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Hello! When my two RES(3 - 4 inches) goes to the bathroom, the gut(? something black and has a tiny hole at the end which I suppose is the anus) gets pushed out and then back in, is that normal or the turtles are having some problem? Thank you very much.

Can you get a pic of him doing this? Generally, if it retracts on it's own, you can safely assume it's the penis. It can be startling at first if you're not sure what you're looking at.

Thanks,Jenaero, but one of them is actually a girl!

Is it happening with both of them? Try and get a pic.

[quote="TurtleLover_S&B"]Well,I don't understand what you're saying.Sorry...... [/quote]

Hi TurtleLover! Well, here's the situation: I have two turtles, each around 3 - 4 inches. Recently I observed that when they go to bathroom, especially the girl one, some internal organ which is black and with a tiny hold at the tip shows. I am not sure, but I suppose that the black thing is the intestine while the hole is the anus. I am wondering if that is normal?

Oh,I understand what you're saying,but I don't know what's going on with your turtles.Sorry!

Hmmm. How do you know one of them is a girl? They don't start differentiating so a person can tell the difference until they are at least 4" long. What you describe sounds an awful lot like male turtles "fanning", exposing their male organs. They do this a lot when they are maturing.

When they get to be at least 4" long, then the males start sprouting these impossibly long front toenails and their tales get longer and bigger. You can tell the females because they don't get the long front toenails and tails.

If it were exposed intestine it would have a more pink color to it I believe.
I think you've likely got a male on your hands who is going through puberty and showing his stuff, haha.

[quote="SpotsMama"]Hmmm. How do you know one of them is a girl? They don't start differentiating so a person can tell the difference until they are at least 4" long. What you describe sounds an awful lot like male turtles "fanning", exposing their male organs. They do this a lot when they are maturing.

When they get to be at least 4" long, then the males start sprouting these impossibly long front toenails and their tales get longer and bigger. You can tell the females because they don't get the long front toenails and tails.[/quote]


Hi SpotMama! The genders of my turtles were actually told by the vet, and indeed I am seeing those typical differences on the nails, tail, and size, etc, that was how I told about the gender. This is happening to both of my turtles which I suppose are one boy and one girl, so I guess that isn't fanning. In fact, that happens more often with the 'girl', and that happens only when they go bathroom.
The internal organ looks very dark and has a tiny hole at the time; it comes out from the cloaca and then retracts; it is about the tail's length but flatter and broader, and highly symmetric. It may sound crazy but I suspect that is the rectum (and bladders) -- any clue?

Hmmm. Still really sounds like a male turtle fanning. Here's a fairly good picture of what it looks like:




And here's a link on this forum with a picture of a male fanning.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... is&start=0

When my turtle was growing up, he would fan sometimes when he went to the bathroom. He would most often fan when I washed him in the sink after his breakfast and the water was slightly warmer than usual. He doesn't do it much any more - no girl turtles around so I guess there's just no point to it.

There are two medical problems that require some action on your part - an intestinal prolapse and a penile prolapse. Here's a link discussing them and what to do in case your turtle ever has the problem.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medinjuries.htm

Sorry for the double post.

My turtle started fanning before he sprouted his long front toenails. At the time, I thought he was constipated.

Here's a caution. If there are two turtles together and one sees the other fanning, he/she is apt to try to bite the exposed penis. The same thing can happen in case of an intestinal prolapse - the exposed intestine can be bitten. This can be disasterous for the turtle that's bitten of course. If there's any sign at all of aggression between your turtles, I'd separate them immediately.

it seems most ppl's vets make the wrong evaluations and diagnosis, i guess you really need someone who is either a breeder or a herpetologist to give you some trust worthy advice

black, flat, and retracts = penis

Thanks so much,everyone! That really looks like what is going on with my turtles. So, I guess I actually have two boys... and I've been calling Trouble "good girl"!!! Oh boy... XD

Don't worry - it happens all the time! How many turtles have we seen with names like "molly" or "sally" suddenly start sprouting long front toe nails and start fanning!

Some people think it's best to have boys. They don't get as big so don't need as much space and best of all, they don't lay eggs. On the other hand, they are even more aggressive than the girls and you need to watch carefully because some day they'll probably start fighting with each other and have to be separated.

Thanks, SpotMama! If they fight... then they're gonna have a timeout n no treat for the week! Seriously, turtles are actually much more intelligent than most of us 'd give them credit for -- mine have already learned a few commands like 'stop', 'come here', 'wait', and 'turn', etc, and they seem to know it when they are bad! Trouble's the one that really knows how to play dumb and pretend when it is bad. One time when I caught it spitting out the carrot under the dock which I made it eat before eating the treat, it looked shocked and ran immediately!