Urgent Care :: Potential constipation

[bentlie]

Hi, I'm new here. Here's my question:

My RES is 1½ years old appears healthy and has a strong appetite. Water is kept at 85F and he has 2 basking areas.

But I have noticed something very strange lately.

His tail gets really fat and his cloaca opens. He lays on the bottom of the tank and uses his back paws to push down on his tail. Then this large black log-looking thing (lack of a better word) comes out and shoots back in. This has been happening for a few weeks and it appears that it gets bigger everytime.

Is my turtle trying to eliminate waste without success (constipation) or is it something else that I'm unaware of?

Any suggestions would help!

[steve]

Do you have small rocks or gravel in the tank? Or anything else that might cause an impaction? Have you seen his excrement recently?

It does sound like he is "fanning" which is just exposing his unit. As long as it goes back in, then that is fine.

[bentlie]

2 months ago we we switched to small rocks that are about the size of small gumballs. There are some in the mix however that are much smaller.

I have not seen any excrement in a while.....actually since we changed to a bigger tank with bigger rocks. Part of the reason may be that the rocks are the EXACT same color as his feces. But his appetite has not let up.

[marisa]

If your turtle were constipated, he would be kicking at his tail/butt with his hind legs and but nothing would be coming out. It does sound like he's fanning, which is normal. If it becomes really frequent (doesn't appear he can keep it inside), or if it fails to retract on its own, however, I'd take him to a herp vet.

[RESCHIU]

under what situation would it make a turtle constipated?(such as eating too many food sticks? bask too much)? I assume eating veggies can help with the constipation? And it's normal that they poop everyday right?

[marisa]

I would think the diet plays a large part in constipation (as with humans). Veggies can provide added fiber (more or less depending on the veggie). And I'm thinking activity and stress can also have an effect.

Turtles poop after they digest the food they've eaten. If they don't eat, they don't poop.