# prolapse



## Yvonne G (Dec 30, 2010)

So I went out to open the tortoises' doors this a.m. and found my young yellowfoot tortoise with his front end in the water dish (dish isn't big enough for the whole body), and this giant red balloon on the back end! I called my vet and she said to bring the tortoise over to her house. It was a prolapsed rectum. She gave him some muscle relaxants, then some ketamine and pain killer and worked for about an hour trying to push this mass back inside. It was so swollen and huge! She was finally able to push it back inside then took a couple purse-string stiches to hold it in until the swelling could go down.

When she started giving the injections the tortoise pooped and it was full of rocks. My tortoise has been inside the winter-time shed for over a month on cypress mulch and before that in a protected outdoor habitat that has a dirt floor...just regular garden soil, no rocks. The rocks or pebbles were black and looked like something you would have in an aquarium. There was one great BIG rock about the size of a walnut. I've had this tortoise for over two years and I have no aquarium rocks anywhere near the YF habitat.

While the vet was feeling around in there with her finger she said she didn't feel a penis. All this time I've been taking the guy's word for it that he was giving me a young male YF. And its a female. I have a hard time recognizing the different sexes on the YF and RF tortoises. 







So whadda' ya' think? Male? Female? 

Too bad I didn't get pictures of the prolapse. I was too upset to be thinking clearly...my roof leaks, my brother died Christmas Eve, and the stupid tortoise had a prolapse!


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## Torty Mom (Dec 30, 2010)

Sorry about your tortoise, it's scary, I'm glad the vet was able to help! 

OMG I am So sorry to hear about your brother! Sending big {{{HUGS}}} your way! I can bring you some hugs your not too far away! My youngest son is a big time hugger! Are you and Maggie ok? Do you need anything? I can be there in 90 minutes!!!


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## Kristina (Dec 30, 2010)

I am very sorry for your string of terrible luck, Yvonne! At least the vet was able to help out. 

Looks female to me. In YFs they both have more of a V shape (at least what I have seen) but the male's come more to a curving point.


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## Isa (Dec 30, 2010)

OMG Yvonne, I am so sorry to hear about your brother. All my condolences to you and your family . 
I am also sorry for the roof and your tortoise, poor little girl. I am glad she is ok now. It looks like sometimes, everything goes wrong and we do not now why .
**Big Hugs**


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## dmmj (Dec 30, 2010)

I am sorry to hear about your brother, as for the roof leaking it is a part of life, I tried to come up with something funny to say to make you smile, but I can't think of anything at the moment, sorry.


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## Yvonne G (Dec 30, 2010)

Damn, David! I was counting on you!

Thank you everyone for the condolences on my brother. He and I weren't close at all...not estranged, but more like acquaintances than relatives. But it hits pretty close to home when one of your own dies. Makes you stop and think a bit.

As for the roof...the solar installation folks will have to make that right. I just have to wait for them to come. All reported and will be taken care of.

The tortoise is coming out of the medications just fine. Starting to move around in the tub. My vet also gave me some Baytril, but it was in case of infection because the rectum was inside-out for such a long period. She gave it to me in pill form. I'm hoping it will be easier to give than the injections. I know it will be safer and easier on the tortoise.


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## onarock (Dec 30, 2010)

Yvonne, sorry to hear about your brother, your tortoise and your roof. These things seem to come in three's. I think you learned a little bit about the previous care your yellow foot was getting. Solar making the roof leak? You take two steps foreward on getting the p.v. and one back with a leaky roof....go figure. Maybe they made the same mistake solar guys make here in that they dont use flashings where they make roof penetrations. Good Luck on all fronts


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## exoticsdr (Dec 30, 2010)

so very sorry to hear of your troubles, hope everything works out for you.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Dec 30, 2010)

I wish you and the tortoise the best.


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## Shelly (Dec 30, 2010)

emysemys said:


> Too bad I didn't get pictures of the prolapse.



No, that's fine.


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## Becki (Dec 30, 2010)

So sorry Yvonne. We love you!


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## RianSeeking (Dec 30, 2010)

I'm so sorry for your troubles. Hopefully the new year will bring some better luck.


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## terryo (Dec 30, 2010)

Wow, Yvonne...one thing after another. I'm so sorry about your brother, and your tort will surely be fine, and you can always fix your roof. Be strong....hugs to you! So what were the big black stones? Where did they come from? That's so strange isn't it?


