HI,

i am keeping 2 female indian star tortoises, cute little girls. i read from some sites saying that their nails have to be trimmed. i not sure about how to go bout doing it, do I file them or jus clip them away
pls advice!!

cheers

I wouldn't clip them. As long as you have varied terrain with some kind of slate or stones, they should be able to take care of their own nails. I owned a herman's tortoise and a russian tortoise in the past and I never had to trim their nails. They never got too long. Are your tortoise's nails too long?

mine isnt long, but I was jus interested to know if they need regular clippings

thanks for the info, i dun have rocks in there for them, will add a couple in!!!

cheers

Yeah, kinda like a dog that gets regular walks on pavement, if the nails get enough wear, they need to be clipped less often. In the case of tortoises, maybe never! I have seen pics of torts with overgrown nails though, so it can be a problem if they don't wear down. I'd imagine you'd clip them rather than file them, but as with other critters, you'd have to watch out for the blood vessels in there.

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does that mean that I cant cut if not she will bleed??? or we have to take care of the cut after clipping???

Well like in other critters, there's a vein or artery or something that goes into the nails (called the quik or, something like that). It runs a certain distance into the claw. You can clip anything beyond that point with no ill effects, but if you clip the claws too short, you may hit that blood vessel and then he'll bleed. Until his nails get too long though, I wouldn't stress over it. If you hold the feet up to light you may be able to see where the blood vessel ends. If not, then its just a careful guessing game. If you ever do have to clip them, I'd buy some Kwikstop first (or is it Quickstop?). Its powder you put on it, designed to rapidly stop the bleeding should you clip them too short.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

putting on a dab of regular old cornstarch will also stop the bleeding

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Merlin,
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With my turtles and Torts, once the weather gets nice enough it's a once a week walk on the concrete patio out back for nail maintenance. Other than that, I've never had to do anything to their nails.

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thanks for the replies,
i will try out the suggestions
will try to post some pictures of my cute females

cheers!!!