Advice on a new rescue

[JennK]

This is Ducky, my newest rescue. She was dropped off at a local pet shop with the worse over grown beak and nails I have ever seen. The pet shop trimmed them up and put her up for sale at an outrageous price of 200! She was in a 15 gallon tank, with a UV light, a bowl of water, and loose substrate. This is how she has lived for the past 6 months or so where she has broken my heart every week when o go in for supplies but simply did not have the funds to bring her home. My husband was with me when I first saw her and he wrongly assumed that she was in good hands now and would be taken care of, so yesterday when he came with me again he was shocked to see she was still there and no better for wear. My husband picked her up handed her to me and said she's coming home with us, merry Christmas baby. I couldn't be happier! To finally get her out if that situation and to a place where she can heal was the best Christmas present ever! However, upon getting her home and cleaned up I realized she was in much worse condition than I had originally thought. The way that they had trimmed her beak and nails split them in several places, she is missing about half of her lower jaw, and something is happening with her tail! Her jaw, and tail seem to be old injuries in which healed on their own. I am treating the split on her beak with Neosporin and she is on antibiotics to ensure any infection that may have set in is treated. When I cleaned her up, I discovered that their was alot if substrate packed in her mouth where she us missing her jaw.

Now my debate is this;

 

[JennK]

Sorry, I hit the wrong button.

My debate is this; one, since she is getting substrate packed in her mouth is there any substrate that would be safe to keep her on or should I keep her on a bare floor and provide a humid hide? Two, she is a female, of a breedable size, and was kept in an enclosure with another male of breedable size... See where i am going with this? I know it is nit egg laying season but since she is an indoor and most likely always has been indoor that wouldn't necessarily matter. So, should I provide a dig box? And if so, what should I use as substrate to ensure that she stays safe and does not become impacted since she cannot keep substrate out if her mouth! Three: Her diet and the cause and effect. She cannot chew or bite like other turtles because she is missing half her jaw. So, should I be mashing up her food? And if so, how would I trim her beak if it cannot be done naturally? How often will she need her beak trimmed?

 

[JennK]

Forgot pics. Also, I believe her to be a hybrid between a three toad and possible eastern.

 

[Yvonne G]

When box turtles are raised indoors, with no sun and fed a poor diet, the first things that you notice about their health are the beak, nails and tail. They grow little stumpy tails. So don't worry about the tail. Not an injury, and nothing you can do for it.

Cut up the food into tiny pieces. What did the pet store feed her? She's stayed alive all this time, so she's been eating something.

 

[Yvonne G]

She's not a hybrid. She's a three toe (Terrapene carolina triunguis), and it doesn't look like the lower jaw is missing, it's just that the upper beak is still too overgrown. You can clip off more of it. Using the corner of a toenail clipper, take little diamond-shaped clips off the edge all the way around; little tiny bites. Don't try to take too much off at a time. I can see where they clipped the nails, that they used to be pretty long and curly. Still more can be taken off them too, but do it in bright light so you can see the blood line inside the nail.

 

[lisa127]

I adopted a three toed also with beak, nail, and tail issues. I had my vet clip the nails and trim the beak down. He does have more trouble grabbing g his food than my other boxie does. And like Yvonne said, that is a pure three toed.