Split beak?

[Texastort]

Quick question. My littlest tort has a split beak, straight down the middle. Her beak isn't overgrown and looks good, it's just split. Should I worry or do anything to correct? I don't think it's into the quick.

 

[ascott]

Are you able to post a pic?

 

[baron101]

post a picture of the beak

 

[Yvonne G]

I have a Manouria tortoise who's beak flares out and has to be trimmed off about twice a year. A couple years ago I was trimming it...I should say here that at the time he weighed about 50lbs. Their beak is made out of iron...well, maybe not, but its extremely HARD. So, I was using the horse hoof nippers, and was taking small bites with the corner of the nipper. And I had to really use a lot of muscle on the nipper to cut through the beak material. So I was supporting the tortoise on the top of the fence with his legs in mid-air, with one arm and squeezing with all my might on the horse nipper. At the same time that I squeezed, he jerked his head, and the beak split right up the middle. He screamed. Yes, folks, he actually screamed. So we know that that must have hurt like a son of a gun. It took about a year for the beak to grow out past the split, and it was at least a month before he started eating again. Needless to say, I don't use the horse nippers anymore. I use a Dremmel now. But its still a very hard job. It actually smokes and we have to stop frequently to allow everything to cool down.

So, if your tortoise eats, bites and doesn't act like it bothers him, then its probably ok. But if it continues to split, then you may have to have the vet take a Dremmel and file it down to take the pressure off the middle.