Herman tortoise mating

Question
My 5 year old herman male tortoise is having a good go at mating with my other 5 year old female tortoise. the problem is that I think he may have some anatomical problem as his phallus doesn't exit his tail! Should I take him to a vet??

Answer
Hi Naomi,

Male tortoises do seem to go through the motions at times without actually completing the act.  As you've seen, they're pretty eager little guys, but aren't particularly picky about which part they're hitting--front, back, or side--and sometimes don't even care if the object of their affections is a tortoise, or even alive for that matter.  They seem to make up with quantity what they lack in quality.  My breeding tortoises are Russians (Horsfields), and I've never seen what looked like a complete mating, or a male's penis either, and they still somehow manage to produce offspring.  So I doubt there's a thing wrong with your male.  Most likely he's managing to complete the act at least some of the time, and you just haven't seen it.  Usually the problem is prolapse of the penis, not the other way around.  I wouldn't worry about it.