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Post by ewanmcn on Apr 28, 2011 19:36:24 GMT
Hi all. Abdominal or penile prolapse. A very distressing thing to see. For anyone that doesnt know, this is where a turtles guts pop out of its tail. This happened to one of my Maps. My other turtles then bit and chewed the guts so the little guy died Please tell me all you can about this. Why does it happen? Can it be avoided?
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Post by Turtle Rescue UK on Apr 28, 2011 20:46:07 GMT
Please check out this video: I personally think it's the Slider's intestine coming out of its anus. It usually goes back right in, but you have to be very careful that it does not bite it or other turtles do not bite it. If they do it can cause serious damage. If the prolapse does not go back in, take it to the vet and they can stitch it up so it doesn't happen again. A lot of turtles will at some point in time prolapse, (i.e. turn inside out and outside of their body) their cloaca or for males their penises. Occasional prolapses are common and more annoying than dangerous if dealt with properly. There is little pain involved for the turtle. It is not known for sure, what causes prolapses. Diet, stress, parasites and intestinal infections, general disease, obstructed intestinal tract, and weak cloacal muscles have all been suggested, but there are no final conclusions. And, too much sex...(no joke). So, there are no known preventive measures, either. If your turtle seems otherwise healthy, an occasional prolapse is nothing to worry about. If the prolapses happens frequently and cause too much distress to you and your turtle, you might consider asking a herp vet to apply a purse string suture. If you catch your turtle in the act, watch and keep dirt away from the exposed parts. If they don't go back in immediately, make sure, they stay moist (you may even want to put the animal in a pan with a little Luke-warm water) and massage the surrounding area gently and make the turtle move. For water turtles, keeping the parts moist is less of an issue than for land turtles, but putting the turtle into clean water is still recommended. With water turtles, other turtles might try to bite the prolapsed body part which can lead to heavy bleeding and ugly consequences. Land turtles may step on their intestine, or tear it with their hind feet when trying to remove the 'thing' extending from their body. The turtle is not aware that this is a body part. Observe the turtle, until the prolapse has gone back inside. Purse String Suture: The suture basically keeps the cloaca from opening too wide, and so the intestine should stay in. The turtle can still pass feces, of course. If the intestine does dry off, usually, the vet will put a suture around it and eventually remove the dead part completely. This is done under anesthesia and can be more or less complicated, depending on the size of the dead parts. This operation has a guarded prognosis. While both female and male can prolapse. With a male its the genitals simply coming out, this will happen for all males when they get to mating age... although harmless if your animal is healthy its worth keeping an eye out to ensure its not too frequent or the animal is sick... Please note: Information courtesy of www.turtlesquad.co.uk/ . All information is copyright.
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Post by wayne020668 on Apr 28, 2011 21:31:40 GMT
Ewan firstly we want to say sorry for your loss... we to get upset at every loss here no matter if it's through other keepers fault or from something we cant for-see or stop... we had a case a while ago when we got a turtle in and despite the efforts of James our vet he told me its not looking good, so we went with breaking all the rules on this case and we fed it really well and offered it a walk at the centre in the wrong conditions, but you know what i swear it was happy, as much as we tried we lost the battle here and you should get comfort out of knowing this does happen.... prolapse is indeed as Dan said the males or females bits if you like coming out, in males this more common in females it's rarer but it happens. we see this quite a lot here with all the turtles we treat and even the cleanest of tank set ups can cause this to infect it bits when it happens which is why we use methylene blue in all our tanks, the fact it was bitten would have just helped this along and this is what would have done the damage.... its not your or anyone's fault it happens, it's not nice when it does and believe me when i say are thoughts are with you... should you be or get worried about anything you see or are not sure of we are here... you should have my mobile number and please ring me if you just need a talk.... turtle rescue from me and the whole team thank you for sharing your loss, it's things like your loss that will help others to ask before things get ugly.... or it's too late.... your know where we are regards Wayne...
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Post by ewanmcn on Apr 28, 2011 21:33:05 GMT
Thanks so much for taking the time to put all that together. I certainly feel better knowing that it wasn't necessarily any neglegence on my part and that its a natural occurence.
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Post by Turtle Rescue UK on Apr 28, 2011 21:59:35 GMT
Ewanmcn it's what we all do at Turtle Rescue, help turtles and their owners.
Please feel more than welcome to add your loss too the Memories page.
R.I.P. map turtle.
Dan
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Post by neilb on Aug 12, 2011 23:07:27 GMT
...the Slider's intestine coming out of its anus.... Males will often pop their penis out, and it can be quite a shock when you first see it as it's so strange a sight (big and black, not what you'd expect!), but it's not a "prolapse" unless it stays out, and if it goes back in then it's definitely not an intestinal prolapse. Intestinal prolapses are caused by impaction, usually caused by gravel, but this sounds far more like the male just getting his penis out ("flagging"), and the bite was such a serious problem because obviously they are full of blood vessels so they will rapidly bleed to death.
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