Are Turtles Dirty? (What You Should Know Before Getting One)

A lot of people believe that turtles are dirty, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Turtles are not dirty animals and don’t have any strong natural smell. The reason why some turtles end up looking dirty is that they can gather a lot of small dirt particles and algae on their skin and shell.

So turtles aren’t dirty animals if you look after them. Naturally, over time their tank will become dirty and this will give them an unpleasant look and smell, but if you take proper care of them this won’t happen. But while dirty water is one of the main causes, it’s not the only one. So let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons why turtles end up being dirty, what you can do to stop this from happening.

Why Turtles Are Considered Dirty

Turtles are very clean animals, even if at times they can be quite messy. But there are three things that make turtles dirty:

Dirty water
Food particles
Bad health

Dirty Water

Dirty water is the number 1 problem that makes turtles dirty. The water in the turtle tank can get really dirty. And some of this dirt will end up sticking on the skin and shell of your turtle.

Solving this problem can be a little bit tricky since there is no way to keep the water 100% clean all the time. But you can reduce the smell and dirtiness of the water by changing it regularly and cleaning the tank really well by scraping the algae on the walls and using a siphon to vacuum the dirt at the bottom of the tank.

Cleaning a tank is not hard but it involves a little more than just throwing the old water and adding some new one. So after we are done discussing the causes of the smell, we will look at how to properly clean the tank as well as other things you can do to stop your turtle from smelling bad.

Another thing that you can do to reduce the dirtiness of the water and the bad smell of your turtle is to get a better water filter. Water filters are the easiest and most efficient way to keep a tank cleaner for longer.

If you need help choosing a good and efficient water filter for your tank, you can check out the Recommended Gear Section and check the cleaning gear page. There you will find a complete guide with everything you need to know, as well as some recommended products.

Food

Food particles can be added in the general dirt category that we just discussed, but I think they deserve their own category since they are responsible for most unpleasant smells and they can be avoided extremely easily.

When turtles bite their food, small particles will remain in the water. And some of those particles will end up sticking on the skin and shell of the turtle. This is something that will happen every time your turtle eats. But fortunately, there is something that you can do which will completely eliminate this problem.

To reduce the number of food particles that get stuck on your turtle you have to feed your turtle in a separate container. All you need for this is a plastic container that is a little bit bigger than your turtle.

Fill the container with water and place your turtle in the container, along with the food. After your turtle is done eating you can put it back in the tank and throw the water from the container away.

If you choose to use this method you will see immediate effects. The only disadvantage of this method is that it’s not as simple as just throwing some food in the tank. But by using this method you will avoid bad smells and you will have to clean the tank less often, so you will have to do less work overall and you will solve the smell problem.

If you don’t have the time to use this method then you can try to feed your turtle food that doesn’t break in too many pieces when your turtle bites it.

Bad Health

Sometimes turtles can smell bad due to bad health. So if you tried feeding your turtle in a separate container, you washed the tank and you washed your turtle, but the smell is still there, then I would recommend you to take your turtle to the vet and see if everything is alright.

Sick turtles are not as common as they used to be, but there is always a small chance that your turtle might be sick. If you ever think that your turtle might be sick, don’t wait for too much to see how things develop. It would be better to just call a vet and ask them what they think, or even better go to a clinic with your turtle.

Now that we covered the most common reasons why turtles get dirty, let’s see how we can make your turtle clean.

How to Clean a Turtle

To properly wash your turtle you are going to need just a few things:

A soft toothbrush
A couple of containers

The toothbrush should be new so there are no bacteria or detergents on it. And the containers should be big enough to hold your turtles. If you have just one turtle you can use just one container.

I would recommend getting a cheap set of toothbrushes from the supermarket along with some disposable containers.

If you have only one turtle you can use just one container, but if you have more than one turtle you will need two containers.

If you don’t have any containers you can also use the sink, just be very careful to disinfect it after you are done. Turtles can carry harmful bacterias, even if they spend their entire life in the tank.

The first thing you should do is to wash your hands really well. You don’t want to have any hand cream, dirt, detergent, or anything like that on your hands.

Then you should add water to the containers, the water should be about the same temperature like the one in the tank. Don’t add any kind of soap to the water because it can hurt the turtles.

