Gular Scute too long

[Steve-661]

Gular Scute is about 3 inches long on this desert tortoise i adopted.when he tries to take a bite his bottom jaw rams into the top of the gular scute. he cant reach over it and eat on flat ground at all basically i have to hand feed him because if left alone he seems to get tired or discouraged and quit eating altogether, unknown age but pretty old because hes about 16 inches long. can this be trimmed?

 

[wellington]

@Yvonne G
@Tom

 

[Yvonne G]

Tortoises with a long gular have to learn to dip their head down on one side or the other of the gular. My sulcata's gular is VERY long yet he eats off the ground just fine by going off to the side.

May I please see a picture of the tortoise's front end?

Also, if you really see a need to cut it back, it will have to be done by a vet. It will bleed extensively.

Think about this: If you had not trained. . . or rather, if this tortoise had not trained you to think he couldn't eat without being hand fed how is it that he has lived to this ripe old age?

 

[Steve-661]

Tortoises with a long gular have to learn to dip their head down on one side or the other of the gular. My sulcata's gular is VERY long yet he eats off the ground just fine by going off to the side.

May I please see a picture of the tortoise's front end?

Also, if you really see a need to cut it back, it will have to be done by a vet. It will bleed extensively.

Think about this: If you had not trained. . . or rather, if this tortoise had not trained you to think he couldn't eat without being hand fed how is it that he has lived to this ripe old age?

Ive had this tort about a month, and based off the first photo im thinking his previous owners didnt feed him correctly and led him to be overwieght, and also i would imagine caused the gular to overgrow. the upward curvature is really the problem. hopefully im just overconcerned..... thanks for the quick response

 

[Yvonne G]

The pictures won't enlarge and my computer doesn't have the capabilities to make the picture bigger, so I'm guessing that this is a Texas tortoise, and a very old tortoise. The Texas tortoise males do have a very long gular, so his isn't abnormal. Also, he's quite old, so he has learned to live with it and knows how to go off to the side of it to graze. But he's smart enough to know that if he looks at you with those goo goo eyes you're going to to feel sorry for him and hand feed him. Same holds true if he really IS a desert tortoise.

 

[Steve-661]

The pictures won't enlarge and my computer doesn't have the capabilities to make the picture bigger, so I'm guessing that this is a Texas tortoise, and a very old tortoise. The Texas tortoise males do have a very long gular, so his isn't abnormal. Also, he's quite old, so he has learned to live with it and knows how to go off to the side of it to graze. But he's smart enough to know that if he looks at you with those goo goo eyes you're going to to feel sorry for him and hand feed him. Same holds true if he really IS a desert tortoise.

Thank you so much for the info and quick reponse!