redearslider.com

My mom looked at my turtle just now and directed my attention towards it. A long black thing was coming out of the end of the tail. I had seen tips of black before, but I assumed it was his male organs. However, this time it came out huge like a large block of fecal matter and then shot back in.

Needless to say I'm worried, just how big is too big, and how can I tell if he's suffering from constipation or just being a turtle.

It was huge, as big as it's head and long. The turtle is about 4 inches and a year old.

This is bad, to make matters worse I can hardly afford to treat him as expertly as I used to.

I don't want to abandon him, but I just don't think I'm doing him justice. What can I do if it's something serious?

Sounds like fanning to me, which is exactly what you thought it was. There is a recent thread with pictures of the adult male organ.
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=

As long as it is going back in right away, he may just be constipated. What are you feeding him? is there any small pebbles or gravel in the tank?

No, just water. I feed him the usual stuff. Reptomin Floating food sticks for Aquatic Turtles.

It looked like fanning at one point, but maybe it's both?

I don't know, hopefully I'm overreacting. I'm just worried because I never see solid stool. The sponge in my filter is pretty blackish/brown though, and I know that can't just be the algae eaters doing.

Then it's probably just fanning, like missibsu said. Does he get any veggies?

Not recently, I've been a little side-tracked from my normal routine. I'll go get him some Anacharis when I can. I gave him some Kale the other day but I don't think he even touched the stuff.

Try some romaine. Give him a fresh leaf everyday, whether he eats it or not.....even a little veg will help if he's constipated......Also cuttlebone might help with digestion.

You can try raising the water temp a few degrees too. That could help if he's constipated.

It doesn't sound like he's constipated. Males will fan for whatever reason. If he was constipated, nothing would be coming out and he'd be using his hind legs to literally kick himself in the butt to try to help himself poop. As for not seeing any stool, it could be he's eating it (they can scarf it up pretty quickly).

For plant matter, try also some red leaf lettuce and dandelions.