Overgrown Beak

Turtle” by Sergiu Bacioiu is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Symptoms

  • Top part of the mouth has grown past the bottom jaw
  • Turtle has trouble grabbing, tearing, and/or chewing their food

Cause

  • Dietary imbalance
  • Broken jaw
  • Too many soft foods

Treatment

If your red-eared slider has an overgrown beak, you will need to take it to an experienced reptile vet to get it filed down. DO NOT attempt this on your own!

Making a cuttlebone available in your turtle’s tank helps keep the beak ground down and also provides a great source of dietary calcium.


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