How Long Can a Turtle Hide in Its Shell? (+How to Get It Out)

When I got my first turtle I remember how happy and excited I was. Unfortunately, my turtle wasn’t as excited as me. It was actually kind of shy and a little frightened. So, it wouldn’t get out of its shell. And this got me wondering. How long can turtles hide in their shells? Is there anything I can do to make my turtle come out o its shell?

Turtles can stay for a very long time hidden in their shells. Turtles can easily hide in their shells without coming out for 3 or 4 days. In certain circumstances, they can hide for even longer. A turtle will only get out of its shell when it feels completely safe.

If a turtle feels that it’s in danger it won’t come out of its shell no matter what. The only way to make a turtle come out of its shell is to prove to it that you are not dangerous, and tha there is nothing around that want to hurt it.

How to Get a Turtle Out of Its Shell

Here is a step by step guide that will help you out:

Be patient
Handle your turtle carefully
Offer it some food
Keep some distance
Get rid of stress sources

Now let’s get into a little more detail for each step.

1. Be Patient

The most important thing is to have patience, turtles can be scared very easily and trying to hurry them won’t help at all.

Every turtle has a different personality, and some of them might be shyer than others. So the whole process might take just 2 days for some turtles, but for others, this can take a few weeks.

During this process, you are basically trying to win the trust of your turtle, and if you jump on your turtle as soon as it starts to get out of the shell will only make things harder, and make them last longer.

2. Handle Your Turtle Carefully

The next thing that you have to do is to handle your turtle very carefully. Don’t squeeze them too hard when you pick them up, even if their shell is hard, they can feel the pressure.

When you place them down on the floor do it very gently. In the wild predators will pick turtles up and throw them at hard surfaces to break their shells. If they feel the slightest danger, they will think that you are trying to do the same. Even if your turtle hasn’t been in the wild, it will know those things instinctively.

Another tip is to keep your turtle in the palm of your hand, this way they will know that you don’t want to harm them and that you are just holding them to move them from one place to another.

3. Offer It Some Food

Turtles love food, and if you take advantage of this thing you might earn their trust a lot quicker.

Place your turtle on the floor, and then place some food near them. After your turtle sees that you placed the food in front of them, and then back up a little, they will start eating the food.

This way your turtle will know that you don’t want to harm them, and that you actually take care of them by offering them food.

It’s possible that your turtle will be too scared to eat in the beginning, but as I said don’t give up and have some patience. Your turtle will eventually learn that you don’t want to harm it.

4. Keep Some Distance

If your turtle doesn’t respond to food, then there is a chance that it might be too scared by your presence, more than the fact that it’s in a new unknown place.

If this is the case then you should try to keep as much distance as possible, to let your turtle get used to the new place. This way your turtle will have one less thing to worry about.

After you do this 2 or 3 times, you should return to the room and see how your turtle reacts.

5. Get Rid of Stress Sources

Turtles can be stressed very easily, and a stressed turtle is a scared turtle.

Stress can come from a lot of things, a cat or a dog that gets too close to the turtle tank, a loudspeaker, a TV in the same room with the tank, etc. Basically, if something is able to stress out most people, then it can also easily stress out a turtle.

Final Thoughts

So, turtles can spend quite a lot of time in their shells. So, waiting for them to come out on their own is not the fastest method. But it’s the safest one. Forcing your turtle to come out can be very dangerous for your turtle, and it will only make it want to hide for even longer.

I hope this article answered all of your questions about turtles and how long they can hide in their shells, but in case there is anything else that you would like to know, don’t hesitate to leave a question in the comment section below. I regularly check for questions and answer each and every one of them.