help! possible penile prolapse

kirsty Johnston

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
1,027
Location (City and/or State)
Scotland
Hi
Its 12:26am here is Scotland and I can not sleep because I'm really worried about my greek spur thighed tortoise.
Recently he has been pooing a lot less and whilst I was bathing him last night he managed to go with sone difficulty, the thing is when he went it was like his penis came out from his tail and went back in again. After further examination I noticed it was still out but only slightly. The pictures upon my research on penile prolapses show the penis is out alot more than what my tortoises is so I'm not sure what it could be? I have an appointment with my reptile vet tomorrow but I can't find anything anywhere to say what the procedure is to fix this. Would he need to get castrated? Or a very serious operation? And the thing that is terrifying me is they say they cant fix it and he will need to be put to sleep.
I'm sure everyone on this forum understands but my tortoise is my whole world and means absolutely everything to me so any advice would be really appreciated
Thanks
Kirsty the worried tortoise owner
 

jaizei

Unknown Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
9,054
Location (City and/or State)
Earth
Can you post a picture? Has he flashed before? If it's just barely out, like just the glans, I would leave him in a tub of water for a while and see if it deflates and goes back inside. The important part is to keep it from drying out.
 

kirsty Johnston

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
1,027
Location (City and/or State)
Scotland
Can you post a picture? Has he flashed before? If it's just barely out, like just the glans, I would leave him in a tub of water for a while and see if it deflates and goes back inside. The important part is to keep it from drying out.
Thanks for replying so quickly. Due to the time here I don't want to wake him up and distress him but I can post one in around 7 hours time if you can watch this. How do I keep it wet? just keep him bathing until his vets appointment? Can I apply some sort of cream to keep it moist?
 

kirsty Johnston

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
1,027
Location (City and/or State)
Scotland
Can you post a picture? Has he flashed before? If it's just barely out, like just the glans, I would leave him in a tub of water for a while and see if it deflates and goes back inside. The important part is to keep it from drying out.
Sorry just posted a reply to you but it didn't work. Thanks for replying so quickly. How do I keep it wet? Do I keep bathing him until hia vets appointment? Can I apply aome sort of cream to keep it moist?
 

jaizei

Unknown Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
9,054
Location (City and/or State)
Earth
Thanks for replying so quickly. Due to the time here I don't want to wake him up and distress him but I can post one in around 7 hours time if you can watch this. How do I keep it wet? just keep him bathing until his vets appointment? Can I apply some sort of cream to keep it moist?

Where is he now? If the tissue is still exposed and you aren't doing something to keep it moist, you're gonna have to wake him up. If it's just barely out, I would just soak him. Change the water as necessary. I don't think it is necessarily a prolapse. I've had males that would flash for hours. At first a full blown show and then pull everything back inside except for the glans.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
It sounds to me as if he may be constipated (even though he did poop in the water). He might have more hard poop to come out, or he may have stones that he's having trouble pushing out. A trip to the vet and maybe an X-Ray are a good idea.
 

kirsty Johnston

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
1,027
Location (City and/or State)
Scotland
Where is he now? If the tissue is still exposed and you aren't doing something to keep it moist, you're gonna have to wake him up. If it's just barely out, I would just soak him. Change the water as necessary. I don't think it is necessarily a prolapse. I've had males that would flash for hours. At first a full blown show and then pull everything back inside except for the glans.
Hi. I'm really sorry but I was asleep by the time you replied. The good news is I bathe him every night anyway so he would have been ok. I got up this morning and went to check on him and guess what? Everything was back to normal!!! Nothing was sticking out of the tail at all :) so needless to say I am massively relieved however will still go with my vets appointment and let you know.
You are awesome, thaks for your help
 

kirsty Johnston

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
1,027
Location (City and/or State)
Scotland
Just an update for you all :)
We went to my reptile vet today and he was very helpful, beastie is a picture of health! Turns out because its mating season and he is getting older he is beginning to get a little broody LOL! Which explains why it has came out and back in. It hasn't came out again since last night so im pretty relieved. An added bonus as well is there are no parasites, nice healthy beak and shell so smiles all round.
I don't know what I would do without the help of the guys on this forum so thank you so much for everyone's help! !!
 

naturalman91

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
2,015
Location (City and/or State)
Medford Oregon
Just an update for you all :)
We went to my reptile vet today and he was very helpful, beastie is a picture of health! Turns out because its mating season and he is getting older he is beginning to get a little broody LOL! Which explains why it has came out and back in. It hasn't came out again since last night so im pretty relieved. An added bonus as well is there are no parasites, nice healthy beak and shell so smiles all round.
I don't know what I would do without the help of the guys on this forum so thank you so much for everyone's help! !!


i had a feeling you got flashed lol congrads its a boy!
 

New Posts

Top