tortoise toilet is he straining, what was that...

[morts]

hi , i have two , 2yr hermans. i have noticed one of them ( frankie) goes up on all four legs and rocks backwards as if he is straining! then a triangular shaped bit appears and he drags it along until it goes back inside .! looked like his insides..... he seems ok ...eating ,drinking and playing with his brother/sister(bennie)...could anyone tell me what this is? and should i be worried? thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

He might be straining, however, its more likely that he is reaching sexual maturity. When little boys discover that they are big boys, they sometimes put out their equipment and play with it a bit. He'll get used to it eventually and stop doing that.

 

[morts]

He might be straining, however, its more likely that he is reaching sexual maturity. When little boys discover that they are big boys, they sometimes put out their equipment and play with it a bit. He'll get used to it eventually and stop doing that.

phew!!! now i can rest a bit more easier, thanks very much yvonne, for your reply ..

 

[Yvonne G]

And I forgot to say, "Welcome to the forum!!"

 

[chikken]

I hope it's okay that I piggyback onto this question, because I'm not sure mine is important enough for its own thread. I have a hermann's that was hatched last January, received him in March, and this past week I've been noticing that he was getting up really high on his legs, but figured he was just pooping with gusto. (Sorry to be coarse...)

Today, I decided to get a better look at what he was up to, because he did this getting-really-high-and-tall thing while I was spraying him down. Lo and behold, it was his boy parts... he's just under 4" long, and not even a year old... is it normal for him to be showing off like this so young? (I feel bad that I laughed, much like my Catholic schooling, I hope my laughter didn't fill him with shame about his sexuality. )

... I guess I can FINALLY name him now, since I know that he's a he. But I'm feeling a little shell shocked.

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, that DOES seem a bit small to be doing that. Just be sure he's not constipated or have a parasite infestation.

 

[chikken]

I'm positive. He's very regular (joy of joys), no parasites, and it was definitely a little boy-part. That's why I was so confused though, because he's so young.

 

[GBtortoises]

For an Eastern Hermann's male that is 4", even though still very young, it would not be at all unusual for him to be extending his organ. At that size he is well over half grown already. Do you have any recent pics of him?

 

[chikken]

I do actually. I have a couple of him being held, for size comparison, but I also have a face shot (which is what I'm attaching). It's very recent.

Edit: I attached another picture to show the shell better too, just in case.