Beak guidance - Expert opinion needed!

[fanofthedog]

Hi there,
Recently I learned that the reason my guys beak keeps overgrowing is that its actually damaged/split in the middle. Since it is split in the middle, the sides flare out. I have had the vet trim his beak every 6-9 months in the past but it costs several hundred dollars each time to put him under. Yvonne kindly shared her method of clipping and I tried that and I also used a dremel a little today. My question is: is there anything I can do to help the middle part of his beak? I know there are lots of medical advances and am wondering if I could/should ask the vet to bond it with something?

Is the beak split impairing him in any way?

I tried to show you one before and 2 afters. I *think that there is a "flare line" you can see which is where i think I need to keep filing to meet. What do you all use to file? I bought sanding blocks that are bright red so he is allowing me to file file but I only do a little at a time so as not to wear out my welcome. He is being an incredibly good sport!

So in summary:
Is his beak impairing him because its split in the middle?
What do you use to file and sand after clipping?
Should I ask the vet or look into some sort of filler/bond for his middle part of his beak?
Do you feel that I should keep filing/trimming it right now to get to the "flare line" or just keep it as it is and make sure its not pointy and hurting his toungue?

Thanks so much everyone. I really appreciate your feedback with this issue!! Thanks again to Yvonne who helped me understand the issue in the first place !!!
Karen

 

[wellington]

Do you feed him on a ruff surface? By doing that, it will help to keep the beak trimmed down. As long as he can eat and drink, I wouldn't do anything but keep it trimmed if needed.
I'm no expert, just what I would do.
@Tom or @Yvonne G may be able to help

 

[Big Charlie]

I would talk to the vet about it. I wonder if there is something he could do so it would stop splitting and maybe it would eventually grow it straight. Maybe he could superglue it or stitch it together. I imagine it is like when you split a fingernail; unless you cut it down below the split, it will keep growing in split.

 

[fanofthedog]

Do you feed him on a ruff surface? By doing that, it will help to keep the beak trimmed down. As long as he can eat and drink, I wouldn't do anything but keep it trimmed if needed.
I'm no expert, just what I would do.
@Tom or @Yvonne G may be able to help

I feed him on cement and sandpaper LOL. I give him cuttlebones. Its just that because its split/flared I think the sides dont meet the pavement dead-on so it does nothing to file it down! He seems to be able to eat and drink just fine but obviously if the split could be fixed maybe I wouldn't have to bug him with trimming as much?!

 

[fanofthedog]

I would talk to the vet about it. I wonder if there is something he could do so it would stop splitting and maybe it would eventually grow it straight. Maybe he could superglue it or stitch it together. I imagine it is like when you split a fingernail; unless you cut it down below the split, it will keep growing in split.

Thanks Big Charlie,
Im going to take him in. I wanted to see what some people here said because although the vet is excellent I feel like maybe some here might have seen the issue before. I feel like if we have to put him under to dremel the beak to the right length maybe there is a bonding agent to repair his split.

Thanks so much for your message/feedback!
Never a dull moment!
Karen

 

[Sara G.]

Definitely keep us posted with how the vet appt goes. I hope it works out okay!

 

[Yvonne G]

I wish there were (or rather I wish I KNEW ) a way to hold that beak together up at the top just under his nose. Maybe super glue on either side with a zip tie connector pulling it together? They use that sort of 'fix' on cracked shells. I'll see if I can find the article. Maybe it could be amended to use on the beak????

I found it. maybe you could print it out and take it to your vet for his opinion if it would work on the beak:

http://www.asianturtlenetwork.org/library/useful_resources/Easy_shell_repair_03_06.pdf

 

[Yvonne G]

...and that first picture is excellent!

 

[Speedy-1]

I wish there were (or rather I wish I KNEW ) a way to hold that beak together up at the top just under his nose. Maybe super glue on either side with a zip tie connector pulling it together? They use that sort of 'fix' on cracked shells. I'll see if I can find the article. Maybe it could be amended to use on the beak????

I found it. maybe you could print it out and take it to your vet for his opinion if it would work on the beak:

http://www.asianturtlenetwork.org/library/useful_resources/Easy_shell_repair_03_06.pdf

That is a great article , I saved it to my docs for future reference ! I hope I never need it but its good to know ! Thank you !

 

[Yvonne G]

But I was wondering if your vet could modify that system on your tortoise's beak to pull the two sides together.

 

[fanofthedog]

I wish there were (or rather I wish I KNEW ) a way to hold that beak together up at the top just under his nose. Maybe super glue on either side with a zip tie connector pulling it together? They use that sort of 'fix' on cracked shells. I'll see if I can find the article. Maybe it could be amended to use on the beak????

I found it. maybe you could print it out and take it to your vet for his opinion if it would work on the beak:

http://www.asianturtlenetwork.org/library/useful_resources/Easy_shell_repair_03_06.pdf

Yvonne thanks for posting this. Thankfully we go to Tom's vet so he does have a good amount of experience. I also wonder if there isn't some sort of dental putty. I emailed a picture of the beak to my dentist who loves a good challenge. Ive chipped away a little more and I think I have this sides to a normal place. I will keep you all posted. Thank you so much for your guidance and care and concern. I appreciate your knowledge and feedback so much. THANK YOU and happy world turtle day

 

[Yvonne G]

That's not a bad idea. Dental cement is VERY strong. He could build some sort of little bridge in the space between the two sides and it would hold the sides firm and stop them from making the new growth area under his nose from flexing.