The importance of DEEP shade

Ok, folks, we need to talk about SHADE.

You have probably (hopefully) heard tortoise keepers talking about the fact that tortoises need "DEEP SHADE" to retreat into on a hot Summer day (really any day that has air temps above 80 degrees).

What do we mean by "deep shade?" - this is NOT slapping a board across the tortoise enclosure, nor does a little house do the trick. To create DEEP shade, you have to use the *AND* principal. So, for example, deep shade would be under a tree, AND inside a burrow. Or under an umbrella (or shade cloth) AND under a dense bush. Under a dense bush AND inside a deep burrow. Only there can a significantly cooler environment be achieved that our tortoises need to be comfortable on a hot day.

Not convinced? If you have a temp gun, I would love it if you would go outside, and measure the ground temperature in a nice shady spot, and then in the sun. There can be a temperature difference of 60 degrees! (e.g. the deep shade under our tree is a nice balmy 80 degrees... the dappled shade under a bush is 90, and the flat rocks in the tortoise enclosure measured 140 degrees F before I hosed them down! In comparison, in the burrow that is behind the dense bush, covered in 10 inches of soil, and has been dug out pretty deep by the tortoises, it is 65-70 degrees. Guess where the tortoises are? Except for the 2 crazy ones who are out first thing in the morning, and don't seem to mind the sun (they are also the lightest colored ones), they are all in the burrows right now.

While we are talking about shade and sun - PLEASE do NOT soak your tortoise in the sunshine when it is warm outside - at least not without supervision! Just this year, I have heard of 2 tortoises that died during their soaks, simply because the owner placed the soaking dish in the sun, and then walked away for 30 minutes. A tortoise in a soaking bin has no place to go. If it is overheating, it can't hide, and sitting in 1 inch of cool water certainly won't protect the top of its shell.

Please be sure to provide DEEP shade for your tortoise when it is outside - that's TWO kinds of shade nested inside each other, as explained above. If your tortoise constantly hides during outdoor time, chances are that you might not be providing enough shade in the enclosure. 

How to make home-made calcium blocks for tortoises

Tortoises need calcium in order to build strong bones, a strong shell, and healthy organs. Ideally, they are fed a widely varied diet of nutritious weeds and dark leafy greens that have high levels of bio-available calcium in them. Adding a sprinkling of a healthy plant-based supplement such as TNT can help significantly. However, sometimes a tortoise's calcium requirements go beyond what is found in the plants we can provide. 

Some tortoise keepers rely on sprinkling calcium powder on tortoise food. However, this has the danger of causing a dosage beyond what a tortoise needs, and may actually cause health problems. For this reason, I like to provide healthy tortoises with calcium sources that they can help themselves to, as needed. Tortoises seem to have a good instinct about when their body needs more calcium.

Some tortoises readily eat cuttlefish bone on their own.

Cuttlefish bone (found in the bird aisle of most pet stores, or available in bulk online) is a good option. However, not all tortoises seem to care for cuttlebone. Quarry chalk is a good source of calcium. It is widely available in the UK and some other countries, but is hard to come by here in the US. Finally, man-made calcium blocks are another good source of calcium. Some such products are available in the pet trade. However, I have found them to be ridiculously expensive, and they often have undesirable ingredients such as sugar or artificial dyes and flavors. For this reason, I did a little research, and decided to try making my own calcium blocks.  

The home-made calcium blocks are tortoise-approved!

After seeing how ridiculously easy it is to make the home-made calcium blocks, I wanted to share the recipe and procedure with you, so that you and your tortoise(s) may benefit from it as well. 

First, you need to decide on the calcium source. Food-grade calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is one good option, sometimes called Limestone flour (available e.g on Amazon). Another, more affordable and more easily available source is so called Agricultural Lime (CaCO3) - I got it at our local feed store for $8 for a 50lb bag! Agricultural lime is produced by pulverizing limestone or chalk, and is commonly used as a soil amendment. Please make sure to read the label CAREFULLY: you want to make sure that it not so-called hydrated lime, that it does not contain Magnesium Carbonate, and that it does not have any other ingredients and impurities in significant amounts. Here is the kind I bought:

One of many good options

The only other ingredient you will need to make lime blocks is water.
For tools, you will need:

• a large mixing bowl 
• a sturdy spoon to mix with 
• and some kind of mold that will withstand 200 degrees F (93 degrees C). I used a silicone muffin pan that I got at Goodwill for $2 
• an oven, pre-heated to 200 degrees F (93 degrees C)

