do the bottom too? so fishy. good luck.

 

[SandyM]

What about sending a picture to the owner via email.

I actually did ask if I could send a picture to the clinic and she said the clinic didn't accept e-mails.

 

[Mao Senpai]

What a shoddy place. I personally wouldn't pay for it since that is not the reason why you bought it in, and pay for what you initially bought him in for.

 

[SandyM]

>>>My suggestion is to get some Mazuri tortoise chow.

Can someone tell me what a good amount of the tortoise chow would be good to feed? Boo weighs 450 grams so almost a pound. He won't eat it on his own. I did soften some and I syringe fed him, but I'm not sure how much to give him. On a more positive note, since the vet left that big gap I don't have to pry open his mouth the syringe fits right inside. He doesn't seem to mind too much. Every bit I put in he swallows. He's probably starving since he hasn't eaten since last weekend.I can't image such a small turtle would be able to handle more than one or two pellets, these things are huge!

Thank You
Sandy

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Actually I just figured it to be about 4 grams a day minimum. Thanks again for all the help!

Sandy

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