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## Yvonne G (Dec 30, 2010)

Shelly said:


> emysemys said:
> 
> 
> > Too bad I didn't get pictures of the prolapse.
> ...



Thank you, John...that makes up for David not giving me a good laugh!! 



terryo said:


> So what were the big black stones? Where did they come from? That's so strange isn't it?



Well, I've had the tortoise for about 2 years and the guy I got him from also kept his tortoises outside. I really don't know the tortoise's story from before I got him. My only guess is that he's had the stones or rocks in him since before I got him. But 2 years seems like an awfully long time for him to not show any symptoms before now. The rocks were polished, but irregular, not smooth like river rock, and they were all shiney black like something you would buy in a package. The one walnut-sized rock seemed too big for the tortoise to have swallowed, and was obviously too big to come out the other end too. Thank goodness he was able to pass them and I hope there are no more big ones. (no X-ray, as we were at the vet's house, not in an office.)


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## Laura (Dec 31, 2010)

wow.. glad 2011 is here and maybe it will be better.. I know Im ready! too many losses this year.. sigh...
rocks.. maybe they arent rocks? can you break them open? calcified something???


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## Jerseynox (Jan 1, 2011)

sorry about your brother my condolences , wish i wasnt 2000 miles away i am a roofer i could certainly help you with THAT problem.

ive seen this with lyle my male eastern a time or 2 when i first got him he past stones/pebbles basicaly like humans pass kidney stones, scared me but i saw the stones and his "stuff" went right back in was kinda freaky, they were pebbles they wouldnt crush or disolve


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## RV's mom (Jan 1, 2011)

sorry about your loss. sending (((((((hugs)))))))))


teri


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## Tracy Gould (Jan 2, 2011)

Sorry to hear about everything that's happened hun big hugs


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## Candy (Jan 2, 2011)

Wow Yvonne that's a lot to happen on Christmas Eve. I'm sorry about your brother.  You are so lucky though that your vet lives so close and that she lets you come over to her house.  It looks girl to me. Funny about the rocks though. Hopefully she'll be o.k. Keep us updated. She doesn't look that big to me do you know how old she is?


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## Yvonne G (Jan 2, 2011)

No, I don't. She's still young and not yet full grown. I hope its a girl. The three that I hatched (4 years old now) are male and I already had an adult male, then I was given this tortoise that I thought was also male. With only one female, it will be nice to have another. Fingers crossed. She's doing ok. Had a couple soaks and still has a great appetite. I'll be putting her back out in her winter quarters tomorrow.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 27, 2011)

Last night when I was closing up all the tortoise sheds I saw a poop laying next to the YF that this thread is about (Vet removed the stitches several days ago). I brought it (the poop) in the house and washed it and this is what was left:







The smudge in the upper left corner is sand. (Damn I wish I could take good close-up shots!) 

I could swear that there are no rocks in the baby YF pen, but it looks like I was way off base. Here's where I keep the young YF tortoises:






You can't really see it, but there's a cement stepping stone in the center of all that grass and I feed them on that. So, I took a close-up shot of the dirt and its amazing how many rocks there are when you get down to ground level:






Looks like I'm going to have to import some good dirt before I can put the tortoises back out there. What makes them eat rocks, I really don't know. I feed them every day.


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## Laura (Jan 27, 2011)

lacking something? boredom? 
Im trying to think of something clever to say about pooping out money.. ( i know you just put it there for size) but brain dead this morning...


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## Yvonne G (Jan 27, 2011)

LOL!


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## Shelly (Jan 27, 2011)

Laura said:


> Im trying to think of something clever to say about pooping out money..



Anyone can do it, apparently. Instructions.


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## TylerStewart (Jan 28, 2011)

Here's some photos of the different sexes I took about 2 months ago for a "sexing" page I have been slowly working on.... These are the yellowfoot ones. They're one of the more difficult ones to sex, but the males do have slightly longer tails (although still short), and they have more of a concave than females (although females usually have a little concave also). I think redfoots are significantly easier than yellowfoots to sex. Here's some examples:


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## dmmj (Jan 29, 2011)

Wow yvonne I thought the YF was gonna start paying off for you. They will find rocks in the dirt if they are digging for worms and such.


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