It took a little bit of mixing and adding to find just the right consistency. Here is the ratio of ingredients that I found to work best:

• 1.5 cups of warm water (H2O)
• 7 cups of CaCO3 powder (Ok, sue me; I used a liquid measuring cup to measure the dry powder, which I know is a no-no in cooking... but in this case it worked fine, since I was just aiming for keeping track of the ratio that worked)
  
  NOTE: Today I made the calcium blocks again, and this time it took 4.75 cups of CaCO3 and nearly 1.5 cups of water. You may have to experiment just a tiny bit - the mixture should be mixable with a bit of muscle, but not all crumbly. It definitely should not be wet or soggy.

Calcium Carbonate powder

First, I measured the Calcium Carbonate Powder into the mixing bowl. Then I made an indentation into the powder, and slowly poured the warm water into it. Then I very carefully stirred the mixture, to minimize clouds of powder flying up and all around. The mixture quickly gets very thick, so you really do need a sturdy spoon made of metal or wood. A spatula didn't cut it.

Yum! Calcium paste!

Keep on mixing until there is no more liquid on top, and no more pockets of powder at the bottom. It will get progressively tougher to mix, and will start looking like mortar or thick plaster of Paris.

Next, spoon the Calcium Carbonate + water mixture into the molds you have chosen. The amount I made was exactly the right amount to fill all 12 wells of the muffin pan, plus 1 small cup.

NOTE: Please DO NOT dump excess slurry down your drain. It can clog your drain and/or wreck your in-sink disposal. I took the bowl outside and hosed it down. It is perfectly safe just to dump it onto your garden or your lawn. 
In fact, if you don't have a lot of tortoises, and don't want to have the remnants of a 50lb bag (minus 7 cups) of agricultural lime sitting in your garage... just spread the rest into your lawn, or dig it into your flower beds or raised garden beds!

Soon-to-be Calcium blocks

Next, carefully place the mold into the oven. I used a cookie sheet under the silicone muffin pan since it is a bit wobbly. Set the timer to 1 hour.

Bake the calcium cakes

After 1 hour of baking, open the oven door and carefully pull the oven rack out far enough that you can safely touch the calcium cakes. You will notice that water has risen to the top of them. Use a paper towel or napkin to wick off the excess liquid. This will significantly cut down on the drying time.
Bake for another 2-3 hours, depending on your oven. I checked every hour to remove more liquid, and after a total of 4 hours, they looked completely dry, and had shrunken in the molds.

Carefully remove the mold(s) from the oven, and place somewhere to cool down. This took a long time. I used our handy dandy infrared thermometer to check the temperature of the calcium blocks, and waited for them to almost be cool enough to touch.
Once they are cool enough, carefully remove each calcium block from the mold, and place it on a cookie drying rack. They should come out easily. I let them sit like that overnight, just to make sure all the moisture had dried out.

12 beautiful calcium cupcakes.

The next day, I put one of these beautiful calcium cupcakes into each of the tortoise enclosures, and packed the extra ones into ziploc bags for later use. Within minutes of placing the cakes into the enclosures, the tortoises congregated around them, and took a few nibbles. Pretty soon, they were sporting cute little calcium mustaches... 

Jill approves.

The part that really made my day: Amber, my XXL female Russian tortoise had just laid eggs. She has been stubbornly refusing to eat cuttlefish bone, and does not eat weeds if I have sprinkled them with calcium. However, by evening, her calcium cake looked like this:

Amber loves her calcium cupcake!

I hope you have fun making your own calcium blocks, and that your tortoises enjoy them as much as mine do! Please keep in mind that in order to properly absorb calcium, a tortoise needs UVB to produce vitamin D3. You can read a little more about this HERE.

Ps: When you mist your enclosures, please avoid spraying the calcium cakes too thoroughly (you might take them out briefly), because otherwise they may disintegrate.

Pps: You might experiment with mixing in ground up weeds, or a little bit of carrot juice for a nice orange color... however, my tortoises (even the ones who NEVER eat cuttlefish bone!) heavily approved and helped themselves to these calcium cupcakes within minutes of placing them into each enclosure.

Ppps: I am not the inventor of home-made calcium blocks. There are several conversation threads on the Tortoise Forum (e.g. HERE and HERE) that mention them long before I ever thought of making them. They don't however, mention the exact ratio of water and CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate) that works best. 

