My tortoise's claws have become long...through mainly walking on soft ground. How can I shorten them safely ?

Question

My tortoise's claws have become long...through mainly walking on soft ground. How can I shorten them safely ?

Answer 1

if your tortoises claws need cutting it is best to take it to your vet for clipping, the problem with tortoises is is you cut the nails too short they will bleed and sometimes it is really hard to stop the bleeding so unless you have been shown how to cut the claws it is not recommended you do it your self, your vet will not charge you too much, you could also if you have an outside pen put in a concrete  paving slab for them to walk over, i have one as they go into their hut and it seems to do the job, or if you put it where they like to bask it will double as a natural heat pad when the sun warms it, they love laying on it and warming themselves, i would not recommend filing the tortoises claws as the nails are really thick and hard to file, the best, quickest and less stressful for your tortoise is to clip them slightly, usually with dog nail clippers, but if you put in some hard surfaces you will not have to touch the nails they will file down naturally, best of luck honey.

Answer 2

Tortoises are meant to have long nails so as to dig burrows in the hard ground in the wild. You can either change the substrate of your tortoises' enclosure to that of something harder, as it will engage in burrowing activity, and over time, will file away it's nails by itself, OR you can take it to a vet if you feel as though they are becoming a nuisance. Don't risk cutting the nails yourself, as tortoise nails are deep rooted, and one slip with a pair of clippers can result in a painful experience for your pet.

Answer 3

Don't take it to a vet to have it done, they will charge you for nothing!!  Take the tortoise to a pet shop, a good one, and they will do it for you for free.  That's what I did; took him to a repile shop and 5 minutes later he was clipped

Answer 4

Allow your tortoise to walk on concrete or some other hard surface. Do you allow your tortoise to dig? If not I think you should as this will help to wear down its claws. Dont cut the claws yourself as you could easily cut through a blood vessel and cause your tortoise a lot of distress. If you want his claws cut take him to a vet that knows about tortoises.

Answer 5

take it to the vets :)

please dont do what i did, i used kitchen scissors. i ended up cutting of the whole foot. jokesjokes. aha

Answer 6

The most unstressful way for your tortoise would be to put some cuttlefish in his home, as the calcium would do it good and obviously it will help file down his nails. Good luck x*x =D

Answer 7

you can use bird nail clippers or cat nail clippers....or you can file them down....

you should be able to see the quick...the blood in the nail.....be very careful not to cut past that.

Or even better take it to a groom shop and ask them to trim the nails...a dog grooming place..they usually charge like 3 to 5 dollars.

Answer 8

since tortises have thick nail use dog clippers or bunny clippers