New adopter, need opinion

[Igor the Russian]

Hi All,
Just got a hand me down tortoise. He’s definitely in a glass tank that is too small, we’re going to work on that. My question is about his beak. It’s got what looks like a split or it’s growing strange? Also a bit of white flaky that made me worry. I haven’t cleaned him up with a bath yet. He’s in garden soil so pretty dusty/ dirty. I figured I would let him settle for at least a few days.
So attached are pictures, taken through glass. Love to have opinion and home remedies if possible.

 

[crimson_lotus]

Is that a gopher tortoise?

beak could use a little trim, I have read many use regular nail clippers. I would also give him a bath, change the substrate when you get a new enclosure too.

 

[Maro2Bear]

A good soak will help everyone see the beak better. It doesn't look too bad. Start feeding it in a terra cotta bowl or on a rough piece of slate/stone. Feeding rougher food as well, make it use that beak. Add a nice big cuttlebone. Definitely give it a good soak, get it into a proper large enclosure, good food choices & good sunlight/lighting.

 

[zovick]

Hi All,
Just got a hand me down tortoise. He’s definitely in a glass tank that is too small, we’re going to work on that. My question is about his beak. It’s got what looks like a split or it’s growing strange? Also a bit of white flaky that made me worry. I haven’t cleaned him up with a bath yet. He’s in garden soil so pretty dusty/ dirty. I figured I would let him settle for at least a few days.
So attached are pictures, taken through glass. Love to have opinion and home remedies if possible.

The beak needs to be trimmed as the others have said. When there is a split area in the beak it is sometimes difficult to keep that splitting from continuing to happen even after the beak has been trimmed. Occasionally, I have seen these splits wired or glued together to keep them from recurring until the beak has grown out after the trimming.

IE, you might want to take it to a good vet to have the trimming done and have the split evaluated and/or fixed. Or try trimming the beak yourself first and if the split continues, then go to a vet.

It should also be pointed out that sometimes the lower beak is a contributing factor to the splitting of the upper beak and the lower one needs to be trimmed as well to get the splits to heal properly.