How to find a good Veterinarian for your Tortoise (and maybe an excellent one!)

Finding a good veterinarian who is experienced and up-to-date on caring for tortoises (not just turtles) can be very difficult. Since tortoises live for a century or longer, there is a good chance that your tortoise will need to go to the vet at some point, whether for a beak trim, an injury or for an illness, or to be treated for parasites.

Mila, getting a check-up from Dr. Kelly Flaminio

In an ideal world, a tortoise keeper already has a relationship with a reliable and knowledgeable reptile vet before the tortoise has even been purchased or adopted. A check-up and a fecal exam (to check for parasites) should be done within the first two weeks of owning the tortoise. This is especially the case if you bought your tortoise from a pet store. If parasites or other problems are discovered by the vet within the initial 14 days, most larger chain stores will actually refund you the cost for the office visit and the parasite treatment.

We love our reptile vet, Dr. Kelly Flaminio!

Whether you are being proactive, or you already find yourself in over your head with a sick or injured tortoise, it is important to ask a few questions of the vet before trusting him or her with your tortoise's health.

First, how should you go about finding an exotics vet?
A good starting place is a list of vets that has been compiled by tortoise keepers on the tortoise forum HERE. This list is sorted by State, as well as by country. If you live close to a State border, you may want to check for clinics on the other side of the State line.
(Please keep in mind that not all of the vets on this list are guaranteed to be awesome.... they are however at the very least more likely to know how to provide healthcare for a tortoise!)

The TFO list of reptile vets in the USA and in the rest of the world.

Google can be of help, too. Entering "exotics veterinarian" in a map search near you should provide you with several options (Note: If your Google search brings forth a list of places advertising "girls girls girls" you might need to narrow your key words down a little more!). Follow the links to the vet clinics' websites, and see what they say about themselves. Often, Google listings already have ratings associated with the listing. Read the ratings carefully, keeping in mind that there are probably many happy clients who just didn't get around to writing a review.

Google map search for "exotics vet" or "exotics veterinarian"

When you have found a reptile vet who looks promising, give them a call, and politely ask them a few questions:

1. Does this vet clinic have experience with tortoises, specifically? (you can even ask if they have experience with your specific tortoise species, e.g. Russian tortoises)
2. Is this exotics vet familiar with the different care and dietary requirements of a tortoise in comparison to a turtle?
3. How long has this vet been practicing? (sometimes a newer vet will actually have more up-to-date knowledge about tortoises!) 
4. How long has this vet been providing healthcare for tortoises?
5. How many tortoises does this clinic treat each month? 
6. How often does the veterinarian treat reptiles in comparison to dogs and cats?
7. How often does the exotics vet attend continued education events and conferences pertaining to reptiles and tortoise care?
8. Is this vet able to trim your tortoises beak, if necessary? 
9. Does this vet perform surgery on tortoises, should this ever become necessary?
10. Is this vet available in the case of after-hour emergencies? (Not all are - in that case, please also ask for the contact information of an emergency vet who will see a tortoise. It is good to have this information on hand, should it ever become necessary.)
11. Is this vet able to keep a tortoise overnight should treatment require an extended stay?

If you have a VERY large tortoise, such as a full-grown sulcata or even an aldabra tortoise, you may want to also ask if this vet does house visits. In some cases, transporting a vet is easier than transporting a tortoise... 

A few questions should be asked that pertain to the financial aspect of a vet visit:

1. Is the first exam free? (can't hurt to ask - often it is!)
2. How much is the exam fee? (within a town, this can vary greatly from one office to another!)
3. Does this clinic do fecal exams for parasites in-house or externally?
4. Are they willing to run a fecal exam without requiring an office visit? Then if parasites are found, and treatment is necessary, you can still bring your tortoise in for the office visit and to get treatment.
5. Does the veterinarian give a price quote before performing a surgery or another procedure? Will different options be given? Does this vet clinic offer payment options if a high vet fee is incurred?

Armed with the above questions, you should be able to determine whether a vet will be able to help you and your tortoise.

Although currently in perfect health, this tiny baby tortoise
will likely need vet care at some point in her life.

We are lucky to have a wonderful and experienced reptile vet within easy driving distance of our home. Our veterinarian, Dr. Kelly Flaminio at the East Mill Plain VCA, is very knowledgeable, and we have had a very good experience with her care for several of the reptiles we own or foster. 

