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OK So Gherkin is my box turtle, not my RES, but I felt the need to put it here under urgent instead of burying it in the "box turtle" section because, honestly, I'm freaked out. Yesterday when I looked at Gherkin, I thought, why does it look like he is holding his mouth kind of open? I picked him up to check him out and he sort of opened his mouth at me, which he never does. When he closed his mouth it was CROOKED.... Like his bottom jaw was not straight. The little point on the bottom part of his beak stuck out and overlapped the on the left side of the top of his beak if that makes any sense at all. And this made a little gap on the side.

I'm not sure how he could have hurt himself, he did bite me last week (he bit down on my finger while I was feeding him, on accident, I assume) but I didn't pull on him or shake him or anything, I just waited for him to release because I was being careful NOT to hurt him, and I didn't notice anything wrong with him then. I look at him all the time and this had to have just happened recently.

I fed him a cricket...because I wanted to see if he could open his mouth and if he could eat. He opened up, clamped down killed the cricket and ate it just like normal. but when he was all finished his beak was still misaligned.

So, of course, I was going to take some pics to post to try and find out exactly what was going on...but my camera battery was dead and it was late at night, so I had to wait until this morning to get pics. Last night he slept with his face in the dirt (not uncommon) So I decided to give him a quick soak and wipe his face so the mud would not obscure whatever is going on. But, the action of my wiping his beak with a paper towel put it back in place!!!! I could post pictures, but they would look perfectly normal.... Don't get me wrong, I'm GLAD his beak is "aligned" now but I am very concerned that there is still a serious underling issue!

Has anyone experienced this with their turtles? or any ideas about what is going on? His beak doesn't seem to be overgrown, he is only just over 1 year old! Could he even eat if his jaw was somehow broken? Is it a sign of MBD?!?

HELP!

I don't know... is his beak overgrown?

I don't think so, he's just over a year old his beak isn't all that big! and I was able to slide it back into place with my fingers with very little pressure (just wiping his face)

OK I checked again and his bite was a little off again, so I took some pics. At the end I gently moved it back into place. it takes no pressure at all. He is still acting normally including continuing to eat. I have no idea what to make of this.

left side


right side




Compare: crooked jaw


after I pushed it back in - NOTICE THE WEAR OR CHIP on the his left (righthand on screen)


This Xmas, I don't see the same asymmetry or damage to the beak

partial dislocations are really rare around where i am. i had a rescue that had a partial dislocation. it looked similar to that but it was worse than that. she was wild and hit by a car. my vet was able to correct the jaw and the crack to the shell without extensive bills. that female was released again two weeks later.

regalesse wrote:partial dislocations are really rare around where i am. i had a rescue that had a partial dislocation. it looked similar to that but it was worse than that. she was wild and hit by a car. my vet was able to correct the jaw and the crack to the shell without extensive bills. that female was released again two weeks later.

He has no cracks in his shell at all. I suppose it is possible it's dislocated it somehow, but I don't know how! He's not a rescue, Ive had him all his life.

What did your vet do? Is moving the jaw back and letting it rest enough or does he need a vet? If he really needs a vet I'm willing to take him, but honestly I have my doubts about the skills of the "exotics" vets around here. I have a guy I use in emergencies, and he's good for if someone needs to be wormed or something, but I'm not sure what he could do for something like this.

You'll probably get a faster response here: http://www.tortoisetrustforum.org/

It looks like the beak has broken or worn away on his left side. The beak appears to be catching on the missing area when he shuts his mouth, causing the jaw to go out of alignment. I'd consider a visit to a herp vet.

i was not saying that he was a rescue but relating to the post. but in honesty i do hope your little guy gets better.

@ Steve > I registered up for their forum. I'm just waiting to be confirmed. thank you for the advice.

@ Marisa > I am definitely thinking about having a vet look at him, but I am also a little hesitant. I can be very tricky to find a really good herp vet. I do have a Dr. I've used for my dragon when he started vomiting. I liked him and he was fine for something simple like a worming, but I am not sure if he has the expertise for something like this. The office sees dogs and cats too. I know from experience that a vet doesn't really need any special training to see reptiles. I am nervous that if I take him someplace they may do more harm than good trying to grind down the beak or something on such a SMALL baby.

@ regalesse > I was only trying to clarify that he didn't have any other injuries and that I really don't know how he got hurt. It really was a comfort to hear that your rescue was able to be released in only 2 weeks. Could you tell me what your vet had to do to fix the beak? Thank you for your well wishes.

the turtle was dry docked for 18 hours a day and the remaining time was in water. it's jaw was bandaged to keep it immobile and it was only allowed off to feed. after two weeks the bandages were able to come off and the jaw stayed where it was supposed to be. the turtle was released.i hope that something similar can be done with yours.