# Prolapse penis



## allegraf (Nov 23, 2009)

Does anyone know what causes prolapsed penis? One of our males just came back from surgery to remove his penis. So now I have a gorgeous pet cherryhead. Its okay, he is still part of the family. The vet said it is caused from being oversexed. Any suggestion to prevent this from happening to any of my other males is appreciated. Thanks.

Allegra


----------



## Yvonne G (Nov 23, 2009)

Its different causes...might be straining, parasites, constipation, ingesting foreign objects, dehydration...too many causes to list. In young sulcatas its sometimes because they have just discovered their penis and have been playing with it. But all prolapses aren't the penis. It could be the female's organs too, or the bowel.


----------



## GBtortoises (Nov 23, 2009)

It is also usually treatable without surgery.


----------



## allegraf (Nov 23, 2009)

The vet said it was necrotic ( it was the penis and not the bowel) and required surgery. The vet also gave him a dose of antibiotic. He should have been free of parasites and other buggies since he recently got a shot of baytril and got the yearly dose of panacur. My cherries are outside (south Florida) with two sources of water on cypress mulch. I don't know if he ingested anything. He has been one of our breeder male for the last two years. I just want to make sure the other males are not going to have this problem. Poor Spam. He is resting and recovering. Thanks.

Allegra


----------



## dmmj (Nov 23, 2009)

My softshell many many years ago had a prolapsed penis, and the vet packed it in sugar, I waited to long to treat it cause back then I did not know what it was, pre net.


----------



## Yvonne G (Nov 23, 2009)

The Baytril regimen is usually 1 injection every other day for 10 days, or 1 injection every day for 5 days, depending upon the Veterinarian. One injection one time won't have done any good. I'm sorry you've lost one of your breeders. It has been my experience that this only happens to one tortoise in the group. Its not normally something that gets passed around to the other tortoises. Like you said...now you have a pet!!


----------



## nearpass (Nov 23, 2009)

dmmj said:


> My softshell many many years ago had a prolapsed penis, and the vet packed it in sugar, I waited to long to treat it cause back then I did not know what it was, pre net.



Similar experience here. I had a Russian tortoise female with a prolapsed bowel. I fortunately saw it immediately. My vet recommended corn syrup, which worked amazingly well. It was gradually retracted over a period of hours. Her explanation was that when this happens, the tissues become/and remain engorged with fluids and therefore cannot retract, and that the sugar 'dries' this without permanent damage. There were no guarantees that it would stay put, but it did


----------



## Shelly (Nov 23, 2009)

ARRRGGHHH! I knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread!! AAARRGGHHH!!


----------



## Candy (Nov 23, 2009)

allegraf said:


> Does anyone know what causes prolapsed penis? One of our males just came back from surgery to remove his penis. So now I have a gorgeous pet cherryhead. Its okay, he is still part of the family. The vet said it is caused from being oversexed. Any suggestion to prevent this from happening to any of my other males is appreciated. Thanks.
> 
> Allegra



I have to ask you how do they live without a penis? Do they not urinate through it?


----------



## GBtortoises (Nov 24, 2009)

I have packed prolapses with sugar in a makeshift plastic diaper held on by duct tape. This method has worked well and a noticeable difference can be seen within the first few days. I think the longevity of the the "treatment" probably depends upon the severity. The tortoise needs to be closely monitored, kept warm, clean and dry but well hydrated (in terms of drinking water, not humidity) during this period. It may be a bit old fashioned in terms of practice but it is effective and much less physically evasive to the tortoise.


----------



## K9KidsLove (Nov 24, 2009)

Hi...Did you dose the Panacur without doing a fecal? Just giving one dose isn't going to kill the parasites if he has them, and if he doesn't have them, it upsets his stomach unnecessarily. If he really does have parasites, he needs to get a series of meds, not just one dose.
good luck
Patsy


----------



## bikerchicspain (Nov 26, 2009)

When the penis becomes necrotic there is no turning back it has to come of otherwise it will cause septicemia and die. As Yvonne said it could be several things as the anus and penis is in the sme opening it could be from blockage to a swelling, 
When you have a prolapse penis soak the animal in luke warm water with sugar this should help the penis to retract,
If it does not retract then you must do it manually, if you have never done this before i recommend that you get a vet to do it, if the penis comes out again and dries out thats when it becomes necrotic.
:shy:


----------



## allegraf (Nov 26, 2009)

Thanks for all the advice, to answer some of the questions and concerns, he does not need his penis to urinate (That was a surprise to me too!). The panacur was a yearly treatment (first dose and then the second two weeks after) to keep the torts healthy. The baytril one time shot was on the vet's recommendation as a preventative. Looking back, the baytril was by no means an effective way to treat the herd. Needless to say, we found a new reptile vet that so far seems to be way more thorough! We are also planning on taking fecal samples and a few of our torts to her to get a better evaluation on what is happening and to make sure the herd/bale is okay.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Allegra


----------



## Candy (Nov 26, 2009)

Thanks for all the advice, to answer some of the questions and concerns, he does not need his penis to urinate (That was a surprise to me too!).

Wow! What's that about and who was the first person to find this out and how did they find this out? That's shocking. I need to read more information on this anyone have any resources?


----------



## Yvonne G (Nov 26, 2009)

This isn't a real good picture, but if you scroll down to the last diagram, you can see the penis in relationship to the bladder, and its fairly easy to imagine the urinary tract without the penis.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=MQN&sa=X&um=1


----------



## Isa (Nov 26, 2009)

That is sooo interesting, thank you so much for sharing Yvonne  I printed it!


----------



## webskipper (Dec 30, 2009)

allegraf said:


> Does anyone know what causes prolapsed penis? One of our males just came back from surgery to remove his penis. So now I have a gorgeous pet cherryhead. Its okay, he is still part of the family. The vet said it is caused from being oversexed. Any suggestion to prevent this from happening to any of my other males is appreciated. Thanks.
> 
> Allegra



I write this as I cross my legs and cringe.

I had one adolescent boy Snapper bite his brother during the (usual) morning erection and killed the organ. The Vet said necrosis set in within the same day. If he did not have the surgery, he would die. Off it went and since he still had the family jewels intact, the aggression did not end there. They were separated and released into separate ponds shortly after that.

OW!


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Dec 30, 2009)

It's all fun and games till someone loses an eye!


----------



## webskipper (Dec 30, 2009)

That's not funny Steph.


----------



## dmmj (Dec 31, 2009)

I don't think he lost an eye, something a little more serious IMHO


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Dec 31, 2009)

Well, it's the same point. 

Listen to you mother...she generally knows best!


----------



## dmmj (Dec 31, 2009)

Well i don't know about you but my mom warned about losing an eye not an important male part to an unruly kid. I cringe thinking if young boys settled their problems like that.


----------



## webskipper (Jan 1, 2010)

You'll shoot your eye out, kid!


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Jan 1, 2010)

Exactly.

And DON'T play with snapping turtles!


----------

