Claw Question

[vanillaXtiffy]

Well, I've asked this before, what can I use  to trim Lazy's claws? before the suggestion was just give her a piece of slate to walk on. I gave her one and it's right under her  light and her food dish it at one end, so she walks across it all the time to go between basking and eating. I also made her a climbing thingy out of another piece of slate which she uses at least a few times a week to climb around on. But her nails are still really long, I'd like to clip or file them if possible. So are there any type of clippers or file that would be suitable for this?

[welovevader]

I'm not sure what you could use clip them.I wonder if some sort of nail file (a soft one obivously) would work? One thing I've done for Thor is put down a bunch of medium-small river rocks (got them at Home Depot) around his table. I made it so he basically has to walk over them to get to his light. That has definitely helped his nails.

[Betty]

Generally you should not have to cut them, but now and again they get out of control or curling.  I used that "PediPaw"  that you see advertised on TV , worked fantastic.  It is a dremel with a safety edge on it.  That is what my Vet uses and I tried it and it worked fine.  She hated it of course but I just did a little at a time until I was done.

[vanillaXtiffy]

Hmm okay. I'll give the river rocks a try and if that doesn't work I guess I'll invest in a pedipaws. Thanks guys.

[moeNlily]

I place tiles around their cage where i know they will walk and that helps keep their nails short.  you could also feed them on slate or tiles to help keep their beak and nails at a good length

[vanillaXtiffy]

I place tiles around their cage where i know they will walk and that helps keep their nails short.  you could also feed them on slate or tiles to help keep their beak and nails at a good length

That's what I do. Her food dish is on a slate tile and she has to walk on it to get to the food. There is a slate tile under her basking light so she has to walk on it to bask. That's the area she walks in most so she almost always walking on the tile. I've had the slate tile in there for about a year and her climbing structure has been there for around 6 months. She uses both frequently. It's not really doing anything for her claws.

[Jules]

How long are they? Can you post a picture?  They may be fine.

[vanillaXtiffy]

I only have my cellphone camera for now and you won't be able to see them. The claws on 3 of her feet are so long she doesn't even walk on them. On one of her feet they're nice and short and I'm not worried about that one.

[mikachase]

I would take your tortoise to the vet they will be able to tell you if in fact they are too long and they could trim them if necessary.

[Jules]

have you compared on this page?

http://russiantortoise.org/toenails.htm

[vanillaXtiffy]

Hi Jules, thanks. Her nails mostly look like that now, at the time of posting they were a lot longer. I've since added even more rocks to her cage and arranged them in ways so that she can climb and explore, so she's been a lot more active.