Semi-aquatic animals are quite different from most animals that live only on land or only in water, as they need water in order to survive, but at the same time, they can’t live only in water. But even amongst this interesting group, musk turtles manage to stand out.
Musk turtles are semi-aquatic animals, which means that they spend most of their time in the water, but occasionally they need to get out of the water in order to breathe oxygen.
So Musk turtles need water in order to survive. But it’s also important to know that not any type of water will do, and that they also require a certain amount of water in order to survive. So let’s find the answer to those questions.
How Much Water Do Musk Turtles Need?
This is a very easy question to answer, but at the same time, it’s an extremely important one.
Musk turtles need 10 gallons of water for every inch of the shell that they’ve got. So, if your Musk 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 musk 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
What Kind of Water Do Musk Turtles Need?
There are a lot of different types of water out there, but we are going to discuss the most common and accessible type of water, tap water.
So let’s start with tap water. 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?
Do Musk Turtles Drink Water?
Musk turtles, like most animals, need to drink water in order to survive. The reason you don’t see turtles drinking water is that they live in it and it’s hard to tell if they drink water or if they just open their mouths.
The fact that musk turtles drink the water they live in is a good thing for turtle owners, as well as a bad thing.
The bad thing is that turtles also leave their excrements in that water, and drinking water with excrements is not that healthy.
When musk turtles live in lakes, this is not a problem since the water there has a lot of good bacterias that remove the excrements and the harmful bacterias from the water, and the water volume is also a lot greater, so even if there were no good bacterias, the impact would have been less significant. But in a tank, things are a little bit different
Once feces and urine are broken down in water they create ammonia, a toxic substance that can cause skin irritation, illness, or even worse. If the water is not changed a few times a week this could have your pet drinking and swimming in harmful waste.
Now that we talked about the bad thing, let’s take a look at the positive side of things.
The good thing about this is that you don’t have to worry about having a separate container where to put clean water for them to drink. This might not seem like such a good thing, but imagine having to add a bowl with water to a tank full of water, and to make sure that your turtle has easy access to it, that’s not too easy.
So overall the fact that turtles drink the same water in which they live is not that great. But there are a few things that you can do to make your life as a turtle owner easier.
If you would like to know more about this subject and how to keep the water clean for your turtle you should check out my article: Do Turtles Drink Water?
Can Musk Turtles Breathe Underwater?
As strange as it might sound, musk 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 in a similar way 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 Musk Turtles Drown?
So musk turtles can breathe underwater to a certain extent, but not enough to be able to completely stay underwater, so does this mean that they can drown?
Unfortunately yes, musk turtles can drown if they stay for too much time underwater.
On average a musk turtle 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.
Final Thoughts
Musk turtles need water in order to survive, but being semi-aquatic 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, musk 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 musk turtle a good and stable basking area.
I hope this article answered all of your questions about musk 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.
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