Pet Information > ASK Experts > Exotic Pets > Turtles > Russian tort struggling to defecate, also keeps prolapsing

Russian tort struggling to defecate, also keeps prolapsing

22 16:13:38

Question
Ive recently noticed that my russian tortoise, who is about 11 months old, is
finding it really hard to go to the toilet.  When he is about defecate his tail
goes really fat, and he really struggles to get anything out. Recently i have
noticed that a long worm like structure comes out of the cloaca when he is
trying to pooh. It's horrible. When this happens i normally place him in water
to make sure that he doesn't get any substrate on it, and after a while it goes
back inside by itself. Now it comes out whenever he is trying to go to the
toilet. I think my mum has been feeding him too much, as he has grown alot
since we first got him!!! could we be overfeeding him? he seems really
constipated. please help

Answer
It is easy to overfeed these guys, but it is more likely that it is the wrong diet, that the tortoise is dehydrated, or that something else is going on.

Try the cares outlined at http://www.tortoisetrust.org or http://www.russiantortoise.org to see what they suggest.