I have a mojave desert tortoise which I've had for around 4 years. I don't know his age as he was undersized when I received him due to extreme malnutrition. He has, however, appeared healthy and has had a huge appetite since he was nursed back to health and began receiving a regular diet, with the exception of a chronic runny nose and slight wheeze which the vet has been unable to cure.
Because of his runny nose, I've worried about allowing him to hibernate and have kept him inside during the past 3 winters, something which my vet assures me is alright (she believes hibernation of this species is actually not necessary - is this true??). I placed him within his new indoor enclosure for the fall this morning and he seemed very relieved to finally have the warmth of his mercury vapor lamp again (its been abnormally overcast here in bakersfield, ca for awhile).
Here's the concern: I checked on him just now (he was sleeping after 9 hours under the lamp) and it appeared that his bowels or rectum or something was - inside out? Like, extending beyond his tail almost two inches. As soon as I realized what I was looking at he awoke and saw me standing there, and he pulled it back into his body.. Despite many web searches I have never seen or heard of anything like that. I was going to take him to the vet tomorrow anyway but now its going to be for a different reason. But I wanted to post and see if anyone here knows about this and whether or not I should be worried..
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