OVERGROWN NAILS AND PARROT BEAKS

One of our club members brought down his 13 box turtles for me to baby-sit for two weeks and I nearly fainted when I saw them. All had very long nails and overgrown beaks to the point where some looked like ducks. One resembled a platypus! Can you imagine cutting 148 nails?? The beaks were too thick to trim and curiously enough, the bottom beaks thickened up to match the upper beaks/ Here is some advice from Henny Fenwick's book (She is our British connection) “Taking Care of Your Pet Tortoise.”

The nails of a tortoise are one of its greatest assets. There are five nails on the forefoot and four on the hindfoot, except in the case of the Horsfieldi tortoise which has four toes on every foot. The nails serve as tools in shredding the food, in digging and in assisting the tortoise in climbing rocky ground. In the wild they will wear down naturally but in captivity they can grow to an uncomfortable length. It is not a bad idea to provide some paving slabs in the tortoise enclosure to aid grinding down the nails.

When young, the nails will still be soft enough to be cut with nail clippers or scissors. Hold the leg up to the light and check the nail. It can be cut at the point where the nail becomes transparent. If the tortoise is older, the nails will be too tough to be tackled by nail clippers. I found wire clippers very successful. Be sure not to damage the cuticle as this can lead to sores. Torn nails and sores can be treated with a pevidine solution (Betadine works) or other antiseptic ointment. A vet can cut the nails for you and also treat ingrown toenails. Note: Some tortoises appear to have no nails at all, they have been worn away by too hard a surface. Just keep an eye out for infection.

Regarding “Parrot Beaks”, tortoises have no teeth but have horny ridges with which they chew quite successfully. Occasionally, the top jaw will overgrow or even chip, giving the tortoise a parrotlike appearance. This can be remedied by carefully cutting the rim with nail clippers and filing with a piece of emery paper. Give the tortoise some “chewy” food, cabbage (not too much), carrot and apple, to help prevent the condition, which may be due to incorrect feeding, a previous jaw injury or a birth defect..

Dumb and Dumber

It was Saturday morning, July 19th. I woke up, tidied up the bedroom and, as usual, peered into the turtle egg incubator in the next room before going downstairs to start the day. Hmm, another EXPLODED EGG!! It was no surprise. The Hermann's tortoise eggs exploded all of the time because they were not fertile and the odor is indescribable and once caused my husband to yell out, "Honey, I think the cat died." But this egg was very clean. There was no smell. I shrugged my shoulders, my mind was blank. I threw away the broken shell and went downstairs to start the day.

Sunday morning, after the full moon, was bright and clear and breezy. I went in to check the incubator and I was so dismayed to see another broken egg - curiously - odorless. Hey, wait a minute. I froze. How could I be this stupid? Maybe, just maybe the eggs actually hatched??? My mood was changing rapidly from dismay to total elation. My heart was racing. It had been more than 6 years since any of the Hermann's eggs had hatched. I poked my finger around the other eggs, deep into the layer of green moss the eggs were sitting on and I felt something and then I felt something else!! BABIES! BABY HERMANN'S!!! What a thrill that was and are they ever cute.

I checked the calendar and noticed that the eggs were laid on May 24th and hatched 56 days later which is exactly on time. This proves that miracles do happen. Don't throw out any eggs that you assume are infertile! Mother Nature has many tricks up her sleeve.

And, as if this was not enough......on September 15th....a full moon night.....I noticed a hole in the ground in the rear of the yard where the tortoises all hang out since the huge maple tree was removed. It was nearly dark. I could hardly sleep wondering what could have hatched. I got up early and looked and looked and found nothing until......eeeeek...... I saw a tiny Hermann's tortoise sunning himself on a layer of tree fungus. Oh boy. I was in a tizzy. I dug down into the nest to see how many shells I could find and came up with a good handful. I kept searching throughout the day and found nothing. Around 4 PM, I saw a slight movement. This time I discovered a newly hatched red-eared slider. The plot thickened. What came out of that hole? The tortoise or the turtle? Both?? - Unlikely, but around here, anything is possible. Both hatchlings had no visible yolk sacs. Club member, Jan Peter, came by. In no time I had her on her hands and knees searching for hatchlings too. No luck. Oklahoma club member, Pam Keyes, emailed me and said to run my mister in that area and the babies would congregate there. Good theory. It did not work. I never found any more hatchlings but in all of these years, 26 to be exact, I have NEVER had a Hermann's tortoise hatch outdoors.

Note: Since writing the newsletter, I have discovered two more Hermann hatchlings outdoors. They are noticeably smaller than the ones incubated and hatched indoors and their color is also more sandy instead of bright black and cream. It will be interesting to see how they mature. I also have had several of my Leopard tortoise eggs hatch and they appear to be doing fine. It is as if the stork is hovering above my home this year.

Two more opossums came to visit. One was caught after the damage was done but the second was caught before he could kill. Both were released into a park by the river. Several people have told me not to release them but to drown them. I don't think I could do that. Ideas anyone? I'm getting ready to install an electric fence. I think it's the only sure way to keep them out. Be alert, everyone. Keep your eyes open and protect your pets from this unpleasant experience.