Ali Richardson
New Member
Hi everyone,
My name is Alison and about 2 months ago I purchased a 1 year old Russian tortoise from backwater reptiles in Northern California. She arrived healthy, seemed to love her new home and all was well. A few weeks after we got her I noticed she had a small prolapse. I followed the advice of from some members here on the forum and other info I found online. I even contacted backwater reptiles for advice. I soaked her in a warm sugar water bath and added more fiber to her diet. She seemed to be on the mend and the prolapse went back in. About 2 weeks later the prolapse was back and it was larger. Also, the tip was black. I took her to the vet and he said her prolapsed tissue was becoming necrotic and his best advice would be to put her to sleep. If I went the surgical route it could be $1,000 without any health guarantees. If I let her be, she would surely suffer a slow painful death. So we made the hard decision to put her down .
I just wanted to tell my story here as a cautionary tale. If your tortoise has a prolapse, even a small one, go to a reptile vet immediately. I feel like if I took her in sooner, we maybe could have saved her.
RIP sweet Clementine. We miss you!!
The pictures below are of her first prolapse and then the second larger prolapse with a dead tip.
My name is Alison and about 2 months ago I purchased a 1 year old Russian tortoise from backwater reptiles in Northern California. She arrived healthy, seemed to love her new home and all was well. A few weeks after we got her I noticed she had a small prolapse. I followed the advice of from some members here on the forum and other info I found online. I even contacted backwater reptiles for advice. I soaked her in a warm sugar water bath and added more fiber to her diet. She seemed to be on the mend and the prolapse went back in. About 2 weeks later the prolapse was back and it was larger. Also, the tip was black. I took her to the vet and he said her prolapsed tissue was becoming necrotic and his best advice would be to put her to sleep. If I went the surgical route it could be $1,000 without any health guarantees. If I let her be, she would surely suffer a slow painful death. So we made the hard decision to put her down .
I just wanted to tell my story here as a cautionary tale. If your tortoise has a prolapse, even a small one, go to a reptile vet immediately. I feel like if I took her in sooner, we maybe could have saved her.
RIP sweet Clementine. We miss you!!
The pictures below are of her first prolapse and then the second larger prolapse with a dead tip.