Because our reptiles have gotten such great care, I thought it might be useful to you to see a few of Dr. Kelly's answers to some of my questions:

Q: "How many reptiles does your veterinary clinic see on average?"
A: "Between 50-100 per month. Usually about 3 per day."

Q: "How long have you been treating tortoises?"
A: "I have been treating tortoises and other reptiles for about 5 years."

Q: "How often do you attend conferences and continued education events?"
A: "Twice a year."

Q: "What are the most frequent reptile cases you see?"
A: "We most frequently see new lizards parents bought for kids. Next, the most frequent cases are amputations and abscesses of various reptiles. Many reptile keepers don't bring their animal in until something bad happens, unfortunately."

Q: "What do you most frequently see tortoise patients for?"
A: "New tortoise pets often come in to be checked and treated for parasites and to have blood work done to ensure they are healthy. Long-term, tortoises most frequently come in for a beak trim. Some tortoises we see suffer from MDB (metabolic bone disease) from improper husbandry. In the Spring we usually see quite a few tortoises with URIs (upper respiratory infections) or pneumonia. Sometimes tortoises that have been found on the loose are relinquished to the clinic, and then we find foster homes for them."

Many of the above questions had already been answered in previous interactions: Dr. Kelly has extensive experience with tortoises, and definitely knows the difference between a box turtle and a tortoise. She is able to perform surgery on tortoises and other reptiles in-house. The clinic is able to keep reptiles overnight if necessary.

During my interview with her, Dr. Kelly also mentioned that local new patients to her clinic are welcome to print off the 'free first exam' coupon from their website. They will honor the coupon for reptiles as well as for dogs and cats.

Whether you have a very large tortoise, or a very small tortoise,
...it's a good idea to know a good reptile vet!

The above questions don't always guarantee that a vet is awesome. Sometimes, it will take several office visits to find a vet that will meet the needs of you and your tortoise. Many veterinarians are VERY GOOD veterinarians, but just haven't specialized on tortoises. Others might be operating off of out-of-date information.

There are a few RED FLAGS that indicate that a reptile vet is NOT a good tortoise vet:

1. You are told to feed your tortoise 'more animal protein.' (this is based on a confusion over tortoises vs. box turtles)
2. You are told to add cat food into your tortoise's diet (this is based on 35-year-old, outdated information that results in terribly deformed tortoises)
3. The vet suggests treatment for parasites with medication other than Safeguard or Panacur (active ingredient fenbendazole). (other worm medications, such as ivermectin, can kill a tortoise!)
4. You are told not to provide water in the enclosure (this is based on outdated, false information)
5. You are told to use sand for substrate
6. The vet claims to be able to tell you how old your tortoise is based on the 'rings' in his shell (tortoises are not trees. The rings are based on seasons of plentiful food and lack of food... which can happen several times throughout a year. The only way to know a tortoise's age is to know it's hatch date or at least hatch year).

Mila frowns on the idea of having her rings counted to tell her age.

CAUTION:
If you live out in the country, it may be necessary to drive several hours to get to a good reptile vet. If the weather is very hot or very cold, be sure to accommodate your tortoise accordingly. A bin with some paper towels or cloth towels works well for a transport container. Never leave your tortoise in the car - you don't want it to die of freezing or heat stroke.
If it is necessary to cross State lines to get to a good reptile vet, please be sure to know the laws pertaining to bringing reptiles across. The last thing you want is for your tortoise to be confiscated, or for you to have to pay a fine.

The pictures have been posted with permission from Dr. Kelly. I have not received any payment or other incentives to write this blog post. It was purely written to help other tortoise keepers find an excellent reptile vet.

Keeping tortoises outdoors in the Pacific Northwest

Today I would like to show some pictures of my adult Russian tortoises in their outdoor habitat in our yard. My hope is that this will encourage more tortoise keepers to provide their tortoise(s) with an outdoor space.

Duke, eating weeds while sitting up on a rock - silly boy!

Keeping tortoises in the Pacific Northwest has a unique set of challenges in that it rains A LOT here for part of the year. However, it is actually possible to keep them outdoors all or most of the time from April through September or even October.

The benefits of keeping tortoises outdoors far outweigh the potential dangers, IF proper precautions are taken and accommodations are made. The natural sunlight provides heat and healthy UVB, which promotes healthy bones and a good hard shell. Being able to wander a much larger area keeps the tortoise's muscles strong. Wild Russian tortoises live in climates that are harsher than ours! They can THRIVE in our climate.

