South African Spurred Tortoise

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chefmel40

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Hi,

I have a south african spurred tortoise and his penis is hanging out. I think he is fanning and he can push it out and it stays out. He is the only tortoise we have and cruises around the yard all day and has a house with a heat lamp in it. We have washed it off and he keeps it in but can anyone tell me what is going on? He is approximately three years old and is very healthy. It has been quite warm here even for California.

Thanks bunches,
Mel
 

egyptiandan

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Welcome to the forum Mel :)

I'm not exactly sure what's going on. Does he still have his penis out? or are you wondering why he is flashing?
If his penis is still out you need to try to get the penis to go down so you can push it back in. To do this pour sugar on it. You can keep doing this for 30 minutes. If it goes down try pushing it back in. If it doesn't go down, you need to keep it from drying out with plenty of vasoline and get to a vet as soon as possible.
If your just wondering why he's flashing, it's because he has gotten to be a sub-adult and he is checking out the equipment. He'll do this for a few months and than get tired of doing it. :p

Danny
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Mel:

Welcome to the forum!!

When a tortoise's penis comes out and stays out it has prolapsed. Worst case scenario you will have to have the vet amputate it. If you can't get it to go back in via the sugar method, or by gently pushing it back inside, then you'll have to take him to the vet.

If its just coming out then going back in and it keeps coming out and going back in, its just that he's playing with it. He'll get tired of that after a while and stop. But if it comes out and stays out, he needs the vet.
 

chefmel40

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Hi, thanks so much for all the replies....my husband wasn't too happy about the vaseline thing but "Shalom" was.....after he applied the vaseline he immediately started trying to put it back in.....I think it had dried out a bit and he was having trouble putting it back in...we will check on him again tomorrow...it has been quite hot here in southern california and we are hoping by watering him and putting vaseline on his penis it will be better...we are keeping our fingers crossed!!! I can't thank you enough for helping us out....Shalom is a wonderful tortoise and is much fun to watch...he has his own house with a heat lamp and ramp and a huge backyard to play in all day...we have a thirty year old grapevine he likes to munch on occasionally much to my chagrin!! I will take a picture of our "peace" tortoise for you, he is very beautiful and we love him very much!
 
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