Emergency!!!! Sick Redfoot!

[starpython]

Ok I'm freaking out.
Please look at the pictures. What is this and what do I do?
I came home to find my tort out of his hide and with this coming out of his backside. I can't even see his tail or what is going on.
I have him soaking right now. He seems very distressed. This happened almost overnight.
Please help.

 

[wellington]

I believe it may be a prolapse. Do not let it dry out. Put her in a warm water soak for now. Emysemys can help you better. I will send her a pm for you so she sees this hopefully quicker.

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In the mean time, check this thread out http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-27867.html One thing it said was to put sugar on the prolapse. Also can mix in the warm water soak. I would do both.

 

[Yvonne G]

The tortoise will have to go to the vet. In the meantime, like Barb says, don't allow it to dry out. You can leave the tortoise sitting in a bit of water all the time. If you want to try to push it back in on your own, allow him to sit in the water for about a half hour, then make a paste of sugar water. Dab on the paste and with two fingers, gently try to push the mass back inside the tortoise. This is what the vet will do, so don't think you are doing something harmful. You have to really maneuver it back in through the cloaca, then if you can get it back inside, you'll have to hold it in for several minutes while you wait for the blood to go out of it and the swelling to subside.

Prolapse is usually caused by the tortoise straining due to impaction or constipation. It is sometimes also caused by a parasite load.

 

[EricIvins]

The sugar paste needs to stay on the animal for at least an hour before trying to manually re-insert the tissue. The whole purpose of the sugar is to reduce swelling, which is not going to be instantaneous.......Honey works better......

I do not recommend anyone that doesn't have experience re-inserting prolapsed tissue to do so. You can easily twist, puncture, or otherwise damage the tissue. If it is not re-inserted correctly, the animal will die. The number one cause of a prolapse is dehydration, just an FYI......

 

[starpython]

I finally was able to reach the only exotic pets vet in town. She has agreed to meet me in an hour to see what she can do for the little guy. I've soaked him and done the sugar, but it's not helping. He's really stressed.
Thank you for the help. I really hope the vet is able to help. If not it's back to home remedies.
Will update shortly.

 

[starpython]

Update: During the course of an hour the sugar and honey mix reduced the swelling considerably. Doc is taking him home to see what she can do. Plan is to soak him some more and see the swelling will go down further so she can try to push things back in. She's giving it 24 hours before making the decision on amputating the deteriorated flesh. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. Fingers crossed.

I'll update again tomorrow. Again I'd like to that the good folks from the tortoise forum for the help. The wealth of information here has saved me more then once. This situation has really freaked me out, but I'm hopeful. My little guy is hearty and healthy thanks to everything I've been able to learn here.

 

[wellington]

I wish you and the little one great luck. Fingers crossed he recovers quickly. Please keep us updated.

 

[starpython]

My little tort is super stubborn. The doc called me this morning with not so great news. She tried three times to get things back in place. And three times my tort busted the stitches and pushed things back out. He continues to try to push and struggle like he's trying to remove the thing himself which is what would happen in the wild.
So next step is amputating the mass. My concern with that is the drugs. I feel like that's going to stress him further.

 

[wellington]

Does the vet say there is a blockage? If your tort is pushing, he probably is trying to push something out that caused an impaction and then the prolapse.
Keep us posted.

 

[skottip]

I was once given a male tortoise with a severe prolapse. I am sure it was due to dehydration. What I do is completely cover the prolapse in corn syrup and soak soak soak!.
As soon as he passed the hardened urates and dried up fecal matter, the prolapse completely receded. He is now 100% healthy and is a voracious breeder...
I wish you the best.

 

[starpython]

Turns out it was a penile prolapse. It's been removed and he has a few stitches. He's staying overnight with the doc so I wont see him until tomorrow.
He's not eaten anything yet, but has urinated so that's a good sign. He should be able to function normally without his penis. The cause of the irritated swollen penis is a mystery. Doc said that he may have just found it for the first time, could have stepped on it or rubbed on something in his enclosure that irritated it.
I feel so bad for the little guy. On the bright side, I didn't actually know he was a male. I just thought he would be and have always referred to him as a male. Now I know for sure that's he's a male even though he doesn't have a penis anymore.

 

[abclements]

Poor guy! Glad he's doing better though! Glad you caught that when you did! But look on the bright side, you don't have to go through him flashing you all the time!

 

[AZtortMom]

Aww! Poor baby


Life is good

 

[Minority1]

he doesn't have a penis anymore.

is it normal to neuter tortoises? as in, is this a normal occurrence or something pretty rare? I'm worrying for my little RT