A morning view of our tortoise yard

In our climate, moisture can be a problem - Russian tortoises don't seem to mind chilly weather as long as they have the option to stay dry. We solved this problem by building the tortoise yard partially under the eves of our roof - about 2 feet out from our house wall stay completely dry, no matter how hard it rains. I have cut several buckets in half, and buried them under several inches of soil. They provide good hides for the tortoises to burrow into on cool or hot days.

A morning view of the tortoise yard- it gets much sunnier here in the afternoon!

Building an outdoor space doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. I used re-claimed materials off of Craigslist and from my neighbors' left over project lumber. The total cost out of pocket was $35 for this, which was for the decking screws to hold it all together.
I plan to expand the tortoise yard in the next few years, to go further out from the house, as well as going around the corner to the South side of the house. I already have some of the materials for this. I also am scavenging materials to build a little heated greenhouse, which would make it possible for the tortoises to live outdoors for several more months each year!

Jill and Mila basking in the morning sun

Russian tortoises are hardy critters, and even when the air temperature is only 60 degrees, the ground temperature in a sunny spot is often 30 degrees higher. You can help this by placing a flat dark-ish rock (or several) into the area the sun hits first in the morning. I've also set up little cold frames (miniature greenhouses), which I built from polycarbonate scraps I scored from a local garden center for a whopping $5 for a stack large enough to make 4.

Greenhouse made from polycarbonate remnants

I simply taped the triangles together using foil ducting tape, and ta-daaaa! Instant slightly warmer, dry basking area! These are very simplified versions of a cold frame.

Amber, hanging out in her pyramid in the quarantine area

My infrared temperature gun is an important tool - I quickly check the ground temperature in several spots before bringing the tortoises outside in the Spring. In the summer, the ground temperature can actually rise to 140 degrees F on a 90 degree (air temp) day (in that case, it becomes necessary to hose down the tortoise yard to cool it).

I like this one by Etekcity.
I bought it on Amazon, and it has worked for 4 years without needing its battery changed. 

When night temperatures drop below 58 degrees F, I bring the tortoises in at night. Otherwise, they stay outside 24/7 unless it is raining so torrentially that I know the gutters will fail, sending a waterfall over the edge of the roof into the tortoise yard.
The tortoises dig in for the night. Then as soon as the sun hits the tortoise garden (around 11am, since it's on the West side of the house), the tortoises come out to bask in the sunny spots. They wander around, graze, explore, and soak. By afternoon it really bakes out, and they retreat to the shady spots under the bushes. In the evening, they come back out again for another snack, or just to take a walk.

Indoors I have to separate the tortoises into multiple tortoise tables, based on who gets along with whom (or doesn't). Several are permanently in solitary confinement indoors. Outside, there are so many sight barriers, and so much space, that I am able to keep the tortoises together in the large tortoise garden. I keep a close eye on them to make sure nobody is being ganged up on, and I have a 'time out' area set up for them if separation becomes necessary. In the Springtime, the males couldn't be in the same enclosure because they kept fighting. Now they have mellowed.

A different view of the tortoise yard. I have blueberry bushes, gooseberry bushes, and raspberries growing in there. I've limbed up the blueberry bushes to where the tortoises can't reach the fruit or leaves, so they just benefit from the filtered shade. They like to eat the leaves off the raspberry vines, but the fruit is picked by us humans. The gooseberry bush is related to the currant family, so the leaves are safe for the tortoises. We pick the fruit for ourselves. I like that the bushes fulfill a dual purpose - food for us humans, and shade for the tortoises.

I have dug a nice deep trench under the wall of the enclosure, which I filled with cement pavers, so I don't have to worry about the tortoises digging out of their enclosure. My male Roz is an especially avid digger - he makes burrows so deep I have to reach in up to my shoulder to get him out. The walls of the enclosure are capped so the tortoises can't climb out either. Because I am confident the tortoises can't escape, it isn't too scary for me when one of the tortoises disappears for a few weeks for a snooze. I know they are healthy and have had plenty of food, so if the weather is hot or cold, I allow them to burrow down as they see fit. 

Lady (the very dirty tortoise shown above and below) disappeared at the end of April, and didn't show up again until last week. She is a big, heavy girl, so I wasn't worried. She came back out and went back to eating as if there had never been a 6-week nap. 

