Cutting into Quick - first time owner, advice needed

[TVdinnermasterchef]

Hi all,

We recently received a Russian Tortoise from a family member who seems not to have taken care of the tortoise at all. Overfed (large amounts daily), no nail clipping, no natural substrate for wearing the nails/beak down, etc. Apparently for the last 7 years.

The nails are incredibly long, curved and sharp, to the point the tortoise is struggling to walk. Obviously they need cutting, and we've ordered the right tools and some slate to help afterwards.
However, the Quick has grown with the nails, to the point that cutting them WILL cause bleeding and potentially pain.

Is this worth doing once, to get the nails to an appropriate length it can walk properly, then using the slate to naturally wear them, or would the negative effects outweigh this benefit?

Also, what is the best way to stem the bleeding if this is the way we go? What are the best ways to mitigate infections?

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

Pictures of the nails as best I could, we've only had him 3 days so he's a little skittish when handled at the moment.

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

Also, the enclosure is what was given to us by the family member. I now know the bedding needs to be about 3" deep, ideally bigger (2.2m x 1.5m ish). This will all be sorted in good time.

 

[wellington]

The nails do not look overly long to me. I would only take the tip off. I'm thinking the nails aren't the problem with his walking.
There is a product called Kwik stop powder to use on bleeding nails
Get him set up right and a proper, fed daily a big pile of proper food, they should be able to graze off and on throughout the day and add calcium on it 2-3 times a week

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

The nails do not look overly long to me. I would only take the tip off. I'm thinking the nails aren't the problem with his walking.
There is a product called Kwik stop powder to use on bleeding nails
Get him set up right and a proper, fed daily a big pile of proper food, they should be able to graze off and on throughout the day and add calcium on it 2-3 times a week

Thank you Wellington, I will remove just the tip then and let the slate do the rest once it arrives.

Another website said they require only about the amount of food that would fit in their head if hollow (about a shot glass) once every 3 days.

Do you find this to be too restrictive, given your advice regarding the grazing? I am very new to this, so do not know what advice is good, but you seem to have plenty of experience given your 10 years on here so will take your advice if you have an alternate approach.

The website also said not to feed them dandelions as they are potentially poisonous, but have seen multiple comments on here that seem to contradict this statement, so the feeding advice from there seems suspect to me.

Much appreciated.

 

[wellington]

They should be fed every day and enough they can graze on and off all day. Those other websites are old wrong info.in the wild they would eat every day if food is available. Tortoises can not get fat if they have a proper diet and enough room to exercise/roam. This pertains to all species but even more so for those that brumate.
Dandelions are a safe food. Whatever website you read, isn't a reliable source at all. So far wrong on both counts you listed.
The best diet is a wide variety of all safe foods that a particular species can have. Just feeding one item daily is not good unless you change it up daily. I like to feed a variety daily. Others will feed one item one day and then change it to a different item the next and so on. Either way works.

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

They should be fed every day and enough they can graze on and off all day. Those other websites are old wrong info.in the wild they would eat every day if food is available. Tortoises can not get fat if they have a proper diet and enough room to exercise/roam. This pertains to all species but even more so for those that brumate.
Dandelions are a safe food. Whatever website you read, isn't a reliable source at all. So far wrong on both counts you listed.
The best diet is a wide variety of all safe foods that a particular species can have. Just feeding one item daily is not good unless you change it up daily. I like to feed a variety daily. Others will feed one item one day and then change it to a different item the next and so on. Either way works.

Thank you once again. Ironically it was the same website that told me the nails should ideally be 0.1 - 0.25" long (0.254 - 0.635cm), which also seems far shorter than most people on here seem to suggest is ok.

I know where to get my info from from now on anyway. I'm off to feed my possibly starving tortoise now...

Have a good day mate.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Russian tortoises have really long nails, here is some pictures of normal nails: https://russiantortoise.org/toenails.htm

One reason for him walking funny is MBD, caused by poor husbandry. Another could be lack of exercise in a small enclousure or having to walk on slippery floors. Could you describe how he walks poorly? A picture of the shell from it's side might show MBD.

