# Tail trouble



## topazjewel8 (Feb 3, 2010)

Dotty is about 1.25 years old. I am going to ask the person who gave me Dotty the exact hatch date tomorrow. I don't know her actual gender, I just think of her as female. Well, I didn't soak her last week so this week I was soaking her and checking her little body. Her back end was caked with poop. So I wiped and soaked, wiped and soaked some more. I was gentle and very careful. Now her back end looks much better, no more poop between her legs or on her plastron, but there is this ball of poop on what used to be a regular tortoise shaped tail. I can't find her tail, just this round ball where her tail was. What now?
I am going to call Dr. Funk tomorrow, he's on the list of vets, plus I used to take my guinea pigs to him so I know he's really good, but am I freaking out for no reason?


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## Meg90 (Feb 3, 2010)

Can you post a picture??


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## Maggie Cummings (Feb 3, 2010)

I agree with Meg, can you post a good in focus clear close-up picture? Have you cleaned off all the poop and the actual tail is a ball? Gosh, that doesn't sound good. Please keep us posted after the Vet visit...


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## DoctorCosmonaut (Feb 3, 2010)

You should post a picture as soon as you can or we can't give much advice.

lol didn't see the 2 other posts


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## topazjewel8 (Feb 4, 2010)

Hi,
Dotty has an appointment tomorrow at 3 pm. You can see the ball at the end of her tail. I soaked her and cleaned her, but the stuff at the end of her tail won't come off. I am afraid that I will hurt Dotty and pull the tip of her tail off if I try anymore. Dotty has diarrhea too.
My daughter, 8 years old, is really sick today. Did she get sick from handling the tortoise and not washing her hands well enough? We always wash our hands right after, but yesterday we really worked hard to get all the impacted poop off of Dotty. My daughter has vomiting and feels weak. She has been sleeping off and on most of the day. 
Help!


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## Shelly (Feb 5, 2010)

Looks to me like she's just got some poop stuck to it. I hope a vet doesn't charge you $100 to say the same thing.


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## topazjewel8 (Feb 5, 2010)

Shelly said:


> Looks to me like she's just got some poop stuck to it. I hope a vet doesn't charge you $100 to say the same thing.



Not really, but it does work out to be that way. Dottie does have poop stuck to her tail and it did cost $70. BUT Dr. Funk was concerned that if we cannot gently clean the poop off without hurting the tail, the tail will rot off or get infected then rot off. The poop is dried on and is almost impossible to get off, especially since the tail is tiny and seems swollen and very tender. He agrees that with too much scraping or pulling at the tail, I could injure the tail or take a piece off completely. So we are back to Dottie and her poopy tail that seems to hurt, and me soaking the back end trying to gently get the poop off. Meanwhile Dottie is hiding her back end in her home while wearing the antibacterial ointment on her expensive poppy tail.


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## Stephanie Logan (Feb 5, 2010)

Poor kid, I hope she gets de-pooped soon and that her tail heals up.


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## Sudhira (Feb 6, 2010)

I wonder if hydrating the poo ball would hasten it's loosening, or relly slathering the ointment so that the oils can sink in to soften it up??

Kudos to you for taking your little guy to the vet!


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## Annieski (Feb 6, 2010)

Don't know if this will help but maybe you could try taking a small washcloth and wetting it in some warm water-- squeeze out as much water as you can but still leave it wet and then fold it like a pad and sit her on it. This way her butt end is "moist" and maybe the poop will soften enough to loosen .


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## topazjewel8 (Feb 7, 2010)

I can see her tail now, the poop ball is gone. The ointment really helped. The tail is not swollen and now it looks like just a tail. I could have saved the $70.00 by listening to my friend and just putting a disinfectant on the tail, but I don't know enough about torts to be that confident. I feel good that Dotty has a file with a nice vet. Of course, today my printer breaks and the "check engine" light came on in my car. Sigh...


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## Maggie Cummings (Feb 7, 2010)

The check engine light is generally an EGR valve or an oxygen sensor, so if you have water in the radiator and your oil is alright then you can drive it for a while before you need to get it looked at. oh! Good news about the tail...


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