peeling shell

[sienna]

I have had my russian tort for almost a year now, I found him abandoned and he was in pretty bad shape. He had a little trouble walking and limps a little still but not as bad and his beak looks like it had been damaged and heeled wrong. He eats fine and is really active but recently his shell has started to peel worse. It isn't soft and there is no smell. Could someone tell me if it sounds like he has shell rot or mbd? Thank you!

 

[mike taylor]

If you can post pictures so we can see what you're talking about . Welcome to TFO .

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Sienna and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and your Russian.
As Mike says, pictures of the tortoise and it's enclosure would be helpful in identifying the problem.

 

[sienna]

Ok, I keep him in a kind of small enclosure in the winter and he has done just fine in it but this is his outdoor enclosure that I just recently put him in when he started peeling really bad.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

I would have liked to seen the beak better because from this angle it simply looks like it needs to be trimmed.

Every place on the shell that has dead, white bone showing is going to flake off eventually. This is old injury. The new keratin and bone has been growing UNDER those white areas, and as they grow bigger it causes the dead, white area (that is not growing and stays the same size, thus being pinched off) to pop off. There is nothing you need to do. It is perfectly ok, and perfectly normal.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

His beak is far too long and needs a trim badly.
His enclosure looks far too dry to me. He needs a soak every day for a while, then a couple of times a week.
But I think the peeling will be ok as the new shell replaces the old damage.
Oh, Yvonne's beaten me to it.
have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
For lots more useful advice and information.

 

[sienna]

Ok thank you all so much, I was so worried! What would be the best way to trim his beak, I got it trimmed by the vet a while back but I am only 16 and it's kind of hard for me to save up that kind of money just for a beak trimming. And my vet isn't really that up to date on how to care for a tort either (he told me I could feed him dog food) I didn't though because I know how bad it is for them.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Use nail clippers or dog nail clippers, or file it down gently.
I prefer clippers as it's faster and less stressful, but be careful, just a little at a time.
And make sure he has a cuttle bone and a tile or slate to eat his food off.
This will help file the beak naturally so it doesn't happen again.

 

[sienna]

Ok so daily soaks and beak trimming. Got it. Thank you guys so much!!

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Those nail files designed for acrylic nails are good, cheap, and safe but very slow.

 

[Homeschool Mom]

I needed to trim or file down our Russian Tortoise's beak and I found this site to be helpful: http://tortaddiction.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-trim-tortoises-beak-with-pictures.html

Sorry, I couldn't get the hyperlink to work on my computer since it kept freezing the page, but if you copy-paste it, there's a blog post where a gal describes how to trim a tort beak either with a type of clipper like they talked about above, or how to gently and gradually file it down using an emery board. Even though our tort's beak was rather overgrown, I decided I wasn't comfortable using a clipper and had good luck filing his beak down in 2 separate (less than 10 minute) sessions. Need a good solid, rough emery board, though, not a flimsy cheap one. Still a $3 emery board or two is a lot cheaper than a vet visit. Good luck!