I provide water in several flat containers, such as the plant saucer in the picture below. Normally, this container is actually sunken into the ground, but one of the tortoises decided to dig under it, which pushed it up and out.

Some tortoises that are normally picky eaters or have a shy personality really blossom when they are outdoors. Little Jill (who isn't so little anymore!) is a shy picky eater indoors. Outside she eats like a piggy, and even bosses the bigger females around!

I had just hosed down the tortoise yard (including the tortoises) the morning before I took these pictures, hence the tortoises are unusually clean. They normally spend their Summer as grubby little piggies!

Now that it is summer, the tortoise yard has been grazed pretty bare - however, finding healthy weeds is no trouble here in the beautiful, green Pacific Northwest, so the tortoises eat well.

This year was the first year that my tortoises had babies - Timmy and Roz produced 6 beautiful, healthy hatchlings. I am keeping 1 of them, and the others have all been dibsed. Here are a few pictures:

At only about a month old, the babies only spend about an hour per day outside. The baby below is little Duchess (Baby #2), which I am keeping. Eventually I plan to breed her with Duke (our CB male, who is NOT her father) to produce some fine CB2 Russian tortoises in years to come.

Finally, I just have to show off my Amber - she is just shy of 9" long and weighs in at a whopping 1874g. She's a big, big girl! (freshly hosed down in the pic below... I plopped Duke into the pic for size comparison. He's a 5" male).

Comparison of healthy vs overgrown tortoise beaks

Today's theme: does your tortoise's beak look healthy? Below I've posted 2 pics of tortoise beaks, one of torts with healthy beaks, one of tortoises that badly need a trim.

A healthy tortoise beak should be short and the 'chin' should be visible. Younger tortoises often have little ridges in the front, which is completely fine. There shouldn't be a strong over or under-bite.

Some examples of healthy beaks

I am showing 3 different kinds of healthy beaks:
-on the left, one of a tortoise that still has the little ridges in the front (which is totally fine, as long as the beak is short)
-one of a tortoise that has a smooth, short beak (top right)
-one of a tortoise that previously had an overgrown beak, and has had his beak trimmed and filed (bottom right).

An overgrown beak may just be long in the front, which is really easy to trim... or it may be overgrown all around, making your tortoise look like an old dinosaur. A badly overgrown beak will need to be trimmed by a vet, or sometimes local rescue groups and reptile specialty stores offer free or cheap trims. Every year I help trim many beaks for my friends and at our local rescue group meets. If done properly, it doesn't cause much stress to the animal, and can significantly improve its quality of life. An overgrown beak can hinder eating, and in some cases, prevent the tortoise from pulling its head into its shell.

Some examples of overgrown beaks, in need of a trim

There are many factors that play into causing an overgrown beak:
-too soft foods
-no stones etc. for the tortoise to rub its beak on
-underlying internal issues, such as metabolic bone disease (MBD), caused by lack of calcium and UVB
-different growth rates - I have one tortoise that needs her beak trimmed twice a year, while the others never or only rarely do. 

If you can't find someone to do it for you, you can also use an emery board to gently file it bit by bit. If you would like to learn about how to gently file your tortoise's only slightly overgrown beak, you can watch a short video here: http://tortaddiction.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-gently-file-tortoises-beak-video.html
If the beak is very overgrown, then this may take a while.

If you feel confident you can trim your tortoise's beak (let someone experienced show you how if necessary!), here is a description of how: http://tortaddiction.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-trim-tortoises-beak-with-pictures.html For small tortoises I use the clipper method, because the vibration and noise of a Dremel just seems to be a little much for them. For larger tortoises, a Dremel may be a better option. If you have experience with this kind of thing, it is possible to do it yourself, BUT don't attempt this until someone has shown you how!

Jill has a very healthy beak. I've never had to do anything to it. 

A view of Jill's healthy beak, from the side. 

Once the beak is nice and trim, it really helps to feed on a slate, and to have different shaped rocks and a cuttlefish bone, too, in the enclosure. These will help maintain a healthy beak. I also like to make the tortoises work for their food a little - I don't chop anything up. Feeding tough-to-chew foods will help, as well.

If your tortoise doesn't touch its cuttlefish bone, you can make it more enticing by soaking it in cucumber juice or carrot juice (the orange color helps, too!). I also sometimes offer eggshells, boiled to sanitize them. Some of the tortoises that never touch their cuttlefish bone, do help themselves to the eggshell, which contains calcium, too.