I agree, it would be a great idea to build an outdoor cage for him. I have rescued several box turtles with long, dry, brittle nails and beaks. They also usually have terribly dry, flaky skin. Trimming is good, but the real cure is getting them outdoors with natural sunshine and a good diet.

You can use the regular dog and cat clippers for the nails. Just watch for the blood vessel within. It may be a good idea to have one of those coagulant powder products available at the time of trimming. The beak will have to be done with a file or a dremmel tool. In my experience, the speed of the dremmel really cuts down on the stress from being held. You will have to pinch the head behind the skull in order to do this.

I'm still loading my coffee tank, but I didn't see anything relating to enclosure size. Due to the need for the turtle to go between hot/cool, wet/dry conditions, you will want to make sure that he has a good sized enclosure. I've kept other herps, and turtles just need WAY more space. One adult box turtle needs an indoor tortoise table of about 4' X 4'. They can survive in much smaller, but to really thrive, bigger is much better.

Well done. He looks to be in better hands. Good luck with him.

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