Alternatives to neutering? (Too horny to eat)

jockma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Messages
641
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles County
Oh boy. This horny dude is really causing you all kinds of headaches. And causing himself other kinds of aches. Sorry :/

Yep...thankfully he’s asymptomatic as long as he’s not on substrate. Quality of life isn’t great without substrate but I try to make do by giving him lots of rocks and plants to mess around with until this issue is sorted out. Anything to keep him happy. He’s my special little boy.
 

ascott

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Messages
16,138
Location (City and/or State)
Apple Valley, California
Yep...thankfully he’s asymptomatic as long as he’s not on substrate. Quality of life isn’t great without substrate but I try to make do by giving him lots of rocks and plants to mess around with until this issue is sorted out. Anything to keep him happy. He’s my special little boy.

Are you sure he is pleasuring himself which is causing his penis to come out....or does he have prolapse that is not allowing the penis to fully retract and in turn is leading you to believe all he is doing is humping everything? This was why I suggest a large enough (in diameter, not deep) water soaking dish so he can lay in it to sooth and clean off his junk....
 

jockma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Messages
641
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles County
Are you sure he is pleasuring himself which is causing his penis to come out....or does he have prolapse that is not allowing the penis to fully retract and in turn is leading you to believe all he is doing is humping everything? This was why I suggest a large enough (in diameter, not deep) water soaking dish so he can lay in it to sooth and clean off his junk....

He has 2 water dishes that he can fully soak in, but he doesn’t think to when he’s got substrate stuck to his penis. I have to keep putting him back in the water dishes and he’ll keep climbing out, so I soak him instead. The penis is fully retracted. I don’t know if it is prolapsing in his enclosure or if it’s coming out when he masturbates. He had an infection on the blood panel (hence the two courses of antibiotics) but he had been through Flagyl and 2 antibiotics so the vet suggested waiting a bit for him to recover before trying more antibiotics and tests since he’s asymptomatic otherwise.

He clucks when he masturbates, and generally goes through the motions, so I know he’s masturbating. Mounting (or trying to mount if it’s something like the gap under the cabinets), neck extended, clucking loudly, occasionally thrusting/reorienting himself, tail curved, etc etc. I have never seen his penis out UNLESS there is substrate stuck to it, then he’ll stick it out for a few seconds at a time to try to get the substrate off.

It always looks like his tail is slightly distended or maybe the base of his tail (near the anal scutes) is slightly swollen so he can’t fully pull his tail into his shell. This causes his tail drag against the substrate sometimes, which might cause the substrate to stick to his cloaca and make him try to push it out with his penis. I don’t know. I’ve posted about this issue several times before and assumed it was a urinary issue, since he had some smelly pee, and that his penis was coming out as a side effect because he’s trying to empty his bladder.
 

Ciri

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
320
Location (City and/or State)
Tucson
He has 2 water dishes that he can fully soak in, but he doesn’t think to when he’s got substrate stuck to his penis. I have to keep putting him back in the water dishes and he’ll keep climbing out, so I soak him instead. The penis is fully retracted. I don’t know if it is prolapsing in his enclosure or if it’s coming out when he masturbates. He had an infection on the blood panel (hence the two courses of antibiotics) but he had been through Flagyl and 2 antibiotics so the vet suggested waiting a bit for him to recover before trying more antibiotics and tests since he’s asymptomatic otherwise.

He clucks when he masturbates, and generally goes through the motions, so I know he’s masturbating. Mounting (or trying to mount if it’s something like the gap under the cabinets), neck extended, clucking loudly, occasionally thrusting/reorienting himself, tail curved, etc etc. I have never seen his penis out UNLESS there is substrate stuck to it, then he’ll stick it out for a few seconds at a time to try to get the substrate off.

It always looks like his tail is slightly distended or maybe the base of his tail (near the anal scutes) is slightly swollen so he can’t fully pull his tail into his shell. This causes his tail drag against the substrate sometimes, which might cause the substrate to stick to his cloaca and make him try to push it out with his penis. I don’t know. I’ve posted about this issue several times before and assumed it was a urinary issue, since he had some smelly pee, and that his penis was coming out as a side effect because he’s trying to empty his bladder.

Poor guy – he is really suffering! You're doing a great job hanging in there and helping him with this difficult situation. I can totally understand how this is really hard on you.

