Okay, so I've had a Russian tortoise for almost 10 years. There was a time when my wife and I could not keep him and my mother volunteered to keep him. She had him for about a year. I gave her he 55-gallon rubbermaid with the 2 UV bulbs and the heat lamps. I told her what to feed him, etc.

Once my wife and I got moved, I wanted him back. She had been feeding him some kind of "tortoise pellets" (eeek!!) and did not replace the UV or heat bulbs when they went out. So he had a year of bad husbandry.

Well, I've noticed in the last year or so that Sampson's beak has grown a lot. Like.. really long! I didn't think it was that much of a problem until tonight when I saw that his beak actually got caught on his lower jaw!! He could not close his mouth! I freaked!

I offered him some greens and a strawberry to tempt him into opening his mouth. He finally did, but now it clicks and makes this horrible sound everytime he opens his mouth. It's heartbreaking.

I'm waking up early to call a reptile vet tomorrow and I'm going to bring him in to have it shaved. They'll probably anasthetize (spelling?) him, right?

I'm super scared.... any thoughts?

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