Now put your turtles in one of the containers. Then pick one up, you should hold them by the sides, if you hold them from the bottom and underneath be careful not to apply too much pressure. Here is a picture that shows you how to properly hold the turtle:

Now is the time to clean the turtle using the toothbrush. You shouldn’t dip the toothbrush in the container that holds the turtles because the water is dirty. You should use water from the other container or from a new source. When you clean them you should start from the edges and use circular motions.

After you finish with the top part of the shell you should try to carefully go under the edges using really soft motions. A lot of algae and bacteria can gather under the edges of the shell, so even if it’s harder you should try to clean those areas too.

Now it’s time for the bottom. Use motions similar to the ones used to clean the top of the shell.

After you are done cleaning your turtles you should put them under powerful light, like the one from their basking area, and check carefully if you haven’t missed any spot. If you did you can just clean that spot, you don’t have to go through the process.

Now very importantly, throw away the toothbrush, it carries a lot of bacterias from the turtles, you won’t be able to use it again for anything. Then make sure to disinfect the containers, or throw them away.

Avoid using the shower to clean your turtles or harsh brushes. Using them will only harm your turtles.

Now that the turtles are clean, it’s time to make sure that you have a clean place to put them back in, so let’s see how to properly clean the tank.

Bacteria and Germs

In the case of pet turtles, you usually don’t have to worry about bacteria or germs, but in the case of wild turtles, they are a real problem.

For a pet turtle, the simplest and most efficient thing that you can do is to wash your turtle-like I described in the last part of the article. And wash your hands after you touch your turtle, just as a precautionary measure.

But if you are going to interact with a wild turtle you can’t wash every turtle that you see, but simply washing your hands, and avoiding placing them on your face will keep you 100% safe.

How to Keep the Tank Clean

Now let’s see how to properly clean a turtle tank.

The first thing you should do is to unplug the filter and the heater. If you don’t unplug the heater there is a good chance that it will explode or get damaged when it gets out of the water.

Now get a bucket and use a siphon to remove about 70% to 75% of the water. While removing the water, move the siphon so that you take out as many algae as you can. After you are done keep the bucket with the water from the tank near you, don’t throw it out yet.

Take the sponge out of the water filter and wash it in the bucket with the water from the tank. Water filters contain certain bacterias that help them clean the water. If you were to wash the filter in clean water it will also remove the good bacteria.

Now it’s time to deal with the algae. Most tanks have persistent algae on the sides and getting rid of them can take a while. From my personal experience, the fastest and most efficient tool is a plain silicone ice scraper. I know there are some algae scrapers on the market, but they look and function like any ice scraper, only more expensive. So instead of buying one of those you can save a few dollars and get an ice scraper instead, just make sure the blade is made out of silicone and not metal, you don’t want to scratch the glass.

The next thing that you want to do is to make sure that the substrate is clean. If you don’t have any substrate you can skip this paragraph, but if you have one you know how annoying it can be to clean it. My advice for this situation is to buy a siphon head that has very small holes, or a net. This way you won’t risk sucking half of your substrate out of the tank while you are trying to clean it.

Now you have a clean turtle and a clean tank, so there should be no smell to worry about.

What to Expect as a New Turtle Owner

While turtles are not dirty, they can sometimes smell bad due to improper care.

If you are a new turtle owner or you are reading this in order to decide if you should get a turtle or not, things might not sound so great that far. But I promise you it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Turtles can sometimes smell bad, but the unpleasant smell is not that bad. If you take proper care of your turtle and clean the tank regularly you won’t feel the smell at all.

I try to clean my turtles and their tank at least once a week, and I never felt any unpleasant smell coming from the tank. If I pick up my turtle and smell it closely I will smell a hint, but this is normal.

So if you have the time to clean the tank at least once a week you should have no problem with the smell. But if you don’t clean your turtle and the tank for weeks in a row, the smell can get out of control.

Final Thoughts

So turtles don’t have any unpleasant natural smell. Turtles end up smelling bad because people don’t take the proper amount of care.

If your turtle smells bad it means that you have to clean the tank more often. If your tank starts smelling bad after a couple of days it means that you have to get a bigger one or get a better water filter.

As a general rule of thumb, a tank should have 10 gallons of water for every inch of the shell that your turtle has. So a 10 inch turtle needs a 100 gallons tank, while a 5 inch turtle only needs a 50 gallon tank.

I hope this answered all of your questions about how turtles smell. If you have any questions left unanswered feel free to leave a comment down below and I will answer it as soon as possible.