Overgrown lower beak

[guest #10]

They have grass, lettuce, and a tortoise food supplement as well as a calcium supplement. They go outside for a good few hours when it's hot enough and have a uvb light inside. They're much smaller than their siblings already, so I'm worried. About a year old, can currently eat fine with it. I have rocks in the enclosure and they just don't seem to be interested. Not sure if there is a vet who could help around my area

 

[TammyJ]

@Tom @Yvonne G @wellington

 

[zovick]

They have grass, lettuce, and a tortoise food supplement as well as a calcium supplement. They go outside for a good few hours when it's hot enough and have a uvb light inside. They're much smaller than their siblings already, so I'm worried. About a year old, can currently eat fine with it. I have rocks in the enclosure and they just don't seem to be interested. Not sure if there is a vet who could help around my area

View attachment 357296

Your tortoise may have other troubles besides the underbite. It is missing some scales on its legs and at least one toenail that I can see. These things could be signs of Austwickia chelonae which is nearly always fatal to the tortoise. Another sign of that is yellowish spots or bumps on the skin. Have you seen any of those?

Unrelated to that possibility, there also seem to be some very dry scales on its head. The tortoise appears to be a bit dehydrated. Do you soak it daily?

It is probably smaller than the siblings because even though it CAN eat, it is not as efficient an eater as one with a normal bite.

 

[TammyJ]

I was thinking what Zovick said too about possible Austwickia disease, and I hope it's not that. It does look dry to me too.

 

[guest #10]

Your tortoise may have other troubles besides the underbite. It is missing some scales on its legs and at least one toenail that I can see. These things could be signs of Austwickia chelonae which is nearly always fatal to the tortoise. Another sign of that is yellowish spots or bumps on the skin. Have you seen any of those?

Unrelated to that possibility, there also seem to be some very dry scales on its head. The tortoise appears to be a bit dehydrated. Do you soak it daily?

It is probably smaller than the siblings because even though it CAN eat, it is not as efficient an eater as one with a normal bite.

I just looked it up, that was a disease I wasn't aware of. I just inspected them all and luckily they seem to be without any symptoms. My family had a problem finding calcium for the tortoises and fed them crushed eggshells before we switched and I'm pretty sure that's why they had some scale/nail issues. In terms of soaking, I learned very recently that they needed to be soaked every day instead of a few times a week (they do have two little warm water dishes but just don't like climbing in I guess). The white spots are just calcium that got onto their bodies though. So that's a mistake I'll have to work on.

 

[Yvonne G]

When we say your tortoise looks too dry, we're really not referring to soaking, but your change to daily is the correct thing to do. But husbandry needs to be changed too. Your enclosure needs to be VERY humid. The way that I achieve that is to keep my fir bark substrate quite wet and to have many plants in the enclosure.

Baby sulcata hatch during the monsoon season. And the fact that they stay hidden most of the time means they are in constant contact with wet ground and wet plants. The high humidity helps them grow smooth (not pyramided) shells.

 

[guest #10]

They have grass, lettuce, and a tortoise food supplement as well as a calcium supplement. They go outside for a good few hours when it's hot enough and have a uvb light inside. They're much smaller than their siblings already, so I'm worried. About a year old, can currently eat fine with it. I have rocks in the enclosure and they just don't seem to be interested. Not sure if there is a vet who could help around my area

View attachment 357296

By the way, I should clarify. When I say siblings, there are 3 other tortoises. I've been reading through posts here and it seems that a group of four isn't as high of a risk as a pair. As I'm writing this, they're all grazing outside happily. Pina is eating well, I'm still worried about the beak though

 

[zovick]

I just looked it up, that was a disease I wasn't aware of. I just inspected them all and luckily they seem to be without any symptoms. My family had a problem finding calcium for the tortoises and fed them crushed eggshells before we switched and I'm pretty sure that's why they had some scale/nail issues. In terms of soaking, I learned very recently that they needed to be soaked every day instead of a few times a week (they do have two little warm water dishes but just don't like climbing in I guess). The white spots are just calcium that got onto their bodies though. So that's a mistake I'll have to work on.

The best calcium source I have found in 60+ years of raising tortoises is Rep-Cal. I recommend the Ultrafine WITH Vitamin D3. I also recommend Herptivite made by the same company. You can get both of them here: https://www.lllreptile.com/catalog/164-reptile-calcium-and-vitamins

Others on the forum have different opinions on how often to use these products, but I put both of them on all of my tortoises' foods EVERY DAY and had very good success raising and breeding many species.

 

[zovick]

By the way, I should clarify. When I say siblings, there are 3 other tortoises. I've been reading through posts here and it seems that a group of four isn't as high of a risk as a pair. As I'm writing this, they're all grazing outside happily. Pina is eating well, I'm still worried about the beak though

You are correct. Having 3 or 4 together is less stressful for them than having just 2 together. You could consider the idea of separating out your smallest one and keeping it completely apart from the other three (at least when they are inside) to see if its growth might improve since it would have no competition for food and no stress from other tortoises.

Of course this would mean making up a second enclosure with its own lights, etc.

As far as the lower beak goes, it is too overgrown to be completely corrected all at one time, but a good reptile vet might be able to improve on the situation and correct it. This would require a number of appointments over a period of many months to even years of treatment. It would be like a human child going to an orthodontist for several years to have their teeth straightened.