Beak Questions

[turtlegirl13]

Hey guys!
So some of you have seen my tortoise Sasha others haven't. If you have seen her recent pictures you will see that she has a small gap between her beak and lower jaw. This happened one day when I went in to feed her and I never knew why or how it happened. Do you think it is ok the way her beak looks, or is there some sort of sickness causing this? Attached is a photo where you can see the hole clearly. Help!

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I noticed this when I saw it the first time and I, too, wondered. But that said, I can offer no help. I'm hoping someone who has seen this before will shed some light.

 

[turtlegirl13]

I noticed this when I saw it the first time and I, too, wondered. But that said, I can offer no help. I'm hoping someone who has seen this before will shed some light.

Thanks for the help! I was reading up on some other peoples posts similar to mine and it looks like it might just be the way she is growing! It could grow back or it might stay that way. It doesn't sound like this happens very often though, very interesting!

 

[Yvonne G]

You usually see this beak configuration when the top beak has been allowed to grow too long. It looks like a duck's bill. Then the beak either gets broken off, or is filed off and you end up with what your tortoise's beak looks like. When the beak grows too long instead of growing down, it grows out towards the front. With continual filing as it grows out, you will re-shape it to the downward growth and it will eventually look normal again.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

In the meantime, you could name this little one, “Dave" after Dave Letterman!