You would probably notice how eager turtles would poop once they got into the water. The wonder continues when you realize that they’re amphibious, meaning able to live on land and underwater. Shouldn’t they just poop on land? The cleaning job would be much easier if they do just poop anywhere rather than in the water.
Being in the water relaxes a turtle’s bowel to the point that they feel comfortable enough to poop. Unhesitatingly they release feces into the water as they feel that it is much more hygienic.
Turtles in the wild would poop underwater like in the river as rivers have running water that would wash away their specks of dirt almost immediately. Pooping underwater can also indicate that they would like to hide their scent from predators, making them impossible to be tracked.
We’ll take you from why they poop underwater to what a healthy turtle’s poop may look like. Although they are categorized as captive turtles, instinctually they are no different than the turtles in the wild.
Turtles think it eases them to poop underwater but on the other hand, it’s a hard job for the caregivers. While pooping in the water gives wild turtles all the hygienic benefits, it goes different for turtles in a tank with no running water.
Captive vs. Wild Turtles
In the wild, turtles can easily walk to the nearby river and poop in them with no concern of washing it whatsoever. Running water immediately washes away all the dirt and this prevents them from getting diseases along the way.
Though this is not solidly backed up by science, it is a fair observation by most turtle owners and people who study them. Naturally, captive turtles will poop underwater as it is an easier way to poop and requires less cleaning, unfortunately, the job stays hard for you.
Hide From The Predators
Many observers believe that turtles poop underwater to hide their scent from potential predators. Similar to felines, cats cover their feces with sand or specks of dirt to prevent predators from tracking them further.
Sounds pretty genius as wild turtles pooping in the river can’t be tracked because their poop runs from its current position almost immediately. Instead of using sands like the felines, turtles use water to cover up their scent.
How to Ease Your Cleaning Job?
There is most likely no way of avoiding them from pooping underwater since we too had no idea of when exactly they would poop. Although one thing you can do is buy a tank with a separate tub compartment, simply a removable tub.
You can create this on your own by having a high and low ground in the tank, putting a fitting tub onto the low ground, and 3-5 liter water into the removable tub. Each time they poop in it, you can take out the tub and you’ll only have 3-5 liters of water in the separate tub to clean instead of the whole tank.
As for the high ground, that’s where it is dry and where all the grass and woods will be. Make sure there’s a steep slope between the high and low ground. A place for them to climb out and down to the tub.
You can search for a “detached turtle’s tank”, “tank with a removable tub” or “tank with drying platform” that consists of a lower water level for you to clean.
How Often Do Turtles Have to Poop?
This can distinctly differ from other turtle species but baby turtles usually poop once daily. As for adult turtles they poop about once within three to four days.
This applies to adult turtles whose shells are four inches long or ten centimeters long. If your adult turtle or hatchlings poops only once a week, that should be a concern and you should take them to the vet to have a further checkup.
How Does Healthy Turtle Poop Look Like?
This won’t be an absolute rule of how your turtle’s poop should look because it all depends individually on what they eat, the kind of turtle they are, and their age. In color, a turtle’s defecation should look greenish to brownish, and texture-wise they would look solid and really stink.
Try to imagine a creature that eats nothing but vegetables, that’s what their poop would look like. Again, this leans more toward a rough guideline you can refer to and not absolute rules, should there be any concern, consult a vet.
Conclusion
Your pet pooping underwater is sort of something you have to bear with as long as they live, but the idea of a removable tub might save you some time and energy.
It is completely normal for them to poop in the water, as naturally they’ve done it long ago with the purpose of hygiene and covering their scents from predators. Although you should concern more about how often they poop and what their poops look like, this can signify a much more major health concern.
Most likely turtles won’t have any issues with pooping in water as long as you replace the water right after and clean the tank regularly.