I do have a suggestion. I had a male box turtle who was being overly aggressive. I consulted with someone who knew about flower essences and she suggested one (tomato) which really did help calm him down. I only added one or two drops to his water bowl. It's important not to use too much, especially at first. It's possible that a homeopathic, or some gentle calming herbs like passionflower might help. You could add a little passionflower tea and his water bowl. I asked my reptile veterinarian if it is okay to use these and at that time he said it was fine. You might want to check with your vet in case there is any new information about these alternative treatments.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
What I haven't heard is any other member saying that they have also seen this happen.
I'm thinking that there might be a medical issue.
I've had probably 25 Redfoot and that included just one "permanently interested in sex" male. But he was a 20 something year old male.
He couldn't be housed with my group. And spent ALL of his time in a very large pen of his own trying to get over to the group.
But I never, ever saw him humping anything other than Lady tortoises.
He did cluck all day long.
Even when he was by himself running back and forth in his enclosure.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
He has 2 water dishes that he can fully soak in, but he doesn’t think to when he’s got substrate stuck to his penis. I have to keep putting him back in the water dishes and he’ll keep climbing out, so I soak him instead. The penis is fully retracted. I don’t know if it is prolapsing in his enclosure or if it’s coming out when he masturbates. He had an infection on the blood panel (hence the two courses of antibiotics) but he had been through Flagyl and 2 antibiotics so the vet suggested waiting a bit for him to recover before trying more antibiotics and tests since he’s asymptomatic otherwise.

He clucks when he masturbates, and generally goes through the motions, so I know he’s masturbating. Mounting (or trying to mount if it’s something like the gap under the cabinets), neck extended, clucking loudly, occasionally thrusting/reorienting himself, tail curved, etc etc. I have never seen his penis out UNLESS there is substrate stuck to it, then he’ll stick it out for a few seconds at a time to try to get the substrate off.

It always looks like his tail is slightly distended or maybe the base of his tail (near the anal scutes) is slightly swollen so he can’t fully pull his tail into his shell. This causes his tail drag against the substrate sometimes, which might cause the substrate to stick to his cloaca and make him try to push it out with his penis. I don’t know. I’ve posted about this issue several times before and assumed it was a urinary issue, since he had some smelly pee, and that his penis was coming out as a side effect because he’s trying to empty his bladder.
Do you know if there is a vet near you that is worth a crap when it comes to tortoises?
 

jockma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Messages
641
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles County
@ZEROPILOT I actually...fixed the issue. And I’m filled with more questions than answers.

I gave Bean a bunch of different things to pick as a sex toy. He picked the plastic shell of a cat scratcher. He exclusively masturbated with it ever since. When he masturbates with it, he’s actually able to “finish”. I’ve only ever seen him clucking before, so when I saw him humping it with his mouth open and making almost human-like noises, I was pretty terrified before I remembered that’s basically a RF’s O-face. After that...peace. He’s satisfied for the next 12 hours or so.

It’s been a few days. I filled half his enclosure with substrate and he has not had the penis issue happen again. Before, he couldn’t be on substrate for more than an hour without it happening.

I have a theory with no medical or scientific backing whatsoever. I think he was horny and did not know how to stimulate himself properly, so he might’ve tried sticking his penis out in desperation and irritated it with the substrate. He has only masturbated twice today, once in the morning and once an hour ago. Before the scratcher he was clucking almost nonstop. I watched his tail closely both times and his penis did not come out. I watched him poop, no penile prolapse. He peed last night, no prolapse. He slept on substrate and has been bumbling around on the substrate side of the enclosure ever since I dumped it in there, no issues whatsoever.

I wonder if maybe, because yours had contact with females before and mine hasn’t, yours had a better idea of what to do while mine just fumbled his way through? Maybe yours has standards and mine doesn’t, so yours only mounts females while mine is happy with a plastic cat toy?

I didn’t want to preemptively say this issue was solved, but it’s been over 48 hours and he’s happy as can be. But I’m just as confused as ever about this.
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,606
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
I had this problem with Joe. He made himself very sick indeed, and lost over a third of his bodyweight, thanks to ridiculously high testosterone levels. The solution was for the vet to use a testosterone implant (Suprelorin) which is what is used in zoos to enable them to keep groups of male animals together.

See this thread for more information:
Hormone Implant for male TGG with a one track mind
 
Last edited:

jockma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Messages
641
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles County
I had this problem with Joe. He made himself very sick indeed, and lost over a third of his bodyweight, thanks to ridiculously high testosterone levels. The solution was for the vet to use a testosterone implant (Suprelorin) which is what is used in zoos to enable them to keep groups of male animals together.

See this thread for more information:
Hormone Implant for male TGG with a one track mind

I am so glad the implant worked for Joe! Bean has been eating and drinking more now except for when he gets hormonal spikes in the morning and night. Also, for some reason, seeing food seems to trigger his hormones and he will start clucking and pacing (but not humping things) when I’m trying to feed him, so he’s still not eating as much or as often as I’d like. I’m really hoping he’s just transitioning to adulthood and this will all calm down when his hormones stabilize. I’m glad the implant is safe and effective in case he gets worse.
 
Top