How Long Can a Turtle Go Without Water?

Turtles are a semi-aquatic species, this means that they need to spend some time on land to get air in order to survive, but at the same time they can’t stay out of water for too long.

On average a turtle can survive a week without drinking water, and up to one month without getting into the water.

But those are just the average number, the exact time will be influenced by the species, and age of the turtle, whether it’s hibernating or not, and a few other factors. So let’s take a closer look at those factors. But first, let’s see why turtles need water.

Factors That Influence How Long a Turtle Can Go Without Water

Humidity

Humidity is the most important factor. So let’s begin by quickly discussing what humidity really is.

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

While there are no studies that show how much humidity influences how long a turtle can survive outside of water, we can easily compare a map that shows the average humidity in the USA, like the one below, and a map that shows where turtles live.

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 really low.

So while there are no exact studies done on this aspect, it’s very easy to see that this is a major factor.

If you own a pet turtle you don’t really have to worry about the humidity level, as long as your turtle has access to enough water to live in.

Temperature

This factor is pretty obvious, the hotter it is, the smaller the amount of time will be. 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.

Cold weather won’t affect the amount of time a turtle can spend out of the water as much as hot weather. But it will still affect it to some degree.

The best overall temperature for a turtle is between 75 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit (23.8-30 Celsius). But turtles are overall very hardy animals and can easily adapt to most temperatures at which humans feel comfortable

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 at least one day without a 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 go without water for about a week, without any repercussions.

What Type of Water Turtles Need

Up until now, we discussed how long can turtles go without water, but it’s important to know that not any kind of water is good for them. Sometimes bad water can be worse than no water.

In most cases, turtles can live just fine in tap water, but tap water isn’t a type of water, it’s just 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 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.

The surprising thing when it comes to turtles and water is that they are not very sensitive, but they still require quite a specific level of pH and chlorine levels.

So here are the water levels that you should aim 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

At first, it’s easy to get lost in all the different levels, but if you were to buy a testing kit, or look upon a website that specializes in water testing, they should provide you with all those values, so there is no need for you to memorize them.

How Much Water Turtles Need

Another quick thing that we should go over is how much water turtles need, because not having enough water can be just as bad as not having any.

As a general rule of thumb turtles need 10 gallons of water for each inch of the shell that they’ve got.

The reason why you don’t want to have less water is that it will get dirty really fast which will make it stink badly, and it will be unhealthy for the turtle.

How to Keep the Water Clean

There are 3 main things that you can do in order to keep the water cleaner for longer, and those are:

A bigger water tank
A better filter
Change how you feed your turtle

A Bigger Tank

As turtles grow they will start to produce more and more mess. So to reduce the impact of the mess they produce, and to also offer them a proper environment, you should get a bigger tank that won’t be affected by the mess too fast.

If you got your turtle when it was a juvenile, then it grew a lot in the last months, as most juvenile turtles do. So now the tank that you got for your turtle, in the beginning, is probably too small. As a general rule of thumb, there should be 10 gallons of water in the tank for every inch of shell your turtle has. So if your turtle was 4 inches when you got it, then a 40 gallon tank should have been enough. But now that your turtle has 6 inches in shell length, that 40 gallon tank is too small. You have to get at least a 60 gallons one.

The 10 gallons per inch of the shell is a rule of thumb, so it’s not exact, but you can’t go wrong with it. If this is your problem I would suggest you get the biggest tank that you can afford, and you can fit in your home. As turtles grow older they will grow at a smaller rate, but they will still grow. So instead of changing the tank every 2 or 3 years, it’s cheaper to just buy a big one from the start.

On the Recommended Gear page you can also find my recommendations on the best tanks on the market right now, the recommendations are based on the personal experience of the turtleowner.com team (this includes me), and a lot of research.

A Better Filter

The water filter is one of the most essential things that keep your tank clean. But it’s very easy to choose the wrong one.

When I say the wrong one I don’t mean the wrong producer or the wrong brand. No, I mean the wrong power.

Most water filters are rated for certain water quantities. So it’s common to see a seller saying that this model is for 40 gallons of water, this one is for 60 and this one is for 120. But those water quantities are based on fish tanks, not turtle tanks. Fish also produce a mess, but not as much as turtles. So for a turtle tank, you should get double the power that the tank needs. So if you have a 40 gallons tank you should get a filter that is rated for 80 gallons, not for 40. If you have a 60 gallons tank then you should get a 120 gallons water pump, not a 60.

You can always go higher, there is no problem. But going lower will usually mean that you will have to clean the tank a lot more often, and the water will start to smell bad really soon.

You can also find my recommendations for the best water filter on the Recommended Gear page.

Change How You Feed Your Turtle

There are some things in the water that can make it even dirtier than excrements, and they are just as dangerous. Those things are food particles.

Food particles appear in the water when your turtle eats. They are the small fragments that break off the food when your turtle bites them, and they are almost invisible to the naked eye. And the only way to completely remove them is to change the water. But fortunately, there is one way to prevent them. And that is to feed your turtle in a different container.

You just have to fill a different container with water and then place the turtle inside of it, and then place the food there. After the turtle eats you should let it stay there for another 10 minutes, and then place it back in the tank. After that, you can just throw the water from the container away and you are done. It’s that simple.

This method is very simple and 100% effective. Just make sure that you don’t use the container for anything else, like placing food that you want to eat in it. Turtles carry bacterias that can be harmful to us.

You will have to clean the container after you are done, but just putting it in the shower and washing it quickly shouldn’t take more than a minute.

The whole process should only take 5 minutes of your time since you don’t have to supervise your turtle while it’s eating. So you will lose 35 minutes in a week doing this, but you will save several hours since you won’t have to clean the tank as often

Don’t Mistake a Turtle for a Tortoise

The final thing that I want to tell you is that you should never make the mistake of thinking a turtle and a tortoise are the same things. Turtles are semi-aquatic animals that partially live in water, while tortoises are land animals that can be easily drawn. Tortoises only need drinking water, they don’t live in it.

If you want to know how to differentiate between the two of them you can check out this article: Turtle vs Tortoise – What’s the Difference? (With Pictures).

Final Thoughts

Turtles can manage to go for long periods of time without water, but the longer they go the bigger the chances of having health problems afterward.

If you are a turtle owner and you want to take your turtle out for a few hours out of the tank, you can do so without worrying, turtles are not so fragile.

I hope this article answers all of your questions, but if you still have questions left you can always leave a comment and I will answer it as soon as possible.