# Is my tortoise's beak too long?



## Taylor T. (Sep 10, 2014)

How can I tell if my tortoise's beak is too long? He doesn't have any trouble eating, but it hangs over his bottom jaw. I've posted a picture; what do you think?


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## mike taylor (Sep 10, 2014)

Yes his beak needs to be trimmed . You can take him to a vet and have it trimmed or you can feed on a stone that will trim it over time . If it was my tortoise I would do it myself or take it to vet.


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## wellington (Sep 10, 2014)

I agree, too long. Start feeding in the flat stone or tile, slate, etc and you can try filing it down, but if you have never done it, you might want to take him to the vets. I do believe we have a thread explaining how to do it, just do a search. If I remember correctly, @Yvonne G did the thread.


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## Taylor T. (Sep 10, 2014)

Thank you for replying.

I feed him on a rock, but his beak never hits it. I also once tried to file his beak, but he pulled his head in so I couldn't get to it.


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## wellington (Sep 10, 2014)

There is a way to hold his head so he can't pull it in. It in the thread I talked about. I'm hoping Yvonne will have it. I'm not sure if it's a stickie or not.
I try to feed the food not in a pile, spread it out on the rock, so it's like a single layer. They almost have to tough the rock them. I have a leopard that I too am getting a little worried about her beak. I have been rehabbing her from a CL owner and I am still fighting the beak. It hasn't gotten longer, but not shorter either. So I started putting her food in a single layer. Also hoping all her grazing will help too.


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## wellington (Sep 10, 2014)

Here is one I found that Jeff (N2TORTS) did. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tweak-your-beakâ€¦-how-to-info.66943/


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## Taylor T. (Sep 10, 2014)

Thanks for the link. I'll read that.


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## Taylor T. (Sep 10, 2014)

I'm going to try to file his beak with an emery board every day. Thanks for the help.


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## WillTort2 (Sep 11, 2014)

Take his favorite food and cut it up into as small a pieces as you can and then put it on a flat piece of slate or other rock. As he eats the small pieces he should scrape his beak.

Good luck.


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## Taylor T. (Sep 12, 2014)

I have tried that. Unfortunately, he seems to eat carefully enough that I haven't seen him scrape his beak on the rock. He was a rescued tortoise. I've 
had him for almost two months.


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## johnsonnboswell (Sep 12, 2014)

My vet uses a handheld dremmel tool. It's worth it to get it all done at once. 

Nail files meant for acrylic nails are good, but you'd spend forever on the process. That entire hooked overhang on the beak, the part that looks birdlike, that's all overgrown.


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## Taylor T. (Sep 12, 2014)

If I don't see a difference after using the emery board for a while, I'll try getting a dremmel.


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## johnsonnboswell (Sep 16, 2014)

Watch out with the dremmel tool. It heats up & can heat the beak. That would hurt. You'd have to do it in multiple passes, not hold it on for any length of time.


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## Taylor T. (Sep 17, 2014)

The emery board seems to be working, but if I try the dremmel I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!


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