fluffys issue

Question
ok so i have a 10 year old Greek tortoise that is set up in a large  guinea pig cage with alfalfa beding and uvb 5.0 lighting and has a water dish that she is able to soak in when she feels she wants to  the coolest part of her cage is 80 where the water is located  and the hottest is 95  where her house is located  i soak her every where day for 15 min and is  on a mixture of grassland diet from zoo med and tortoise bites and varies between red leafed greens and romaine lettuce and  dandelions and her favor watermelon or mango  so i have received her from rescue a few weeks ago and i have been falling in love with her. she acts very healthy funning around and very active always happy to see me  and always wanting to fallow me when she can . so here is the question i have i picked her up last night after she pooped and  had this black thing pocking out and i assumed  it was poop so i wiped her bottom and it went back in so i put her in her cage and let her be. this morning i held her again like usual and it came out again it was looking like a thorn and when it was all the way out it looked flat so i kissed her forehead and put her back in her enclosure and am now worried what is wrong with  her.

Answer
Hi Engyl,

I think Fluffy is a male and flashing you (showing his penis).  It's not likely to be a prolapse because those would tend to stay out.  Flashing is perfectly normal and many male tortoises do it.

I would suggest, however, that you make a number of changes to Fluffy's care to keep him healthy.  A guinea pig cage is a suitable habitat, but I would consider making something bigger or building an outside enclosure for the warmer months, because tortoises can use quite a bit of space and the more room they have the better.  Get rid of the alfalfa bedding--it gives very poor footing and will get moldy when damp.  A better substrate is a 50/50 mix of coir (bed-a-beast, ecoearth) and playsand.  If you keep it a little damp, the humidity will be at a good level and help prevent dehydration.

The basking area should be 90-95 degrees, so that's fine, but the cool area is too warm.  It should be 70-75 degrees; if it's too warm, Fluffy will become lethargic and won't eat.  They need the temperature gradient so they can regulate their body temperature.  The fluorescent tube for UVB is OK, but not great.  You might consider replacing the bulbs with an all in one heat/UVB bulb like the ZooMed Powersun.  It gives good heat and much better UVB than the fluorescent bulb.

You don't need to soak daily, and actually soaking too often isn't good, since it causes food to move through the digestive tract too quickly.  Two to three times a week is plenty.

Fluffy's diet also needs some changes.  Greek tortoises should eat leafy greens and weeds, with no fruit, veggies, or commercial foods.  That means no watermelon or mango--fruit has too much sugar in it, and can cause problems because their digestive systems aren't designed to handle it.  Some lettuce is OK, but not too much as it's low on the nutritional spectrum.  Good greens are turnip, dandelion, mustard, collards, kale; weeds like chicory, clover, chickweed, sow thistle, plantain, mallow; hibiscus, abutilon, mulberry leaves, violas, hostas, etc.

www.russiantortoise.org is for Russian tortoises, but the care for Greeks is pretty similar.  It'll give you some good ideas for enclosures and diet.  Good luck with Fluffy!