Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My otherwise perfectly healthy female just developed a small cut on her mouth. I'd say it was larger than 1/16" but much smaller than 1/8". It's behind the normal "beak' portion that tends to wear down over time. I don't know how this developed, but it does not seem to be bleeding or causing her pain.

I'll try to get a picture tonight, but it's hard since she is a timid tort to begin with.

Any ideas?
Cause to be concerned, or let it heal on it's own?

Ok, so I re-examined her this afternoon and took some pix. Turns out it's a crack in her beak which you can see on the left side of these pix (which is the right side of the torts face)

As I understand it, the beak is actually a fingernail-like substance which is always growing and wearing down. If that's the case, then this should eventually grow out and repair itself?

Otherwise, this girl is fine. No bleeding or seeping, and she's eating regularly. Is this a typical occurrence with torts, or do you think the rats that got in her cage the other day did something?

Rat damage? Not likely, rats are not so suttle. I think the rats will be an issue when your tortoises are cold/torpid, and gnawing rats may do extensive damage or even "steal" hatchlings.

The crack in the beak I would guess it just one of those things, or possibly two or more tortoises were competing for the same food item, and one grabbed her jaw. They can bite pretty hard, as evidenced by ornery males damaging females or nipping at your toes if you don't pay attention and they are hungry... Yes, you are right, the beak grows and is not real sensitive, similar to your nails. A bad fracture or chip might require trimming, which a vet will do or you can do yourself if you are confident (first time I did it was real scary, but it turned out fine, using a Dreml type motor tool on a rehab/rescue tortoise). I think the damage on your tortoise is minor, and it will probably heal up fine on its own, keep an eye on it for complications and smooth healing. I assume you provide cuttle bone and Calcium sources, many of which may keep beaks in trim.

Wage war on the rats. I will wonder why you used a hose rather than a machete on them...but I have grown cold in my old age and perhaps you are more gentle. Fencing them out is the best, as they will come back and you can never kill all of them.

Good luck,Vic

See pix

I would put either super glue or epoxy on it, before it cracks further.Or check with a vet and see what he could do for it. The crack will get worse when he bites on something hard.

rats...how i find it ironic that i spend such time killing them off but ordering them in the mail. the beak i havent encountered a situation like that before but the rats i have. my outside juvie sulcata setup is sort of similar to yours and the first time i saw a rat in there i flicked the light on and saw it hide in some grass in the pen. i happened to have two of my good buddys at the house and we all scrambled to find what ever makeshift wepons we could that were close. we had like a fishing net, tennis racket, and i had a cane. the differance in the two setups is that mine instead of being in the ground is around 4 ft off the ground. so we tried to net the sucker and god as my whitness that rat as i was swinging wildly made a giant leap out of the pen landed right on my face and ran right down my body! talk about give you the chills!!! so anyway i setup some of thoes good ol fashoined rat traps with peanut butter and dog food and got him the next night and it was a bloody one! someone told me a long time ago that rats have poor eyesight and almost always follow a wall so chances are the same rat is getting into your pen, chances are he follows the wall around it to get in, chances are he likes peanut butter.