Can Turtles Live Without Water?

Turtles are quite different from most animals that live exclusively either on land or in water. Turtles are semiaquatic animals, which means that they spend most of their time in water, but still need to spend some time out of it to breath, bask and mate. So, the question is, why the back and forth? Can’t turtles live without water?

On average, a turtle can live without water for one week. Depending on factors like humidity, temperature, and the age of the turtle, the amount of time can either increase or decrease.

While the average is one week, the amount of time can drastically change based on certain actors. And depending on those factors, a turtle can easily survive out of water for an entire month, or just two days. So let’s take a closer look at those factors and see how important they really are.

How Long Can a Turtle Live Without Water?

The most important factors that can influence the amount of time a turtle can spend out of water are:

Temperature
Age
Humidity

Temperature

The hotter it is, the longer a turtle will be able to survive without water. As we all know, water will evaporate a lot faster if the temperature is higher, but this doesn’t only affect the water that is on the turtle, it also affects the water inside the body.

The body of a turtle is between 68% and 74% made out of water, (excluding the shell), so they are affected by heat almost as much as humans are.

To get a better understanding, let me give you an example of how we, humans, are affected by heat. On average, the human body is made out of about 60% water. At a temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius) a human can survive without water for about 4 days. At 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) a human can survive for only 1 or 2 days.

While for turtles, there haven’t been done any exact studies like the one mentioned above, we can use the general information that we have about them and assume that at a temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius) an average turtle will be able to survive for about 7 days, while at a temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) it will be able to survive for about 3 days.

If the temperature drops above 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius) there won’t be any significant change until we reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), when a turtle will start hibernating, at which point it will be able to go survive for 3 or 4 months without any kind of water.

Age

In short, younger turtles won’t be able to last as much as an adult turtle. While baby and juvenile turtles are fully functional, they are not yet fully developed, so they are not able to store as much water as an adult turtle.

If you own a juvenile turtle, and it somehow manages to get out of the tank and hide somewhere, don’t worry. He can survive without water for 6 or 8 hours without problem, as long as your house isn’t extremely hot or cold. If you are worried about an adult turtle that got away from its tank, and it’s hiding somewhere, he can easily survive without water for at least 12 hours. So don’t worry about this aspect.

Humidity

While temperature and age play very significant roles, none of them are as significant as humidity.

Humidity refers to the amount of water that is in the air, so if you are in an area with 100% humidity, it means that you are in an area with fog, or an area where it’s raining, not one filled with water.

For a turtle, a high humidity is preferable to allow one, since it will allow them to spend more time out of water.

Here is a map that shows the average humidity in the United States.

In green areas, where the humidity is between 70% and 80% you will be able to find a lot more turtle species than yellow and red areas, where the humidity is very low.

While no amount of humidity in the air will ever be able to replace drinking water, it will keep the shell and skin of a turtle from dehydrating, thus allowing them to safely spend long amounts of time out of water.

What Kind of Water Do Turtles Need?

In the wild, most turtles live in lakes, and while the water in a lake doesn’t look that clean, and it’s definitely not good for us to drink, for turtles it’s actually quite good.

On the other hand we have tap water, which is very clean, and in most cases is perfectly fine to drink, but for turtles in most cases it’s actually dangerous.

Tap water is not necessarily a type of water, it’s the water that comes out of your sink. But where that water originates and how it’s treated can differ greatly from region to region. So, the answer to the question: can turtles live in tap water? Can be yes for one person and no for another person. The only certain way to know for sure is to test it, and fortunately, there are a few ways to do this, and one of them is completely free.

Most countries in the world have a specific agency that tests and provides information on the water in multiple areas. So you can google the agency in your country that does this, and you should be able to find some information about the water in your area. The problem with this is that they usually choose an area and test it there, but there can be big differences between the water in the testing point and the water that reaches your home. It’s even possible that your house has a rusted pipe, which can make your water different from the water your neighbor receives. So while this is a good way to get a general idea about your water, it’s not the most precise.

Another way to test your water is to buy a water testing kit. They are quite cheap, and they are really easy to use. Here is a link to a testing kit that I’ve used before: API MASTER TEST KITS for Freshwater, Saltwater, Reef Aquariums, and Pond.

The final and most professional way of doing it is to take a sample of your water and take it to a water testing lab. In this case, I can’t make any recommendations since I never used this kind of testing method.

But regardless of the way you choose to test your water, here are the values that you should be looking for:

A pH between 6.0 and 8
A chlorine level of 0
An ammonia level of 0
A nitrite level of 0.5 ppm (parts per million) or less (preferably zero)
A nitrate level of 40 ppm or less

If you would like to know more details about turtles and tap water, or how to make tap water safe for turtles, you can check out my article: Can Turtles Live in Tap Water?

Can Turtles Breathe Underwater?

As strange as it might sound, turtles are able to breathe through their butts while they are underwater. And all of this is possible due to their cloaca.

A cloaca is a small orifice that can usually be found at the back end of an animal, and it has many different roles depending on the species of the animal.

The cloaca is positioned near the turtle’s tail, and it can be considered the butt of the turtle. But the cloaca acts differently than how you would normally expect a “back end” to work, let’s take for example another animal that we all know, the dog. The purpose of a dog’s anus is to execrate, and that is it, it’s not involved in any other biological processes. But the cloaca is used for more than that.

The cloaca has 4 important roles: excretion, urination, reproduction, and breathing. Turtles use only one orifice for those things, and that is the cloaca.

The cloaca works similarly to the lungs, when the turtle is inside the water the cloaca will act like a pump that will suck water inside, and after it gathers all the oxygen from it, it will expel the water out, and then it will start over. Due to the way things are arranged on the inside of the turtle, this process is less exhausting than normal breathing.

If you would like to know more about how the cloaca works, and how it can allow turtles to stay underwater for up to 6 months, you can check out this article: Do Turtles Have Gills? (How Turtles Breathe Underwater)

Can Turtles Drown?

While turtles can breathe underwater to a certain extent, but not enough to be able to completely stay underwater, does this mean that they can drown?

Unfortunately, yes, turtles can drown if they stay for too much time underwater.

On average, most turtles can comfortably stay underwater for 20 or 30 minutes under normal circumstances, and for up to 4 hours when they are sleeping.

But if they get caught in a net or a plastic bag, or if they get stuck, they can drown.

In the case of pet turtles I’ve never heard of anything like this happening, even if they don’t have a proper basking platform where they can stay on the surface safely, they can still reach the surface for air. But in the wild, it can happen.

How Much Water Do Turtles Need in Their Tank?

This is a very easy question to answer, but at the same time, it’s an extremely important one.

Turtles need 10 gallons of water for every inch of shell that they’ve got. So, if your turtle has a shell that is two inches long, it needs 20 gallons of water. If it has a 6 inches shell, it needs 60 gallons of water.

This is a very simple and efficient rule that should always be followed. While theoretically speaking, a turtle might be able to live in a smaller tank with much less water, it definitely won’t be good for its health. So make sure to follow this guideline.

Final Thoughts

Turtles need water in order to survive, but being semiaquatic animals, they also need a good amount of oxygen and constant access to land.

Despite the fact that they spend most of their time in the water, turtles wouldn’t be able to live properly without access to land, so if you own one, or you plan on getting one, make sure to make your turtle a good and stable basking area.

I hope this article answered all of your questions about turtles and water, but if you still have questions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comment section. I will do my best to answer them as soon as possible.