# Sulcata Damaged Shell.... Get the grinder out???



## Texastravis (Jul 8, 2012)

Alright,

picking up a couple new tortoises locally. According to the owner, the problem is this female was living with a much much bigger male and he over mounted her daily causing wear on her shell as well as a broken marginal anal scute. 

The best course of action that I can see would be to CUT the scute strait across to smooth it out OR grind it down to smooth. 

The vet is almost not an option around here. 3 hours away from a big city and even then I doubt there is a vet with the tools for this. I would just prefer to do it myself if I can figure out the right procedure. 

So what are your thoughts? A grinder is the only tool I can come up with that would handle this.


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## wellington (Jul 8, 2012)

Not bad looking. I will leave the answer to your questions to others. I wouldn't want to grind or saw anything personally, but that's just me, scared to.


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## Texastravis (Jul 8, 2012)

Yeah its a bit intimidating to think about. I do think I at least need to cut/grind the sharp portion off. If I didnt it just looks too much like my male sulcata would cut his ummm penis on it.


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## wellington (Jul 8, 2012)

Texastravis said:


> Yeah its a bit intimidating to think about. I do think I at least need to cut/grind the sharp portion off. If I didnt it just looks too much like my male sulcata would cut his ummm penis on it.



OMG, I am not a male, but I know just the thought of that will makes some wrench in pain.LOL. I would wait though, until more experienced offers suggestions, just incase.


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## EricIvins (Jul 8, 2012)

Texastravis said:


> Alright,
> 
> picking up a couple new tortoises locally. According to the owner, the problem is this female was living with a much much bigger male and he over mounted her daily causing wear on her shell as well as a broken marginal anal scute.
> 
> ...



That isn't a "broken" scute.......It is actually a mark......A circular cut done for whatever reason......I have a Female with the same mark......There is some old scute damage around it, but that will flake away with time.......

I guess you could have a Vet trim it up or off completely, but I wouldn't see that as a necessity.......


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## Yvonne G (Jul 8, 2012)

Whoa! That poor girl. Can you imagine how much he must've been bothering her to wear the shell like that? I hope you don't plan to keep her with a male. Give the poor girl a home of her own so she can relax and be a tortoise.

You must bear in mind that infection is your main enemy. A saw would be the best tool for the job, as it would cut that portion off in a hurry, as opposed to a grinder that would take it off too slowly. It is going to bleed like a son of a gun. You need to have styptic powder handy, and even so, it may bleed too profusely for the powder to stop it. I know you said a vet isn't an option, but I really think you should not do it yourself. This type of surgery needs to be done in sterile conditions by someone who can handle whatever emergency may arise.

You may be able to just clip off that sharp portion with a horse hoof clipper.

Eric: It may have been a tether hole that broke open.


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## EricIvins (Jul 8, 2012)

emysemys said:


> Whoa! That poor girl. Can you imagine how much he must've been bothering her to wear the shell like that? I hope you don't plan to keep her with a male. Give the poor girl a home of her own so she can relax and be a tortoise.
> 
> You must bear in mind that infection is your main enemy. A saw would be the best tool for the job, as it would cut that portion off in a hurry, as opposed to a grinder that would take it off too slowly. It is going to bleed like a son of a gun. You need to have styptic powder handy, and even so, it may bleed too profusely for the powder to stop it. I know you said a vet isn't an option, but I really think you should not do it yourself. This type of surgery needs to be done in sterile conditions by someone who can handle whatever emergency may arise.
> 
> ...





No - It is an open circle - I don't know who initially did this, but I have seen a few others with it......It is one of those things that you can't mistake when you see it.......


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## Melly-n-shorty (Jul 8, 2012)

emysemys said:


> You may be able to just clip off that sharp portion with a horse hoof clipper.



I would say use horse hoof clippers too, and I would only nip those two sharp points at the very bottom... just enough to round them...


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## mctlong (Jul 8, 2012)

Oh my, poor girl. 

I recently heard of a rescue whose owner intentionally drilled a hole in tort's shell to chain the tort to a tree (so it wouldn't escape the yard). People can be such ignorant a-holes.


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## MikeCow1 (Jul 8, 2012)

So, what's the difference between drilling a hole and grinding or clipping? I've heard they can go into shock from drilling. Why not the others?


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## Texastravis (Jul 8, 2012)

Wow so this might have been intentional? WTF people should be shot. 

After some thought, if I were to do anything I would just focus on smoothing that sharp point some how and let the other stuff flake off and smooth itself or perhaps maybe even some sand paper a couple times a week slowly smoothing it out and flake the other stuff off.

Anymore thoughts?


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## Weda737 (Jul 9, 2012)

If you can't dedicate a 3 hour drive to that poor animal then find it a home that can. Personally I think the poor girl is at least worth that much. The shell is living tissue and bone, anything you do to it she will feel.


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## Tillasaurus (Jul 9, 2012)

That poor tortoise. I will drive to Texas to get her and take her to my vet in Florida if you will let her go. Please don't breed her or let her feel any more pain.


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## StudentoftheReptile (Jul 9, 2012)

So why on earth would anyone drill a hole in that location of the carapace?


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## Jacqui (Jul 9, 2012)

StudentoftheReptile said:


> So why on earth would anyone drill a hole in that location of the carapace?



I had a desert tortoise, Elmer, who had a hole drilled there so the owners could stake him out when they went camping. Mush as you would tie a dog out on a chain.  You actually see those a lot, as the practice use to be pretty common. Remember back when, "It doesn't hurt the tortoise because they have no feelings in those shells....". Thankfully, it's not done as much now.


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## mctlong (Jul 9, 2012)

If its not infected, maybe the best thing to do is nothing at all Leave the shell as is and just retire
her from breeding.


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## Madkins007 (Jul 9, 2012)

Yeah- worn out tether hole makes more sense than most other options. You sometimes see notched marginals from field studies or as a method of identifying individuals, but that is not where it would be done, and it is a lot bigger than the 'V'-shaped notches would be.

I know some of my care books from the 80's still mentioned it, although most of them were already very much against it. I really cannot blame the old-timers for this- they just wanted to keep their animals secure without having to pen them in, or be able to more safely take them with them. I know I often wish I could take my torts to the park or on a picnic.


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## Texastravis (Jul 9, 2012)

Well I certainly dont want to cause her anymore harm. However, I will still breed her BUT I wont be keeping her with a male. I will only introduce a smaller male to her a week or so out of the year. I have actually read somewhere in a book that not allowing nature to run its course and reproduce could be doing much more harm than good. But anyways, I will not keep her with a male at all times like most everyone else does. It is very very hard on female tortoises (especially sulcatas) to keep them pinned up with a horny male at all times of the year. 

It isnt just the 3 hour drive to a vet that intimidates me but rather what they will charge for their unqualified service. I have yet to meet a vet that knew more about tortoise health and sickness treatment than myself. Im not saying im smart but rather all the exotic pet vets I have met just dont get near enough experience with tortoises around here to be qualified to work on them, especially with what I am trying to do on this female. 

I think I am just going to leave it as is and simple run a little sand paper around the point to take away any sharpness.


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## dmmj (Jul 9, 2012)

This is something that should not be under taken by an amatuer, a competent vet any competent vet should be able to do this. It should be done in a controlled environment, but if you want to try sand paper I don't see a major problem with it, besides that it might take a long time to get the desired results.


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## Madkins007 (Jul 10, 2012)

If this was my tortoise, and the vet was not a realistic option, I would use a Dremel tool with a drum sander attachment and a mister bottle so I could keep the area I am working on cool, then I would smear the newly smoothed edge with antibiotic and bandage it for a couple days.


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