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

It looks as though it struggles to place it's feet at times, and I know it was walking on floor tiles at its previous house, so perhaps not best for getting purchase.

They also didn't mention anything about giving it calcium, but we've since read that it's needed so have some low-phos Ca powder on the way already.

Please see attached the side-shell pictures.

Thank you for the help.

 

[zovick]

It looks as though it struggles to place it's feet at times, and I know it was walking on floor tiles at its previous house, so perhaps not best for getting purchase.

They also didn't mention anything about giving it calcium, but we've since read that it's needed so have some low-phos Ca powder on the way already.

Please see attached the side-shell pictures.

Thank you for the help.

The tortoise doesn't look overly bad. The beak needs trimming more than the nails do.

 

[Yvonne G]

Lonish nails are normal on Russians. I would leave them alone.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I can't really tell from the pictures why he is walking weird. Could you post a video of him walking? Does he drag his back legs? You would first have to post it elsewhere like youtube and then share us a link.

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

I can't really tell from the pictures why he is walking weird. Could you post a video of him walking? Does he drag his back legs? You would first have to post it elsewhere like youtube and then share us a link.

It might be normal for a tortoise to walk how he does (like I said, first time owner, only had him for 3 days), it just seems clumsy, almost like he struggles to place the pad of his foot flat due to, I assumed incorrectly, the overly long nails.

 

[wellington]

Hard to tell if it has MBD, but I don't think so.
I think the walking is lack of room to roam, poor flooring, no calcium and under fed. He looks skinny to me.

 

[wellington]

I also agree the beak needs a little trim but the nails really don't seem too long. You could wait on the nails, get him set up correctly, put some slate in to walk and eat on and both the nails and beak may correct itself on the slate.

 

[zolasmum]

I would just snip off a tiny bit of the points,- not cutting into the quick, and see how that goes , to give him something more to grip with. It must be hard to balance on such small points.
And welcome from Devon (assuming you are in Rotherham,UK)
Angie

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

Thank you all for the help. We've got the slate and Ca on order, I'll feed him more food and a greater variety, increase bedding depth and allow him to roam more in the room (I've baby-proofed it but for a tortoise: plenty of room to roam and it's carpet, so plenty of grip also).

He'll be on the enclosed back yard once it gets warm enough too, which should give him ample space to explore.

We'll see how he goes from here, and address the beak if the slate doesn't seem to help.

I also have a temp sensor, so I'll find out the temps of the various areas of his terrarium and adjust if needed according to basking/night time/etc. guidelines I've found on this site.

It's not easy to know what's required with no prior knowledge / research, so I appreciate the education.

 

[TVdinnermasterchef]

I would just snip off a tiny bit of the points,- not cutting into the quick, and see how that goes , to give him something more to grip with. It must be hard to balance on such small points.
And welcome from Devon (assuming you are in Rotherham,UK)
Angie

Thank you Angie,

It may be that to be honest, like it's wearing stilettos almost. I'll nip the ends off and file them round and blunt, a bit flatter on the bottom, which should hopefully give him better purchase.

Yup, Rotherham UK it is, the veritable tropical paradise of the North. Nice to meet you.

Shaun

 

[TammyJ]

Hard to tell if it has MBD, but I don't think so.
I think the walking is lack of room to roam, poor flooring, no calcium and under fed. He looks skinny to me.

I totally 100% agree.

 

[Tom]

His nails are normal and fine. The awkward walking is likely splayed leg syndrome from walking on the slick surfaces you mentioned. They should never be free roaming loose on the floor. That can kill them in many ways.

The slate isn't going to do much, but it will make a good basking area under the bulb.

The first order of business should be to get this guy hydrated with daily soaks for a couple of weeks, and make sure the GI tract is functioning well. Then get the diet and enclosure parameters corrected.

Most of the info found out in the world will be all wrong. Here is the current and correct care info:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

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