Cracked lower beak

MPRC

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I have a fiesty 2 year old redfoots who likes to bite things...she will bite rocks, fences, bowls, food slates, people, cats, dirt clods, etc.

She has had a hairline split in her bottom beak for months that has been very solid. I was looking at it today and it seems to be fully broken now and flexes under pressure.

Can anyone advise what they might do in this situation?

I have several years of veterinary experience and I am not squeamish about working on my old animals - or about assisting my vet (she has reptile experience, but isn't a tortoise expert)

Would you leave it? Trim it? Have surgical intervention?

It has not effected her ability to eat to this point, but I fear that it may not wear down properly now that it is flexing and that the crack may not grow out as she literally tries to rip chunks out of her terracotta saucers. (As I type this she is crunching a snail)

Thank you

1494269058511.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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You're correct in assuming that the new growth will continue to crack as long as it flexes. Try to figure out a way to stabilize it.
 

tortdad

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Do they make a medical grade epoxy? I would assume they would
 

MPRC

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My initial thought was dermabond (surgical super glue) but I'm hoping to her from someone who has been through this before I try. I have no experience using it on anything other than mammals.
 

noora

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I have the same exact problem with my redfoot!! A cracked lower beak and im not sure what to do - Any suggestions?
 

TammyJ

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Looks like she needs a tortoise dentist to make a kind of prosthetic metal/hard plastic lower beak replacement plate of some kind for her. Could secure it with the glue you mentioned. Maybe??? Just thinking.
 

Tanuki

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I have a fiesty 2 year old redfoots who likes to bite things...she will bite rocks, fences, bowls, food slates, people, cats, dirt clods, etc.

She has had a hairline split in her bottom beak for months that has been very solid. I was looking at it today and it seems to be fully broken now and flexes under pressure.

Can anyone advise what they might do in this situation?

I have several years of veterinary experience and I am not squeamish about working on my old animals - or about assisting my vet (she has reptile experience, but isn't a tortoise expert)

Would you leave it? Trim it? Have surgical intervention?

It has not effected her ability to eat to this point, but I fear that it may not wear down properly now that it is flexing and that the crack may not grow out as she literally tries to rip chunks out of her terracotta saucers. (As I type this she is crunching a snail)

Thank you

View attachment 206974
Hello. Did you figure out a way to stabilize the beak? My tortoise has the same thing now and I am in the same boat, thinking day and night how to fix the crack, how to immobilize the tortoise while doing it, etc. Please help me with advice and experience. My phone is 720-891-6090. Thank you.
 

zovick

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Hello. Did you figure out a way to stabilize the beak? My tortoise has the same thing now and I am in the same boat, thinking day and night how to fix the crack, how to immobilize the tortoise while doing it, etc. Please help me with advice and experience. My phone is 720-891-6090. Thank you.
You could take your tortoise to Dr. Steven Divers at the Exotics Department at UGA Vet School in Athens and he could probably repair it for you. In my experience, I have seen fractured beaks wired together to keep them from flexing until they healed. Maybe there is a newer technique with a Super Glue type material that would also do the trick, but I am not sure.

If you don't want to go to Athens, you could try Dr. Brad Wilson at The Veterinary Clinic West in Marietta. He is very good and knows tortoises. Justin Oguni is another vet there who has experience with tortoises. They both work at the Old Dallas Rd. location. Here is a link:

If you go to either of the above places, please tell them I referred you to them.
 

Tanuki

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You could take your tortoise to Dr. Steven Divers at the Exotics Department at UGA Vet School in Athens and he could probably repair it for you. In my experience, I have seen fractured beaks wired together to keep them from flexing until they healed. Maybe there is a newer technique with a Super Glue type material that would also do the trick, but I am not sure.

If you don't want to go to Athens, you could try Dr. Brad Wilson at The Veterinary Clinic West in Marietta. He is very good and knows tortoises. Justin Oguni is another vet there who has experience with tortoises. They both work at the Old Dallas Rd. location. Here is a link:

If you go to either of the above places, please tell them I referred you to them.
You could take your tortoise to Dr. Steven Divers at the Exotics Department at UGA Vet School in Athens and he could probably repair it for you. In my experience, I have seen fractured beaks wired together to keep them from flexing until they healed. Maybe there is a newer technique with a Super Glue type material that would also do the trick, but I am not sure.

If you don't want to go to Athens, you could try Dr. Brad Wilson at The Veterinary Clinic West in Marietta. He is very good and knows tortoises. Justin Oguni is another vet there who has experience with tortoises. They both work at the Old Dallas Rd. location. Here is a link:

If you go to either of the above places, please tell them I referred you to them.
Thanks a lot! What is your name, so that I tell the doc who referred me.
 

zovick

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Thanks a lot! What is your name, so that I tell the doc who referred me.
No problem. Where are you going to take your tortoise? My name is Dr. William Zovickian. I live in Dacula, GA.
 
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