Adult Sulcata with Strange "Eye tooth" on Jaw

One of our large Sulcata male torts has developed a strange protuberance from his lower jaw which looks like a big tooth. It is on his 'underbite' and it juts upward almost reaching the holes for his nose. This one single large "tooth" grew very quickly.

Is it normal? The other, less dominant male, has no such thing.

Dave

Dave,
Can you provide any pictures?
It would help with a diagnosis.

Thanks,

That's sounds very strange and I'm having a hard time visualizing what it might be. Like Mike said, photos would help a lot.

My guess is it could it be part of his lower beak that has overgrown.

However w/o a picture, a guess is all anyone can do.

i had one with a deformed lower jaw and was fine for 5 years got him at 4 in grow to over 12 in he died one day do not know why he was eating fine just went out to my tortoise condo and he was dead he was born that way my guess is it is a birth defect that took awhile to form and i would think it affects his eatting let me know you may need to get it removed or file it down.hope he is ok

Tortoises beaks or mouth continue to grow as they age, kind like our finger nails. It does sound like an over grown beak. A dremel tool with a sander attachment will file it down. It might take a couple different sessions of working on it, but youll be able to get it back down perfectly smooth. After the treatment off your tortoise cuddle bones to help maintain the beak from there on out. Cuddle bones are a great source of calcium as well. Hope this helps!!

Sorry to be picky, but the term "Cuddle bones" took me a while to understand - gave me a great mental picture though!

Cuttlefish bones come from the internal skeleton of cuttlefish (related to octopus and squid) and I presume that what you are suggesting.

I really don't mean to belittle your post, it's easy to see how cuttle can change to cuddle, just thought it would be clearer this way.

No your good thank you for correcting that for me. Typing a little too fast, thank you Helenthereef.

Hi David. I have received Sulcatas like yours when purchasing them from other people over the years. My Vet. said it was from lack of adequate nutrients in their diet. As Andrew mentioned, my Vet. pulled out his dremel with a sander tip to it. And $175 dollars later, the animal was fixed. I have since learned to do it myself. You can too. You will not hurt the animal if you go slow and do it in different phases. Make sure you have your Sulcatas on Mazuri Tortoise diet as well. As, that works the best for me.


Best of luck, Joe....