Hello!
It's been a while since I've been on here...but...my slightly over two-yr-old Hermann's tortoise Littlefoot might have flashed me today.
He was doing a funny little dance on his feeding tile, standing as tall as he could and his tail was wagging, almost kinda like a dog's when it's excited. Clear liquid was under him, so I assumed it was his "potty dance" and kinda laughed it off. A couple minutes later though I went to look at him again and he was acting kinda squirmy and uncomfortable. I worried he might have something stuck to him or maybe could have prolapsed, etc....sure enough when I picked him up, something pink was sticking out of his tail! It definitely wasn't a full flashing, it was slightly shorter than the full length of his (very long and thick) tail and didn't "unfold" in the way I have seen tortoise penises before. The organ was thick, but the end was thin and pointy. I know you're supposed to keep exposed organs wet, so I immediately stuck him into a soak and it retracted almost immediately.
My concerns are if any of the dirt, etc. that was stuck to it didn't wash away before Littlefoot retracted the organ, what are signs of infection I should be looking for? Also, while I wasn't able to get a picture, does anyone have any guesses on Littlefoot's sex based on what I described? I got him from Chris who incubated him at a temperature to produce both males and females, so there's been no real way to guess thus far.
Thanks!
It's been a while since I've been on here...but...my slightly over two-yr-old Hermann's tortoise Littlefoot might have flashed me today.
He was doing a funny little dance on his feeding tile, standing as tall as he could and his tail was wagging, almost kinda like a dog's when it's excited. Clear liquid was under him, so I assumed it was his "potty dance" and kinda laughed it off. A couple minutes later though I went to look at him again and he was acting kinda squirmy and uncomfortable. I worried he might have something stuck to him or maybe could have prolapsed, etc....sure enough when I picked him up, something pink was sticking out of his tail! It definitely wasn't a full flashing, it was slightly shorter than the full length of his (very long and thick) tail and didn't "unfold" in the way I have seen tortoise penises before. The organ was thick, but the end was thin and pointy. I know you're supposed to keep exposed organs wet, so I immediately stuck him into a soak and it retracted almost immediately.
My concerns are if any of the dirt, etc. that was stuck to it didn't wash away before Littlefoot retracted the organ, what are signs of infection I should be looking for? Also, while I wasn't able to get a picture, does anyone have any guesses on Littlefoot's sex based on what I described? I got him from Chris who incubated him at a temperature to produce both males and females, so there's been no real way to guess thus far.
Thanks!