Overgrown Beak

[Tom]

Okay, I'd really like some advice on this one. This is the big boy that was given to a friend of mine recently. He's the one that was in the commercial with my squirrel monkey and the other animals. Don't know how old he is, but he's basically been living outside on some acreage and eating weeds, grass and grass hay. He had some heat lamps and a horse stall to sleep in, but that's about it. The history doesn't matter much now, as he's in a better place. He's about 32" long and somewhere around 100 pounds.

I've trimmed the occasional box turtle beak, but this is a pretty large overgrowth. The overgrown portion sticks out a good 1/2". I trimmed it back and then Dremeled it a bit, but how far can I go? Is it like a dog's toenail where I need to trim it and then wait a while for the "quick" to recede? After his trim (which didn't seem to bother him AT ALL) it looked like he sort of retracted his bottom jaw. I only took off a little, but after he walked around and ate a bit, his jaw seemed to line up much better. My friend said he'd never seen him eat with so much gusto. He took a few tentative bites, right after the trim, and you could almost see the realization set in. He started gobbling up the food lickity split. I don't know if tortoises can feel "appreciation", but if they can, he did.

Here's before:

Here's after the trim:

Here he is so stressed by his rider that he can hardly even eat. Well, okay, maybe not...

 

[N2TORTS]

. I don't know if tortoises can feel "appreciation", but if they can, he did.

Iam sure he did ! * you can see it in his eyes*.... Looks as though you did a great job..!!!! Nice pics too~

How was his reaction to the dremel ?

 

[Tom]

. I don't know if tortoises can feel "appreciation", but if they can, he did.

Iam sure he did ! * you can see it in his eyes*.... Looks as though you did a great job..!!!! Nice pics too~

How was his reaction to the dremel ?

Here's his "surgical table". He was a little squirmy about being off the ground, but showed almost no reaction to the clippers or the Dremel.

 

[kbaker]

You did a great job. I've trimmed a few, but none that big! I don't know if the beak relates to a dog's nail. What I believe is that if you trim it close enough to 'normal' and it has proper care, the beak will take care of itself.

I have a couple of questions though...
I've never seen overgrowth that was horizontal. Why/How do you think that happens?
My tortoises get mostly grass/weeds in the summer and just some hay in the winter. During the summer their beaks wear with 'peaks and valleys' from the grass. I am always worried that the 'peaks and valleys' will be too extreme. Winter comes and it takes most of winter to wear the beak more even. Do you see this in your tortoise?

 

[Tom]

Mine stay pretty consistent year round. Probably because their diet doesn't change much year round.

I've never seen a case like this either. Its always been the top beak over-growing downward on box turtles and such. This was the first time I've seen any beak abnormality on a sulcata. Our strategy was/is to just trim a little, then give it some time and come back and trim a little more.

 

[Scooter]

What tip on the dremel do you use for this? I am assuming a filing one. Do you have video of this being done. I have heard about it but never actually seen it done.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Well, I should think as a Sulcata owner you would be more careful about putting Ava on this tortoise's back. What it he bucks her off? He looks pretty wild to me. You should at least put a saddle on him first.

I wonder how old he is?

 

[Tom]

What tip on the dremel do you use for this? I am assuming a filing one. Do you have video of this being done. I have heard about it but never actually seen it done.

I used a sanding drum just to smooth it out. Most of the cutting was done with a regular set of diagonal pliers. I brought a host of tools and medical remedies to the task, but the dikes just seemed to work the best.

Sorry no video or pics. I was so concentrated on the job at hand it never even occurred to me to pull out a camera DURING the job. It was a pretty easy deal though. The overgrown part was pretty similar in consistency and texture to a horses hoof. I've trimmed horse and donkey hooves before so I was somewhat familiar with what to do, but I didn't know where the blood supply was on this big guy. I didn't want to clip and realize I was into the bone.

I'd still like to know from one or all of our beak trimming experts out there, how soon and how safe is it to go back for more. This poor guy still has an overbite, but I don't want to start shaving into the bone or blood supply.

---

Well, I should think as a Sulcata owner you would be more careful about putting Ava on this tortoise's back. What it he bucks her off? He looks pretty wild to me. You should at least put a saddle on him first.

I wonder how old he is?

Don't know the age, but a neighbor of mine has a similar one (but with a normal mouth) who is about 24 now. Judging from the pyramiding on this one, its captive bred. I'm sure there are exceptions, but the captive breeding of this species really started to take off on a large scale in the late 80's and early 90's. IF, he's one of the early captive bred ones he'd be about mid-20's now.

This one is actually a pretty mellow dude. When Ava got on him he sort of looked at me, as if to say, "Really? First the bucket and the clippers, now this?" Then he just went back to eating as if she wasn't there.

I just love this species. When I win the lottery, I'm going to buy 10,000 acres somewhere warm and have a ton of them.

 

[moswen]

hah oh roachman, could i come live next to you? i would love to live next to 10,000 acres full of sulcatas!

 

[pugsandkids]

I know next to nothing, okay, nothing about beak clipping. But, even I can tell he's got to feel so much better!