prolapse

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Yvonne G

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I took in a young male sulcata - about 10lbs - and I've had him for almost a week. A couple days ago I turned him over so I could take a picture of his plastron to put up on the forum. I noticed that he might have something stuck on his tail. Not a big gob, just a little lump. Upon closer inspection, it was the tip of his penis. It was sticking out about 3/4 of an inch. It was dry and dirty. I rinsed him off and pushed it back in, noticing at the time that the cloaca seemed pretty large and stretched out. The penis went in fine. But the next time I picked him up, it was out again. Not the whole penis...just a bit of the tip. Pushed it back in again and set him down. Waited a few minutes and picked him up and there it was again. So I added some water to the bottom of an empty horse trough and put the tortoise in the sun in the trough. I left him there ALL DAY LONG! Don't worry about him overheating. Its only been in the 70's here. He was in the water for about 4 hours when he finally pooped. By the time I saw it the poop had all fallen apart and it just looked like dead grass floating around in the water. So I don't know if he was constipated. I gave him fresh water and left him there the rest of the day. When I went around, doing my evening chores, I picked him up and pushed in the penis, only this time I pushed it in as far as my finger could reach. Then I pushed his tail over to one side and held it there for about 15 minutes while I fed the horse, etc.

A tortoise doesn't like to have to stay in a tub of water for that length of time, and he'll walk around trying to find the way out. He'll climb the sides and walk. This exercise in the water usually helps him pass whatever is blocking him up.

I'm happy to say that this a.m. all that is on the underside of that tortoise is a tail! No more penis!! If it had popped out again, I was going to call the vet to come out and tack a little purse string suture on the cloaca to hold it in.

I THINK that this guy had been going around for such a long time with it hanging out, that the cloaca got all stretched and it wouldn't stay inside.

When you have a tortoise that prolapses, whether male or female, you have to try to figure out why. The tortoise has been straining to get something out, causing the prolapse. Is it stones? Is it an impaction? Is it constipation? You may have to have X-rays done to answer these questions. But fixing the prolapse isn't the only solution. You have to find out why it happened in the first place.
 

wellington

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Wow, very interesting. I hope it keeps staying in for you and the little fella. This is one to keep on file. I hope I never encounter this, but I will follow your steps and hope it works for me. If it doesn't, well you will either get a pm from me, see a thread by me, or be reporting what the vet found:) Thanks for sharing.
 

DixieParadise

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Great advice Yvonne. I had that problem earlier in the year with a YF female I had rehomed. Everything is good now, just have to watch it. She was full of parasites that was causing her impactation. If you are not used to it, it can appear abit on the scary side.
 

Schatzi011

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I have a 9lb sulcata (6 years old) and the end of his penis seems to be stuck out as well. It has already been out for an hour. I tried pushing it back in, but did not succeed. It came out when I was soaking him. I only saw it out for the first time about a week ago. He made it go out a lot further, but always pulled it back in. Should I let him dry out, soak him or what? Soaking him made it come out to begin with.

I was worried about pushing it back in because he was fighting me a lot and I was using quite a bit of pressure and it still didn't go back in. Any ideas?
 

TortieLuver

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Good thread Yvonne for everyone to be educated on. Ones first prolapse can be quite emotional, scary, and eventful but if you are aware on how to best handle them and deal with them, your initial response/reaction is different and the situation can be handled quite fast, which is best for the tortoise. I'm glad to hear that it's staying in:)
 

wellington

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Yvonne, how is the tort doing? Is the prolapse staying in or are you still fighting it? Hoping all is well
 

ShadowRancher

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Thanks for the how to...it is nice to have the knowledge there so I don't panic if this ever happens to me.
 

Schatzi011

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Schatzi011 said:
I have a 9lb sulcata (6 years old) and the end of his penis seems to be stuck out as well. It has already been out for an hour. I tried pushing it back in, but did not succeed. It came out when I was soaking him. I only saw it out for the first time about a week ago. He made it go out a lot further, but always pulled it back in. Should I let him dry out, soak him or what? Soaking him made it come out to begin with.

I was worried about pushing it back in because he was fighting me a lot and I was using quite a bit of pressure and it still didn't go back in. Any ideas?

I put him back in the bath and after another 20 minutes he was back to normal. I hope this doesn't happen again.
 

Yvonne G

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I've checked him every day since, and so far it is staying inside. However, it was out for such a long time (before I got him) that the muscle around the cloaca is stretched and the skin is very loose. I don't know if it will ever be normal.

A note to Schatzie: When I just pushed the tip back inside it kept coming back out. But eventually I pushed it back as far as my finger would reach...way up inside. I felt a little "pop" and the penis has stayed inside since then.
 

Schatzi011

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I tried to push it back in, but it wouldn't go. I used a decent amount of pressure too. My tortoise was squirming like crazy though. I put him on his side. Then I tried to leave him normal, but he was so upset. He normally is so calm around me, so I'm sure he wasn't feeling too good. Anyway, he is back to normal looking. It just really worried me, especially after reading your post, then me not being able to get the prolapsed part back in.
 
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